But does just identifying yourself as a “Christian” make you one?
People often use the term “Christian” as simply a category for describing someone’s cultural, religious, or family heritage. Other people believe that a person is a Christian because he or she attends church or was raised in a godly home. For still others, the term “Christian” is no more than a box to check off on an application or survey form.
So what is a Christian?
Christianity isn’t about going to church, or doing good things? It’s about having a relationship with God. This is what makes it different to other religions.
Christians don’t have to depend on trying extra hard to be good, but celebrate the fact that Jesus gave his life in our place, so that simply by trusting in him, anyone can have that relationship with God. That’s why Christianity is called ‘Good News’.
A Christian is someone who believes in Jesus Christ and follows his teachings. The Bible says ‘If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come.’
This means that when we become a Christian we may look the same on the outside, but something has forever changed on the inside. There are various metaphors to describe it – we have ‘changed country’, ‘come under new ownership’, or ‘been born again’. Christians believe that God sends his Holy Spirit to live within everyone at that moment.
The Church
The Christian faith crosses all boundaries of culture, ethnicity, class and nationality.
There are Christians in every corner of the world, even in countries where it is dangerous to admit that you are a Christian because of the threat of religious persecution. Most can meet other Christians openly but some must do so in secret.
People express their Christian faith in different ways which is why there are so many different denominations or styles of church. But the core beliefs are the same.
The Bible book 1 Peter speaks of the Church now not as a building or a tradition but being made from ‘living stones’ – the Christian Church is its people. The same book also describes Christians as, ‘a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation belonging to God…. Once you were not a people but now you are the people of God’.
Being part of a church is an important part of life for a Christian. It is an opportunity to meet other believers and pray together and to praise and thank God. It is also a place where Christians grow in their knowledge and understanding of God and his love for humanity.