What It Means to Be a Christian

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Christianity is a monotheistic religion and is the largest of the world’s religions. Christianity revolves around the teachings and life of Jesus Christ. Christians believe in one God who exists as three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The personal name of Christianity’s God is YAHWEH. He is also known by Hebrew titles such as Elohim, El-Shaddai, Adonai, Creator, Ancient of Days, Father, and “Most High.” Those who practice Christianity identify as Christian, but understanding what it truly means to be a Christian goes beyond wearing the title.

Believers were not always called Christians. Early followers of Jesus were first known as disciples or students of Jesus. New Testament texts indicate that understanding what it meant to be a true believer was central to the early church, the body of Christ, which referred to itself as “saints.”

“…and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;”
— Matthew 27:52 NKJV

“Now it came to pass, as Peter went through all parts of the country, that he also came down to the saints who dwelt in Lydda.”
— Acts 9:32 NKJV

“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia:”
— 2 Corinthians 1:1 NKJV

The original Greek word for saint is hagios. It means consecrated to God. According to Acts 11:26, the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.

“So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.”
— Acts 11:26 NKJV

A Christian should reflect the character of Christ.

Today, the word “Christian” is so broad that it incorporates both believers of Christ and religious unbelievers. People who believe and adhere to Jesus Christ’s teachings are true Christians. However, those who call themselves Christians may not be true to Jesus’ teachings. In like manner, those who claim to represent God may not be true to the precepts of God. Understanding what it means to be a true Christian involves more than just identification; it requires an alignment with Christ’s character.

Matthew chapter 9 records how Jesus healed a blind man. The Bible says He spat on the ground and made clay. Then He anointed the man’s eyes with it and told the blind man to wash his eyes in the pool called “Sent.” The problem for the Pharisees is that Jesus did this on the Sabbath. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were religious leaders who were often viewed as hypocrites. Confusing healing with work, the Pharisees knew God’s Law but did not know God.

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.”
— xodus 20:8-10 NKJV

On another occasion in John chapter 5, Jesus healed a paralytic on the Sabbath. The Pharisee Jews misinterpreted Jesus’ healing as work, and therefore accused Him of breaking God’s Law.

‘For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”
— John 5:16-17 NKJV

Jesus exhibited the character of God in every way. Jesus was as concerned about doing God’s will as He was with obeying God’s Law. Like Jesus, a Christian should not only be concerned with obedience to God’s Law, but also with attending to the needs of others, which is fundamental to understanding what it means to be a Christian.

Should Christians be empathetic? Some believers say no.

Empathy is defined as the capacity to feel another person’s feelings, thoughts, or attitudes in a way that is experienced in the imagination through the actions of another person. Jesus revealed the true character of God as our Father, and not just our God. He showed us the tender mercy of God. Jesus was empathetic. Unlike the Pharisees and many who profess to be Christian, Jesus, like God, had a heart for the people. This genuine empathy is at the core of what it means to be a Christian.

Have modern-day believers become the Pharisees of the New Covenant? It seems that some Christians are more concerned with hanging the Ten Commandments on classroom walls than they are with the physical needs of the children in the classroom. Why is this? It is because some Christians are preaching that empathy can be a vice. These deceived Christians say empathy can manipulate caring people into accepting all manner of sins according to a conservative Christian perspective, including abortion access, LGBTQ+ rights, illegal immigration, and certain views on social and racial justice. WOW! What happened to the Christian cliche “What would Jesus do?” 

Three major characteristics that define a Christian

Every Christian should display Jesus’ character. In other words, Christians should rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn (Romans 12:15). This is because compassion, empathy, and sympathy are at the very core of Jesus’ life and ministry. Whenever Jesus saw a need, He was empathetic, sympathetic, and compassionate. Today’s Christians often confuse empathy with sympathy and compassion. Although empathy, sympathy, and compassion are related, they are different.

Emphaty

One of the most touching short stories in the Bible, and one of my favorites, tells how Jesus raised a widow’s only son from the dead.

“Soon, Jesus and his disciples were on their way to the town of Nain, and a big crowd was going along with them. As they came near the gate of the town, they saw people carrying out the body of a widow’s only son. Many people from the town were walking along with her.

“When the Lord saw the woman, he felt sorry for her and said, ‘Don’t cry!’

“Jesus went over and touched the stretcher on which the people were carrying the dead boy. They stopped, and Jesus said, “Young man, get up!” The boy sat up and began to speak. Jesus then gave him back to his mother.”
— Luke 7:11-15 CEV

This woman was a stranger; Jesus did not know her, nor had He ever seen her. Jesus felt her pain and anxiety. With no husband and no son, this widow would be at the mercy of the community for her needs. Note the tenderness of Jesus’ words to her. He was both empathetic and compassionate when He said, “Don’t cry!” This story is a touching example of how God responds to our emotional pain and our physical needs. He restored both the woman’s son and her income.

Sympathy

John chapter 11 describes how Jesus showed sympathy when He raised Lazarus from the dead. John 11:5 tells us that Jesus loved Martha, her sister Mary, and Lazarus. Not only did He grieve the death of His friend, but He was also sympathetic toward Lazarus’ sisters.

When Jesus arrived in Bethany, many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. When Jesus saw them weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. He asked them to show Him where they laid Lazarus. When Jesus came to the tomb, He groaned once more. He told the people to move the stone covering the tomb’s entrance.

“Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.’ Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth!’ And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Loose him, and let him go.’”
— John 11:41-44 NKJV

Compassion

To be used of God, compassion is a necessary Christian virtue. When Jesus fed the five thousand, He demonstrated compassion for people. Even in the midst of His own emotional pain, Jesus thought of others. You can read the story here.

“When Jesus heard it (that Herod had beheaded His cousin, John the Baptist), He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.’

“But Jesus said to them, ‘They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.’

“And they said to Him, ‘We have here only five loaves and two fish.’

“He said, ‘Bring them here to Me.’ Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.”
— Matthew 14:13-21 NKJV

Identifying as a Christian is more than a title; it’s a lifestyle

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”
— Matthew 7:21 NKJV

Many will claim that they accomplished miracles, preached and prophesied in the name of Jesus, and will demand entrance into heaven on these grounds. Jesus said that to be His disciple, anyone who identifies as a Christian must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him.

“Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.”
— Luke 9:23-26 NKJV

The subject of these verses is death—Jesus’ death and the Christian’s death. He pointed out that Christians are to have the same attitude toward death and life that He had. Each one must deny himself or herself, that is, not think about their own good. Jesus expects every Christian to take up their cross daily and follow Jesus, even to death.