What is a Christian?

Bill Mounce, founder of BiblicalTraining.org, asked a question in an email the other day that hit me like a ton of bricks.

Do my kids really get what it means to follow Jesus?

And I’m not talking about churchy words that fly over most people’s heads.

Here’s a flyover of some of the most common answers:

“A Christian loves God.”

Sounds nice, but that puts all the weight on how I feel. And who’s to say how much love is enough?

“A Christian said sorry for their sins.”

Hold up – there’s no biblical get-out-of-jail-free card for feeling bad.

“A Christian believes Jesus.”

Okay, but believes what exactly? The Bible doesn’t just say “believes” – it says “believes into.” And that’s the difference between demons and disciples.

I’ve known plenty of people who were scared of hell. Fair enough – hell should scare us. But is fear the path to saving faith?

“A Christian gave their life to Jesus.”

Nice sentiment, but what does that actually look like? And let’s be real – don’t we all keep parts of ourselves off-limits?

Here’s the thing: being a Christian involves both starting a relationship with God through Jesus and living it out day by day.

There’s also Romans 10:9: “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

If you truly believe Jesus is Lord (capital L) that’s going to shake up your whole life.

Remember Jesus’ sobering words about judgment: “I never knew you; get out of my sight, you lawbreakers” (Matt 7:23).

These folks probably had a conversion story, but they weren’t true Christians. They thought they’d walked through the gate, but they never actually hit the trail (Matt 7:13).

Yikes.

“A Christian lives in a covenant relationship with God through Jesus.”

That’s getting warmer, but how do you kick off that relationship?

One of my Favorite Answers

I think Dr. Wayne Grudem nails it when he defines “saving faith” as “trust in Jesus Christ as a living person for forgiveness of sins and for eternal life with God.”

This covers both the starting line — and the marathon — of faith.

Saving faith is a response to God’s invitation into his family. And with that change in identity (belief and belonging) comes a renaissance in how we live (becoming and behaving). Share on X

Here’s my challenge to you (and to myself):

• How do we describe the most important decision of our lives?
• How do we make sure our kids really get it?
• With so many young people, especially millennials, walking away from the church, do they understand that Jesus and the church aren’t one and the same?
• Are they rejecting a relationship with Jesus, or just a flawed human institution?

So, here’s the trillion-dollar question: How would your kids answer if you asked them, “What is a Christian?”

To begin, how would you define this eternally-important question?