I was so excited to tell my Sunday School teacher the news. I had done what she had asked and talked to the other kindergartners in my class about Jesus. One of the girls in my class said she knew Jesus too and went to Church every Sunday, just like me! My Sunday School teacher said she was proud of me for talking about Jesus at school and asked what church my friend went to. I didn’t remember, it was a Saint or something.
My teachers face went from smiling to serious. Did my friend say she was Catholic? I was nervous to answer, wanting her to be proud of me again and not sure what I had messed up. I nodded. My Sunday school teacher responded with sadness tinged with disgust. Catholics were not REAL Christians. They worshiped idols of Mary and other saints. My friend was not a Christian and was going to hell, she informed me.
I remember the sense of sadness and responsibility I felt after that conversation. My friend didn’t FEEL like someone who should go to hell, she loved Jesus and went to church, but then again, I knew the rules. It was MY job to tell her the truth, that is what 'good Christians' do.
“There is only 1 way
Its Gods way
And its Jesus…”
If my childhood had a soundtrack, this would be the first song on the mix.
Most of my family considers themselves Christians. They are not the same “flavor” and if you compared their beliefs, my sisters to my cousins for example, they might say the other one wasn’t “really a Christian….” because they don’t believe in hell, or they don’t love others, or they don’t baptize in the correct way.
I remember the first time I heard that Catholics don’t believe evangelicals are “real” Christians, I was so offended!!
So who decides? What is a Christian? Is it the Catholics? The Evangelicals? The old white dudes with theology degrees? What about the black churches? The indigenous? Christians outside the US? Who makes the rules for what it means to be a Christian?
Obviously this is above my paygrade, lets ask the interwebs (The Dictionary):
What is the true definition of a Christian?
1 : a person who believes in Jesus Christ and follows his teachings.
2 : a member of a Christian church. Christian. adjective.
adjective: Christian. relating to or professing Christianity or its teachings.
"the Christian Church"
So, we do know that the only place we find Jesus, and the stories attributed to him, is in the bible, so we can extrapolate and say that Christians use the Bible as there source of teaching about Jesus. This is problematic for so many reasons we will touch on in a different post. What does the bible say? It seems to me that the majority of Christians seems to agree on the Nicene Creed. And this is what it States:
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father [and the Son]; who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.
And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
So, to sum it up, only the bible is real and everyone else is wrong. Jesus is the only salvation or ticket to heaven.
The flavor of "Christian" I was raised in was evangelical. American evangelicals believe that:
- The Trinitarian name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
- God has revealed Himself fully and decisively as attested in Holy Scripture. We believe the Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testaments, to be the inspired and authoritative Word of God. The Scriptures are the guide of faith and life.
- There is only one way to salvation – through Jesus Christ.
- The sanctity of human life at every stage based on our creation in the image of God and our election by God for service in His kingdom.
- The biblical guidelines for human sexuality: marriage as the union of one man and one woman, fidelity and holiness in marriage and chastity outside of marriage for the sake of the Kingdom.
- That the mission of the Church is to spread the good news of the Gospel of salvation in every word and deed. We are sent by Christ into all the world to bring every person into a life of faith, discipleship and submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
If we want to get SUPER specific, my early years were spend in a fundamentalist Baptist church. That is an entire rabbit hole itself. That church was attended multiple times a week, didn't believe in movies or secular music, and was about 'moral excellence'. I remember the pastors teenage sons having to sneak off to read the Sunday comic section.
So, from here on out, assume when I use the word "Christian" I am talking about those people who identify with the above statements. It is always helpful to make sure we are all working from the same definitions!
Sources:
https://www.history.com/news/was-jesus-real-historical-evidence#:~:text=Tacitus%20connects%20Jesus%20to%20his,Roman%20senator%20and%20historian%20Tacitus.
https://evangelicalassociation.org/?page_id=126
https://www.ccel.org/creeds/nicene.creed.html
https://bbafnc.org/beliefs/#:~:text=Berean%20Baptist%20Academy's%20core%20values,basis%20of%20honesty%20and%20integrity.
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