What it means to be Christian?
People's views on what it means to be a Christian are the most diverse. We will take an honest look at the following erroneous folk myths, so that we can examine what exactly it is that makes us Christians.
I AM CHRISTIAN BECAUSE CHRISTIAN IS THE ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH I GROWN
Many people say: «E’ natural that he is a Christian; I was born in a Christian country! Or maybe you think I'm a pagan?». The answer is that they could be a lot of things. Others, instead, they stated: «I have always been a Christian: I was born into a Christian family!"Or" in a Christian church!». But it is perhaps the place where we are born that determines what we are? As someone said, “One can be born in a stable, but not for this reason being a horse " – And in the same way it could be said that one can be born in an airport and not become an airplane!
Be content with the place where you were born, of the family and church you grew up in, but don't think this is what makes you a Christian.
I AM CHRISTIAN BECAUSE I LEAD A GOOD LIFE!
Not even a morally sound life can make us Christians: many atheists live a dignified and honest life. But who lives a life good enough to please God? And how good it is is «good enough?»
Here is the problem:
Most people have a distorted idea of the true model against which to measure their goodness . Confronted with a mass of killers, you may have the feeling that you are almost a santo. Even compared to your family and friends you may be okay, but God's model of goodness is very different: He compares you to His Son Jesus Christ who, on this earth, lived an absolutely perfect life. Now, in comparison with such a degree of perfection, our goodness is not something really bad?
Remember that the world has always been full of "good" people, but if human goodness had been sufficient for salvation, what need would God have to send Jesus? The very fact that the Lord had to come and die on the cross in order for us to be forgiven, it shows that goodness makes no one a Christian.
I AM CHRISTIAN BECAUSE I ALWAYS GO TO CHURCH!
People go to church for a multitude of reasons. But this means that everyone is a Christian? Naturally not; even some thieves go there. Some go to church out of social custom; others because the family wants it. Others still, encouraged by some priest or pastor, they can take some special classes to be admitted to church. But, even if people go to church and take an active part in it, this is not what makes them Christian.
I AM CHRISTIAN BECAUSE I HELP OTHERS!
To many of us, from an early age , he was taught to offer part of our earnings in charity , to the church or to the poor, so, whether we are rich, whether we are not, we feel giving as a "Christian" duty.
The fact that Christians give more than anyone else to help the needy and the less fortunate is true, but you could also give everything you have without being a Christian.
I AM CHRISTIAN BECAUSE I HAVE RECEIVED A SACRAMENT!
You may have received baptism as a child or an adult, but that does not necessarily mean that you are a Christian. Many inmates, in the Penitentiaries, have been baptized, yet few would consider them true Christians.
It may also be that every Sunday you receive communion, and if you are a believer, the thing is commendable; But, many claim: "I'm confused, I receive communion every week, but I don't know what it means to be a Christian!».
E’ vero, baptism and communion are biblical sacraments that God has commanded believers to observe, but neither receiving the one, nor will receiving the other make one become a Christian.
I AM A CHRISTIAN BECAUSE I BELIEVE IN GOD!
When someone is asked if they believe in God, most people say yes. But this is what being Christian means? Colonel James Irwin, known for the lunar mission carried out aboard the Apollo 15, he once said that, during his stay in the Middle East, one of the Muslim leaders told him: «You talk a lot about God, but because you are not a Muslim?».
You understand the point? If you believe in God you can be a Muslim, it is not knowing that there is a God that makes us Christians. There are many religions that believe in God. This is why believing in God alone does not make Christians.
I AM CHRISTIAN BECAUSE I SPEAK ABOUT JESUS!
Many people talk about Jesus Christ, and also very well. Some even become teachers, church leaders or scholars, but without actually believing that, what the Bible says about Jesus is true; others present a distorted idea of Jesus because, to adapt Jesus to their way of thinking, they lose sight of the true Christ of history and of the Bible e, naturally, all this makes them unable to be true Christians.
I AM CHRISTIAN BECAUSE I PLEASE
E’ there is no doubt that the Christian prays, but one can pray and yet not be a Christian; the Hindus, for example, they pray continuously; Muslims pray five times a day.
During his travels abroad, Egyptian President Sadat always carried a small prayer mat with him so that he could kneel five times a day. Yet he was a Muslim. Just pray, therefore, does not make you a Christian.
I AM CHRISTIAN BECAUSE I READ THE BIBLE
E’ It is natural that Christians love the Bible and that many of us read it every day; But, this also, it does not mean being a Christian. Nikita Khrushchev, one of the Soviet Premieres, as a boy he read the Bible. and yet, years later (precisely come on 1965 on), made the abolition of the church in the Soviet Union one of the goals of his life and even threatened that he would bury it. What happened though, is that he has been buried and the Russian church continues to grow.
Read on as well, the whole Bible. It will tell you how to solve this problem once and for all, since it is the Word of God and not of man, we can believe it blindly. But, remember that it is not reading the sacred text that will make you a Christian.
