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Are You a Christian?

Are You a Christian?

October 1st, 2010

Are You a Christian?

By Spencer Spellman


"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another
. "
 John 13:35 TNIV

I CAN’T TELL YOU how many times I’ve been asked that question. Every time I was asked when I was younger, I would bubble with excitement, puff my chest out, and respond with a resounding, "Yes, of course I’m a Christian".

Although excitement has often spilled over when I’ve been asked, throughout the years it has been replaced with feelings of discomfort. I’ve realized that the term Christian that I use and the term Christian that everyone else uses, is starkly different. Instead of telling people I was a Christian, I was going to tell them I was a "follower of Christ". People would then understand what I was because I had given them something deeper–a verb, a follower. But, had I really given them something deeper? The term Christian isn’t the only term people have problems with. So what do we tell people?

Whether we tell people that we are a Christian or a follower or a believer, it doesn’t really matter. The conversation should never stop at, "Are you a Christian?" People are going to make their inferences based on how they see us live. What matters is that we embody the words we use.

How do people know that you are a Christian? What kind of "Christian" do you represent to them?

Thisdevotionis adapted from an article on RELEVANTmagazine.com.

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