Vince Deagler

hi everyone.  been doing some thinking in the area of what exactly does it mean to be a christian.  the catalyst for this thinking is all the confusion over president obama’s religion, the glenn beck restoring honor rally, a book i’m currently reading entitled “church is a team sport”, and a study i am doing sunday mornings where we are working our way through the book of acts.

as i chew on this, (and i would encourage you to do the same), i recognize a few basic principles.  first, the word christian is used in more than one way in our culture.  culturally a “christian” is someone who has identified themselves with a “christian” religion.  that is not what i am addressing.  the various “christian” religions of today were non-existent in the first century.  what we find in acts was the jesus story, as explained by jesus to his apostles, being continued by those same apostles.  now, some 2000 years later we have a wide range of thought regarding what exactly is a christian.  is it obama’s, beck’s, the catholics, protestants, something else?  i am not trying to address the various forms of christianity as represented in differing religions.  allow me to say one more thing before i launch into how i see this.  it takes the form of a question…why is this important?  as plainly as i can say it, my primary concern with this question is not so i can answer whether president obama is a christian.  or if glenn beck is.  i do not see my role as the corrector of every “christian” denomination with whom i differ.  my primary concern is with my role as a personal practitioner.  as a christian, i want to live out with clarity what it means to be a follower of jesus.  i don’t want that to be unclear b/c of me.  as a pastor, i want to clearly communicate an accurate message.  i do not want to lead people astray with a false message.  having said that, lets dig in.

let me begin by pointing out there are many scriptures that speak to this subject.  they describe “salvation”/”conversion” with different words, from different perspectives.  an accurate understanding is inclusive in nature.  to exclude some aspect of the gospel immediately means our definition is faulty/incomplete.  as i survey these scriptures i see 3 main components.  the first is repentance.  sometimes we see the word repent, other times it may be deny, lose, turn from, sell, leave, etc.  my understanding of man’s condition as a result of man’s rebellion against god’s rule in the garden (gen. 3) is that we are by nature separated from god.  we are disconnected.  in that state we live under self-rule, guided by the deceitful influence of the evil one (eph. 2).  repentance is the recognition of that self-rule, wherever it may lead.  (remember the pharisee’s were very religious, very moral, but at the same time they were separated from god)  self-rule can lead to many different lifestyles, not all overtly “bad”, but all opposed to god’s rule.  repentance is recognizing this, and turning from self-rule to god’s rule.

this leads to a 2nd aspect.  it is described in scripture with words like faith, believing, calling, receiving, confessing, etc.  the idea is having turned from self-rule, we re-connect with god by surrendering to his rule.  paul referred to this using the analogy “i have been crucified with christ…nevertheless i live…yet not i…it is christ who lives in me”.  to the romans he referenced how the believer had died with christ.  the old self-ruled person no longer exists.  in its place is a new, god-ruled person.  i don’t want to get bogged down here, but this is where the indwelling of the holy spirit is very significant to the definition of christianity.  a god-ruled life is described in scripture as a spirit-controled life.  where the surrender to god is affirmed regularly by refusing to walk in the flesh (self-rule), but constantly yielding to the spirit.  this leads to the third critical aspect of genuine christianity.

in a word, transformation.  the old person has died.  a brand new person has emerged.  christianity is not reformation, where i reform my behavior.  it is not conformation, as in conforming to a set of standards or guidelines.  it is not imitation, as in following some leader.  it is a spirit empowered, inside out, brand new creation, transformation.  we get the english word metamorphosis from this ancient word.  it is the word we use to describe the process of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly.  it is not a new and improved caterpillar.  it is something altogether different from a caterpillar, it’s a butterfly.  and jesus clearly taught without transformation, there can be no christianity.  there can be religion, orthodoxy, spirituality, discipline, morality, good deeds, etc.  but the real measure is transformation.

so how do we know whether there is any transformation.  may i suggest we look for obedience.  as various scriptures describe it, walking in the light, walking in truth, working out your salvation, showing your faith by your works, as a tree is identified by its fruit, etc.

let me conclude with what i feel is one of the most sobering scriptures i know.  matt 7:21-23.  i don’t want to be one of these people.  nor do i want those i teach and lead to be one of these people.  it is way to important to get wrong.  and sadly, the fact that we have discussions like we are having regarding president obama and glenn beck.  the fact that we have so many forms of “christianity” tells me the evil one has taken something very simple and completely confused it to our hurt.  the good news is, out of this confusion, some may investigate the truth of god’s word and find clarity.  that is my hope and prayer.  and may i add, if you are tired of living a self-ruled life.  if you want to re-connect with god and experience the kind of life he wants for you.  that is only a prayer away.  you can talk to god like you talk to anyone else.  you can simply ask him to forgive you for living that self-ruled life and invite him into your life as your ruler.  when you do this, he will begin to transfrom you.  i encourage you to do this and welcome any questions you may have. 

would love to hear your thoughts.  blessings.  vince