Who Is A Christian

Just a few comments as I sit in hotel lobby waiting for the day where I leave my youngest daughter in Abilene to start her college life.

During my drive yesterday where I was challenged with two problems of Lindsay's truck breaking down which finally ended in a tow, I had some time to think about all of the wonder God has brought to us. Breaking down across the street from a mechanic who could fix the problem was a blessing. Breaking down a second time, close enough to Abilene for my roadside service to tow the truck to a shop near the university was the next blessing. The truck will be fixed some time next week and Lindsay will have transportation but for the first part of her college experience, she will be facing the challenge of no transportation and dorm life. For some reason, I believe this will result in another blessing from God.

Oddly, I was taught the concept of luck in my early Christian years but actual interaction of God with His people was not happening. I think it is enough to say I don't agree. God interacts with me every day and I fully believe He had his hand on everything happening Friday so I could be blessed. The question is whether I blessed someone through the opportunities and I had great conversations with God included as I spoke to the mechanic and also the young lady towing the truck. How this will be used by God in their lives I do not know but He was brought into the the situation as a blessing and each individual knew I considered breaking down as a blessing from God.

This brings up another thought running through my mind as daylight ran out for reading and after lighting a flare to show a possible hazard to vehicles coming at me from behind, I had time to consider who is actually a real Christian.

In my early training, a real Christian was defined by baptism for the remission of sins. Someone having been "obedient" to this legal regulation, was a real Christian and approved of God. Anyone not having been baptized, regardless of how they lived their lives could only come to the point of being an artificial or "play" Christian. They were lost and would face the punishment of eternal condemnation.

I know most of those reading have heard the same thing from the preaching of our past and I must say I have trouble even writing against the concept of someone teaching "being a good person is not enough." Sitting in my truck and talking to God on Friday, I decided in my heart being a good person is "possibly" enough.

I asked myself "who is the real Christian, the one who has been baptized or the one who looks like Christ?" If Christian really means CHRIST-LIKE, then my answer has to be the one who looks like Christ. I decided (for now) how someone who has chosen the path of righteousness because they know in their heart it is right, (the good person) I will accept them as being the true/real Christian.

I believe this belief is consistent with the idea of our knowledge and our works never being sufficient to save us. I also believe God has made Himself and His desire for us to be Christ-like known to everyone living and when we make the choice to be Christ-like we are acceptable to Him. We then hopefully learn and grow closer but in my mind, the true/real Christian will have salvation and our judgment of who is and is not a Christian only serves to put distance between us and others who might walk with God daily.