Why I Could Care Less If You Are A Christian

What does it mean when someone says they are a Christian? Many contemporary evangelical church members seem to be content with defining the term as someone who has merely let the name of Jesus roll off their tongue. Some time ago I spoke with a parent who lamented the fact that one of their children was living an ungodly lifestyle and time has revealed that they are apparently content in that lifestyle. I asked this parent if their child was a Christian and they responded with this statement: “Yes, they made a public profession of faith when they were younger.” I wish in that moment that I had asked a different question. I wish that I had asked that parent this instead “Is your child a Christ-follower?” I believe I would have gotten a different answer because that parent would have had to deal honestly with their child in the here and now and not clung to some past act that the present suggests never resulted in a genuine new birth. If this is what being a Christian is all about then I have no choice but to suggest that the Christians in our churches need to be evangelized as much as the lost in our communities.

I am firmly convinced that the New Testament paints a vastly different and more beautiful portrait of Christianity. In Mark 10, Jesus confronts a man who was willing to make a “public profession of faith” but yet unwilling to follow Jesus. The story begins in verse 17 when the rich fellow makes a “public profession of faith” that Jesus is a “Good Teacher.” This was not an easy thing to acknowledge in the first century and reveals much about the rich fellow’s understanding of Jesus. He knew and was willing to confess that Jesus was special. Not unlike many church members today who are willing to call Jesus “Good God” and “Good Savior.” Yet, as the rest of the passage reveals simply acknowledging certain realities about Jesus do not lead to eternal life. The rich fellow found out quickly that his public profession was highly inadequate as a means of inheriting eternal life. Jesus doesn’t tell him to just say “the sinner’s prayer” or to “make a public profession of faith.” Jesus calls him to something far greater than the recitation of some formulaic statement about His character. Jesus calls the rich fellow to abandon his idols and come follow the One True God who alone is worthy of all one’s worship. Jesus is a “Good Teacher,” a “Good God,” a “God Savior,” but He is also a “Good Lord.” In fact, the only “Good Lord” the world will ever know. Are those who want to cling to their “public professions of faith” really following Jesus as their “Good Lord?”

I realize some may say that I have taken the phrase “public profession of faith” and redefined it to mean something people don’t intend it to mean. Yet, I believe it is those who most often claim it who have redefined it. If being a Christian is defined as one who makes a “public profession of faith” but never sees a change in their life than either we must abandon that which the Bible says are the distinctives of those who know Christ or abandon our time-cherished but tragically flawed claims and titles. I absolutely affirm that the Bible defines a Christ-follower as one who was justified only by grace through faith in Jesus Christ not their works (Galatians 2:15-16). The Bible is equally clear, however, that a life transformed by the Gospel of Christ will ALWAYS translate into a changed life. Not a perfect life but a changed life. This is and always will be true because the new birth will never be delayed or aborted (John 3:1-15)!

For these reasons and many more I could care less if you are a Christian! I do very much care, however, whether or not you are a Christ-follower. If your life right now is one of constant and unrepentant rebellion against God than no “professions of faith” or titles you cling to will ever justify you or testify to the fact that you really are a Christ-follower. It is a radical, costly, and totally transformative thing when Christ saves a life. Christian, has He saved yours?