Ten Ideas

What does it mean to “be a Christian?”  In the broadest, most popular sense, it means an individual has some kind of respect for and is guided by the teachings of Christ.  Two thousand years after He lived, died, and rose again, we can derive multiple meanings for the idea of “the teachings of Christ.”  The spectrum defining Jesus is broad.  Is He simply an ideal teacher who advocated universal truths of goodness?  Is He a prophetic presence calling people to live with greater generosity of compassion?  Is He God who lived amongst us as one of us?

How we understand Jesus, the significance of being “The Christ,” and the nature of His mission on earth, will determine what we believe about the nature of Christianity.  Is Christianity our religion, or are we pursuing being Christian?  How does that express itself in our day-to-day engagements?

For the next several Monday Morning Minutes we will consider “Ten Ideas of Being Christian.”  These aren’t rules.  They aren’t rituals.  They are ideas about how we perceive God, His created order, and our role in it.  

Perception is a dangerous thing.  We are all familiar with the “potaTOE - poTAToe” pronunciation joke, or the clichés about “he said, she said.”  We all bring different life journey backgrounds to our faith and religion.  Since we potentially have different starting points, how can we possibly come to a consensus about the nature of Christianity, of being a Christian?

Even though there are multiple and diverse perspectives on these questions, there are two common denominators from which every perspective begins.  We must determine, “What can we know and how can we know it?”  Based on the answer to that question, we must then ask, “Who and what is Jesus?”

Every perspective on Christianity starts with these two questions.  They are important questions.  They are also beyond the breadth of my goals for this series of Monday Morning Minutes.  If you are curious about them or confused by them, reach out to me and I’ll happily listen to your thoughts.  Let me be clear about my starting points.  First, I believe the truth that God has revealed Himself, especially through the collection of historical documents we refer to as The Bible or the Scriptures.  Not only are these historical documents, but they were recorded for us under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  Thus, we call them the Word of God.

Second, I believe the truth that Jesus is God in human form, the promised Messiah, the second member of the Triune God.  He is fully God.  He is fully man.  He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, willingly sacrificed His life on the cross as our propitiation (I love that word!), was buried, rose again, and now is seated on the right hand of God the Father.  That isn’t just theological rhetoric.  That is history-defining truth.

If these two truths are our shared starting point in our faith journeys, we will share mutual perspectives on God, the nature of His created order, and our role in it.  Remember, though, this is a Monday Morning MINUTE (give or take 5 minutes).  This is not a lecture in systematic theology.  Nonetheless, these summary ideas are useful to help us in our passion to live by faith.  They encapsulate several other critical truths with which we can not only become familiar but also help us develop context for whatever our daily circumstances may be.  

Is your curiosity piqued?  Here are Ten Ideas that can help us live our faith consistently:

1.  Life is lived in the presence of God.
2.  God is knowable but not necessarily understandable.
3.  Fear God, don’t fraternize with Him.
4.  Created in God’s image:  representing the King well.
5.  Created in God’s image:  faithful resource stewardship. 
6.  Living by Faith:  confidence in God.
7.  Living by Faith:  courage for life.
8.  Living by Faith:  patience for God’s timing.
9.  Living by Faith:  embracing the unobservable.
10. Righteousness matters.

There is a common thread that runs through all of these.  It is this:

God is good and all He does is goodness.  Walk with me in our journey to explore our faith!