Pentecost 16                                               Matt. 16:21-28                                                   8/31/08
                                                                      “Christian?”

I’ve been doing a good bit of pondering this week.  What I’ve pondered is, what does it mean to be a Christian?

“Christian” is a word that has become so common - used and abused - that we may mistakenly take its meaning for granted.  How many people answer the question about their religion on a census survey with “Christian”, when they practice no religion?

How many people, especially the unchurched, think “Christian” means people who demand rigid obedience to a bunch of rules?

How many people think “Christian” means having your name on the church register or being part of a family that has belonged to a given church for generations? 

Let’s get the word, “Christian”, right.  According to the Bible dictionary I consulted, “The word ‘Christian’ come from the Greek word christianos which is derived from the word christos, or Christ, which means ‘anointed one.’  A Christian is someone who is a follower of Christ.  The first use of the word ‘Christian’ in the Bible is found in Acts 11:26, ‘And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”

Notice that the definition says nothing about just believing.  Instead, every theological or Biblical dictionary you could consult will say that a Christian is a follower of Christ.

This what Jesus is talking about in today’s gospel, “If you want to become my followers...”  It could be restated, “If you want to be (or claim to be) Christians...”

And what follows that?  What must you do if you want to be a follower of Jesus or a Christian?  It doesn’t say believe.  It says, “let them deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me.”

Notice the “and’s” in that statement.  They aren’t there because Greeks didn’t use comma’s.  They are there for emphasis.  This isn’t a pick and choose list.  To be a Christian means doing all three - denying self, cross bearing, following.

Let’s look a bit more closely at each of these components of being a Christian.

First, a Christian engages in self-denial.  This is not asceticism - giving up all worldly possessions and living in a monastery or desert hermitage.  It is also not giving up candy for Lent.

Denying “self” is no more and no less than reorienting our thinking from “the world revolves around me” to “I live for God and those I’m called to serve in His name.”

This doesn’t mean that we can never seek to meet our own needs or do what makes us happy.  It just means that being a Christian is about putting our priorities in the right order: God - other people - me/us.

And we do this not in a legalistic, obligatory way.  Jesus isn’t saying we have to hate ourselves or force ourselves to do for others.  The assumption in the statement is that a person wishing to follow Jesus finds something attractive about doing so.  The assumption also is that the desire comes out of gratitude for being included among His followers.

Jesus is saying that the person who wishes to follow Him wants to give up the old self-centered life to benefit fully from being with Him.  And there are definitely benefits.  Chief among them is that when we take out minds off ourselves and our needs or wants, we will experience the abundant life that living with an awareness of Jesus’ presence brings.

Being Jesus-centered instead of self-centered gives meaning, fulfillment, excitement and joy to all of life.  And this is an experience we can have whether we are rich or poor, healthy or ill, surrounded by family and friends or completely alone.

This brings us to the second act that defines a follower of Jesus.  We take up our cross.

It’s easy to shrug of the cross-bearing requirement.  We live in America.  Nobody is going to nail us to a cross or even throw us into prison for being a Christian.
We have Constitutional protections that ensure our freedom to practice our religion.

Glad as I am that neither you nor I have to worry about being persecuted for our faith, we do lose an important part of practicing our faith.  Legalized religious observance means that we can easily take our Christian life for granted.

We can easily get into a mindset in which since we don’t have to meet the challenge of persecution for our faith, we don’t see the opportunities to demonstrate cross bearing in our lives.

Cross bearing can be as simple as telling golf buddies we can’t tee off until after church or risking imagined rejection if we invite someone to worship with us.  It might even be a simple as giving up the comfort of that pew we have sat on so long it has our body impression, to sit with and help a visitor find their way through our hymnal.

Cross bearing can also become complicated and costly.  It could involve refusing to do something dishonest even under threat of losing our jobs, refusing to work or engage in some other activity on a Sunday or even responding to a perceived call to full-time ministry.

Whatever the form, our cross bearing is meant to take, it always involves an action for the sake of and in the name of Christ.

Cross bearing, like self-denial, isn’t easy.  It can be scary.  I can tell you that I was really afraid of what would happen if I followed the call to ordained ministry.  I had kids still in school and an aging mother.  I had bills to pay and no idea how I would support myself at seminary.

Worst of all, I, who have a strong need for security and control, had no idea if I would even be considered for ordination after four years of sem and a five figure student loan; nor could I even guess where I would wind up living and working.  Believe me, accepting the call to follow Jesus as an ordained pastor was and still sometimes is, scary.

But, again and again, I am reminded that I do not carry my cross alone.  Even as I take my eyes off of Christ and let fear of the future assault me, I feel Jesus lifting my cross and saying, “I am with you always.  I will bear you up and hold you above the waves of trouble and uncertainty.”

This promise is there for every Christian.  None of us must bear our cross alone.  None of us will be asked to do more than we can bare so long as we trust in God.

This takes practice though.  In fact, it take a lifetime of practice.  This is the third component of being a Christian.  We must practice our discipleship.  Just as an Olympic swimmer or concert pianist or preacher must constantly be engaged in learning and practicing, so too the Christian needs to be a lifelong learner and practitioner of the faith.

This discipleship helps us in being aware of God’s will day by day for our lives.  From it we develop the ability to experience Jesus presence and the whisper of the Spirit assuring us that God’s promises are sure.  This discipleship helps us experience the joy of setting our priorities in holy order.  This discipleship strengthens us so that our crosses seem less heavy.  This discipleship motivates us to keep learning.

I read the other day that the average Christian has less than a fourth grade Christian education.  How much have we learned about how to successfully live in the world of work family, recreation, pleasure, etc. since we were age 8 or even 14?  How much have we learned about how to live abundantly in the world of faith, theology, church history, stewardship, witnessing or Biblical studies?  There is so much more to learn about God, what He has done/is doing/will do, and how we can relate to Him than we can imagine.

The ELCA at its last churchwide assembly voted to develop a program called, “The Book of Faith Initiative”.  It has the high goal of getting 75% of the members of our churches to engage in Bible study over the next few years.  There will be more about this program and how to get involved as resources become available.

We can get a head start on the “initiative” and on practicing being Christians by starting now on a regular regimen of Bible reading, by joining or starting a Bible study class and by engaging each other in discussion of our faith.

We can also be Christians and follow Jesus by practicing our faith.  We do this as we witness, give of the abundant blessings God has given us, and use of our gifts/talents in Christ’s service.

Well, this is what I have pondered this week.  Not following Jesus doesn’t mean we aren’t saved, and God will for His Son’s sake forgive us when we falter in our following, but if we want to claim we are Christians we need to commit to following Jesus.  It’s as simple as that.

I hope you’ll ponder being a Christian this week and see for yourself what it means to you.  Amen.