Christian 

Definition - follower of the teachings of Christ 

In the first century the term Christian was first used in Antioch. (Acts 11:26) Since then the term has become a much broader term than it's original meaning. Nowadays anybody that's generally a good person is deemed a "Christian". The word is thrown around quite a bit these days, "...mighty christian of you...", "...the christian thing to do...". In fact America is still considered a Christian country when in fact the majority of our forefathers were not Christians at all, they were Unitarians! 

So what does it mean to be a "Christian"?

Most people will answer with the following list.

Pray daily.

Attend church faithfully.

Tithe.

Read the Bible.

Share your testimony.

Obey your elders.

Love your family and friends.

Help the unfortunate.

Be a good citizen.

Obey the law.

I will not argue that these are not good "christian" qualities, however doing these things do not make you a follower of Christ. These things are simply the works of a good person, nothing more. To know what it means to be a follower of Christ you must search the scriptures and find out exactly what Christ said it takes to follow Him in His own words.

Let me start by laying a foundation, this foundation will simply be that in Christ we are a new being, (2 Corinthians 5:17) the old ways are behind us, Christ ways are now the way we are to proceed. This is demonstrated very much so in Christ's "Sermon on the Mount" in Matthew chapters 5-7 where He explains in full detail how the old ways taught us that the sin used to consist of being a certain act, then Christ would proclaim "But I say" then extend that act to the concept of thinking about the act being equal sin to the act itself. When Christ taught about love, He taught to go above and beyond out of love, not just for your neighbors but even for your enemies. The religious leaders of that day didn't understand it, their Messiah was supposed to be on their side, strike down all these heathens, not love them! Their Messiah was supposed to bring them the peace THEY wanted, not this peace for everyone. This is why Christ said that He came to bring a sword, not peace. (Matthew 10:34)

#1 Follow

Matthew 4:19, 8:22, 9:9, 16:24, Luke 9:23, 18:22, John 1:43 

Christ's first command to those whom choose to follow Him is obviously the command to "follow". It seems to be the things Christ said to do that most "Christians" have a problem doing.

#2 Love EVERYONE 

Matthew 5:43-47, 22:36-40, John 13:34-35

Christ wants us to love everyone, He wants us to be a peculiar people (1 Peter 2:9) and actually love those that others would think we would hate!

#3 Judge NOBODY 

Luke 6:37-38, James 2:1-10

By judging you are breaking GOD's command to love everyone.

#4 Leave it ALL behind

Matthew 4:20, 4:22, 8:20, 19:16-21 19:27-29, Luke 14:26-27, 14:33, 21:1-4

Be willing to leave it ALL behind, the job, the money, the material things, even your family! This is truly what it means to put Christ first.

#5 Go

Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15-19

To truly be a follower of Christ, we must go and teach that which He taught us. Into the highways and hedges (Luke 14:23) compelling them to Christ. It must be us seeking them out, NOT sitting in a pew five times a week waiting for some poor soul to just show up some day at the steps of you worship building. 

But of course this path of following Christ can't even begin until you take the very first step. You cannot follow Him if you do not first acknowledge Him (Matthew 10:32-33). Salvation is received through an act of acknowledgement. Acknowledging Christ for who He is and for what He did for you.

The things to acknowledge about Christ: (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts 1:1-11)

Born of a Virgin, the only Son of GOD.

Lived a sin free life.

Performed miracles to prove His diety.

Willingly sacrificed His life in your place to pay for your sins and all the sins of the world on a Roman cross.

Was entombed in a grave.

Rose again to life on the third day.

Was seen by multiple witnesses for forty days.

Rose into Heaven in front of multiple witnesses.

Sits at the right hand of GOD.

Is preparing our future home in Heaven.

Is advocating for us before GOD against our accusor Morningstar.

Is preparing for His return to defeat Morningstar and the fallen angels in a final battle.

This is what it means to be a follower of Christ people, this is a "Christian" in the proper sense of the term. If you are not doing these things then please call yourself a "believer" or even by your chosen denomination because by not doing all these things you are disgracing the name of Christ if you call yourself by His name. It is a simple thing to just do what Christ says to do. (James 1:22-25)

And now that you know, remember James 4:17.