This morning I want to answer a very important question. “What exactly is a Christian?” Many people think they know the answer – but the answers many people give are wrong. What exactly is a Christian?
Let’s begin like this: Complete the well known phrase or saying …..
Christian ______ ?????
If you ask most people who are not committed to a church to complete that phrase they will not say “Christian Bible” or “Christian church” or “Christian life” or “Christian God” or “Christian faith”. They will say “Christian AID”.
Christian Aid is such a popular charity that the very phrase “Christian Aid” has become part of the English language.
Of the all the things that Jesus Christ taught, perhaps the most well known is the parable of the Good Samaritan. The call to love your neighbour as you love yourself! Jesus calls us to show compassion on all who are in need, all who are suffering or deprived, even enemies. And whether they are Christians or not, very many people do just that by giving to Christian Aid.
In one way, it is good that people associate the word AID with the word CHRISTIAN. Giving aid, helping the poor and needy IS a Christian thing to do. But there is also a problem with the way the words “Christian Aid” have become so closely linked in so many people’s minds. The problem lies in the mistake which some people can so easily make.
Christians give AID, help people, give to charity, love their neighbour. RIGHT
Therefore, some people say, what makes a person a Christian is giving aid, helping people, giving to charity, loving our neighbour. WRONG CONCLUSION!!!
YES – giving aid is something Christians do but NO – that doesn’t make a person a Christian!!
There are so many people who make this mistake. If you ask very many people, “are you a Christian?” they will answer something like this.
I always try to do good to others. I always do my best to “love my neighbour.” Of course I am a Christian!!
Those are good things to do. But being a Christian doesn’t mean the same as somebody who does good things. Being a Christian does not mean the same as “being a good person.” Some people can get quite offended if you gently try to explain to them that the words “Christian” and “good person” are not interchangeable!! A Christian SHOULD give aid, help people, give to charity, love our neighbour.
But to equate being a Christian with giving aid or loving your neighbour is a mistake– it’s a logical fallacy. It’s the same mistake as saying
Women give aid.
Therefore every person who gives aid is a woman.
Therefore what makes a person a woman is giving aid.
That is an invalid conclusion.
Similarly, “giving aid” or “loving your neighbour” are not what “being a Christian” means! So what DOES it mean to be a Christian?
When you ask people, “Are you a Christian?”, there are others who will reply This is a Christian country. We’re all Christians aren’t we?
No. Being a Christian is nothing to do with where we live or how we were brought up. Britain may have a heritage of Christianity, but that certainly doesn’t mean that all British people are Christians!
Other people will say I believe in God.
Many religions believe in a god or gods. Many people know about God but that doesn’t make you a Christian.
Other people will tell you Of course I am a Christian – I go to church. Here I am this morning!!! That’s great and it’s lovely to welcome so many guests and visitors here today. But going to church doesn’t make a person a Christian. After all, as Billy Graham once said, sitting in your garage doesn’t make you into a motor car! Going to Starbucks every day doesn’t turn you into a Cappucino!
Others will say I read my Bible. I say my prayers every day.
These are good things to do!! But they don’t make a person a Christian, any more than loving your neighbour and being a Good Samaritan make a person a Christian. Being a Christian isn’t to do with ANYTHING that WE can do at all! It’s all to do with WHAT GOD HAS DONE!
So what is a Christian?
Well it’s all tied up in these words of Jesus Christ: 3 Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
Born again! A Christian is a person who has been BORN AGAIN.
That phrase “born again” is used in all sorts of contexts nowadays. Do a quick internet search and you’ll find that “Born again” is the name of all kinds of shops, from Born Again Second Hand Book Shop to Born Again Motocycles to “Born Again Bear”, which recycles old fur coats into teddy bears! And the phrase “born again” is also given meanings way beyond that religious sense in which Jesus used it. A man changes jobs, and his career is “born again.” A restaurant changes its menu, and its labeled “born again.” A man in later years buys himself a motor cycle and becomes a “born again biker”. A rugby team gets some new players and starts to win and they become the Born Again Springboks! Politicians changes their allegiance, and especially if they become passionate and crusading for their new cause they become a born again Conservative or a Born Again Euro-sceptic or a Born Again Environmentalist.
So the phrase “born again” refers to anybody who has had almost any kind of a life-changing experience, – a dramatic change of direction, a U-turn.
I did find one news story which tells us a little bit better what being born again is all about.
A born-again Christian who moved to New Zealand has paid out £400 for hundreds of unpaid Tube fares. May 2005
Transport for London (TfL) said the man anonymously posted them eight £50 notes apologising for years of fare dodging. In the letter, signed A Christian, he said that since becoming a born-again Christian he realised his years of persistent fare dodging were wrong and that he had deprived London Underground of much-needed income. He wrote: “My life is radically different to what it was then. I can’t stand the thought of stealing and therefore I enclose £400 to cover my fares.”
Born again: “My life is radically different from what it was then!”
John 3:3 Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” 4 “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no-one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, `You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
The root of the idea of being born again is this RELIGIOUS idea of a dramatic personal experience of God which turns your life around – a spiritual rebirth.
In many people’s minds, being “born again” is linked to former American President Jimmy Carter, who was the first world politician who publically identified himself as a “born-again Christian” Jimmy Carter explained it like this.
“The first time we’re born, as children, human life is given to us; and when we accept Jesus as our Savior, it’s a new life. That’s what “born again” means.”
“You must be born again.” It’s one of Billy Graham’s favourite phrases. Back in the 18th century there was an English evangelist who was the Billy Graham of his day, a man called George Whitefield. At 16 he became deeply convinced of his need of God. He tried everything to become acceptable to God. He wrote, “I fasted for 36 hours twice a week. I prayed formal prayers several time a day and almost starved myself to death during Lent, but only felt more miserable. Then by God’s grace I met Charles Wesley, who put a book in my hand that showed me from the Scriptures that I must be ‘born again’ or be eternally lost.” So Whitefield understood that he had to put his trust in Jesus Christ. He believed and his life was transformed. The transforming power of Christ – power to save from the guttermost to the uttermost. After he became a preacher, Whitefield preached at least a thousand times on that subject, “You must be born again”!
A century before Whitefield, the author of Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan, put it this way:
The egg’s no chick by falling from the hen, Nor man a Christian till he’s born again.
But, you may ask, why do we NEED to be born again?
John 3:3 In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” “I tell you the truth, no-one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
We are born physically into this world – but we are spiritually dead. If we want to be alive spiritually, we need to be born spiritually too. We can’t enter the kingdom of God, we can’t even SEE the Kingdom of God, unless we are born again. Jesus Christ the Son of God said so! And we know Jesus is right. Nobody needs me to convince them of the truth that we are spiritually dead. God seems far away. Heaven is an impossible dream. The reason why most people can’t find God is the same reason that the burglar couldn’t find the policeman – he was too busy running away from him. God seems impossible to find because most people are living life the Frank Sinatra way – My Way
One of most popular karaoke songs and a song recorded by more people than almost any other:-
And now, the end is near, and so I face, the final curtain. (don’t worry, Im not going to sing!)
My friend, I’ll say it clear, I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain.
I’ve lived, a life that’s full, I’ve traveled each and every highway.
And more, much more than this, I did it my way.
Regrets, I’ve had a few, but then again, too few to mention.
I did, what I had to do, and saw it through, without exemption.
I planned, each charted course, each careful step, along the byway,
and more, much more than this, I did it my way.
Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew, When I bit off, more than I could chew.
But through it all, when there was doubt, I ate it up, and spit it out.
I faced it all, and I stood tall, and did it my way.
For what is a man, what has he got? If not himself, then he has naught.
To say the things, he truly feels, And not the words, of one who kneels.
The record shows, I took the blows — And did it my way!
I did it my way.
Human beings are spiritually dead because they want to live their lives “my way” instead of “God’s way”. They can’t see God’s light because they have turned their backs on Him and all they can see is the darkness and their own shadows. And we can’t find our own way back to God. We can’t change ourselves! Only God can change us. Only God can give us new life!
Can a man change? Gordon Bailey
Can a tadpole turn into a dog? Can a tiger change into a frog?
Can a hippo turn into a flower? By exercising willpower?
Can man, by super self-restraint Change himself into a saint?
Can he cease being decadent By making a God of good intent?
Can a man change, as he intends? Well, not until he yields, he bends.
If he won’t bend, the stubborn ox He’ll never even change his socks!
We can’t change ourselves!! We can’t find our own way back to God. The only way we can see God and see heaven is to be born again, to be born spiritually!
So, you may be asking, just HOW can a person be born again??
John 3:16 God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, so that whoever BELIEVES in Him should have eternal life.
We are born again when we believe is Jesus – when stop living our lives “my way” and we put our trust in Jesus and ask Him to help us to live life God’s way.
Ro 10:9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
When a person believes deep down in their heart that God has raised Jesus from the dead. That Jesus Christ is alive today and that Jesus Christ is Lord! At that point, the Bible says, we are saved – we begin a new life!
The apostle Paul puts it this way: When a person becomes a Christian they become a brand new person inside. Nothing is the same any more – a new life has begun. 2 Cor 5:17
So when a true believer claims, “I am a Christian”, they aren’t in any way boasting about who THEY are or what THEY have done. They are actually talking about what GOD has done, the difference Jesus makes in their lives. “I was dead, now I am alive. I was lost, now I have been found. God has given me new life – I’ve been born again!
We are NOT born again by being baptised – but baptism in Bible is God’s appointed way of showing that a person has been born again – an outward sign of an inward change – telling the world, Jesus has washed away my sin, because Jesus died on the cross God has forgiven me and because Jesus is alive again, risen from the dead, He has given me a new life to live.
So to recap, what exactly is a Christian? A Christian is somebody who is living a brand new life because he or she has been born again.
A Christian is somebody who has recognised that Jesus Christ really is the Son of God, God born as a man to be our Saviour.
A Christian is somebody who believes that Jesus died on the cross to bring us back to God, so that we could be changed from God’s enemies into God’s friends.
A Christian is somebody who knows that Jesus Christ is alive today.
A Christian is somebody who has accepted God’s free gift of eternal life.
A Christian is somebody who knows God personally as Father.
So whether a person is a Christian or not is not to do with them loving their neighbour, or believing in God, or going to church or reading their Bible or saying their prayers. Being a Christian isn’t really about what WE do at all – it’s about what GOD has done in our lives – in giving us NEW LIFE in Christ. You must be born again!
Have you ever thought what you would do differently if you could live you life all over again? Have you ever wanted to know God personally? Have you ever wondered how we can get to go to heaven? Have you ever wished you could have a fresh start in life? Listen again to these words of Jesus!
John 3:3 In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” “I tell you the truth, no-one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, `You must be born again.’
