What Does It Mean To Be A Christian?

By Jason, M.Ed., M.A.R., Headmaster

"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you should not be like cowering, fearful slaves. You should behave instead like God's very own children, adopted into his family -- calling him "Father, dear Father." For his Holy Spirit speaks to us deep in our hearts and tells us that we are God's children. (Romans 8:14-16, NLT)

Growing up, my two older brothers and I would fight with each other all the time. My oldest brother would pick on my other brother, who would then turn around and pick on me. We called each other names, hit each other, made fun of each other, played tricks on each other—typical brother stuff. Our parents hated it, of course, but we kept right on fighting with each other. To watch us every day, you’d think we hated each other... until someone from outside our family tried to pick a fight with one of us.

As brothers, we didn’t always get along, but as family, we always stuck together. If someone wanted to mess with one of us, he had to mess with all of us. When some snot-nosed, zit-faced punk in my class would get up in my face and threaten me, I would simply say, “If you want to mess with me, you’re gonna have to mess with my two big brothers.” Since my oldest brother was a weight-lifting, football playing tough guy six years older than me, it usually worked.

More than anything, being a Christian means being part of a family—the family of God. As a family of believers, we all have the same Heavenly Father, God, and we all have the same big brother, Jesus. In fact, being in God’s family and belonging to Jesus Christ is the heart of our new identity—it’s who we really are now that we believe in Jesus.

I have many identities. I am a son, a brother, a husband, a friend, an employee, a teacher and a radio show host, among others. But the heart of who I am—the core of me—is the fact that I belong to God because of Jesus Christ. I am a Christian, and that is my true life. Jesus gave His life for me, and now I give my life to Him. So, Jesus is my life—He is the One who gives my life meaning and hope.

Being in the family has its rules and requirements, of course. Christians are called to live as Jesus lived and to represent God to the world. After all, we’re God’s kids now, and that comes with some heavy responsibility. But being in the family also comes with a great sense of security. No matter what life brings us, we know who we are and we know where we belong. That gives us great confidence and hope.

Update on Tuesday, August 4, 2009 at 3:14PM by MAD21

[Editor's Note: I found this amazing article on Boundless this afternoon called, "My Brother's Keeper." I wanted to share it here because it talks about the same issue Jason talked about in this article. They are both great reminders of our place/responsibility in not only our family, but our Christian family. Blessings.]

Comments

[Megan]

Thank you for this article! I always love the example of being a Christian as being part of God's family. It also reminds me that God's love for me and for my family is even greater than the love we have for each other...mind boggling!!