At first glance, Christianity might seem "just like any other religion" because it has rules to follow, definitions of good and evil, and numerous stories intended to teach us how to live.
Of course, when closely examined and analyzed from a post-modern perspective, these can seem quite strange (at least initially).
But being a Christian means so much more than any of that.
Admittedly, understanding ANY religion or spiritual belief can be quite challenging, especially for those unfamiliar with it.
That's what we're here to tackle.
A Follower of Jesus Christ
Essentially, a Christian is someone who follows Jesus Christ.
The entire Christian faith centers around this one man in history, who appears to be a "hot topic" for many people, both believers and non-believers.
The term "Christian" literally means "baby-Christ" and comes from the Greek word christos (meaning "anointed one"), along with a Latin/Greek ending that signifies "follower of" or "belonging to."
What's interesting is that the term "Christian" was first used by non-believers in the city of Antioch around 40 AD. This aligns with what we see in the New Testament book of Acts, where the term is first mentioned in the Bible.
More interestingly, though, the name "Christian" was initially a derogatory term used by outsiders to mock followers of Jesus. It has since been adopted by believers and worn (so to speak) as a badge of honor ever since.
That defines WHAT a Christian is, but to understand what it MEANS to actively follow Jesus, the next natural question would be:
No amount of words in a single blog post could satisfy such an inquiry.
But I'm going to try exploring this anyway, and to be crystal clear, I'm assuming that you (as the reader) don't know much about Christianity at all.
So WHO Is This Jesus Christ?
Throughout history, numerous lists ranking the most influential people ever have been compiled to compare their long-term global impact across different societies and cultures. Usually, one name clearly stands out and even tops these lists.
Regardless of one's spiritual or secular worldview, it is widely recognized that Jesus of Nazareth has profoundly changed history and influenced countless lives over the past 2,000 years.
He never wrote a book, never traveled more than 50 miles from His home, and by all accounts was poor, never coming from money or earthly nobility.
Jesus was often homeless, died at the hands of the Roman Empire, and yet, He remains widely known and worshiped by people from all walks of life to this very day.
Jesus taught many things that most people can't help but admire, such as loving your neighbor as yourself and even loving your enemies.
Jesus emphasized the importance of forgiveness and instructed His followers to practice it at every turn.
He dedicated much of His time to the marginalized and outcasts of His era, sharing meals with them, demonstrating kindness, offering encouragement, and even healing their illnesses.
In most cases, many people hold deep respect for the pious figure of Jesus, who is described as the Christ (Messiah) in the Bible and historically recognized as the traveling Jewish Rabbi from Nazareth who was executed by the Romans in Israel around 33 AD.
No matter where people stand on faith, many who are familiar with the historical Jesus agree that His words and actions were both inspiring and groundbreaking, even by modern standards.
Often, it's the actions taken by Christians in the name of their faith that lead many people to lose interest in Jesus Christ. However, that topic is for a different article.
So it seems that many people would have a lot to say about Jesus based on what I've just described, but this then raises another question:
This is where things get very interesting.
We now turn to the Gospel According to John, or, colloquially, the Book of John, in the New Testament of the Bible, where Jesus delivers seven famous "I Am" statements that describe who He is.
Admittedly, these statements contain a lot of complexity, especially when read sequentially from the beginning to the end of the Book of John. Furthermore, their meaning becomes even more profound when the entire Bible, including both the Old and New Testaments, is considered for a comprehensive understanding.
The WAY to truly live and to reach God the Father.
The TRUTH to guide us in a world filled with moral gray areas.
The LIFE beyond physical existence, which is even more powerful than death.
Jesus is the Son of God, meaning He is God in the flesh.
Of course, Jesus does not explicitly say that He is God in an obvious way (a very "Jesus" thing to do, I might add).
However, the Bible presents Jesus asserting His divinity through various statements and actions that unmistakably prove His status as God.
In fact, the statement "I Am" holds great significance throughout the Ancient Near Eastern world, the period during which Jesus lived, ministered on earth, and died. It served as a way for God to reveal Himself to many prominent Biblical figures.
In Exodus 3:14, God reveals Himself as "I Am" to Moses in the form of a burning bush, and in Isaiah 48:12, God says, "Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am He; I am the first, and I am the last."
The key point is that an "I Am" statement in first-century Jewish culture was highly significant, and these people understood its importance.
When Jesus tells other Jews, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58), it is a powerful statement of His divinity.
Besides this, Jesus states in John 10:30 that He and the Father "are one."
In Matthew 9:2, Jesus addresses a paralyzed man whom He heals, saying, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”
Only God can forgive sins, so it becomes even clearer at this point.
I think you get the gist...
Belief in the Trinity (Father, Son & Holy Spirit)
Christians hold a belief in the Trinity, a concept that can be quite mysterious to those unfamiliar with it.
If you're seeking to understand the concept of the Trinity, I offer a detailed explanation in a separate article.
Unpacking all of that in this post would be too much information to include here, so I recommend reading it at your convenience.
A Claim of Exclusivity
The final part of John 14:6, where Jesus states that "No one comes to the Father except through Me," often causes skeptics and others to raise an eyebrow because it is inherently an exclusive claim, which can be divisive.
I can understand this, because to those who are unaware or uninitiated, monotheistic religions often appear as simple methods of categorizing people into groups destined for either heaven or hell.
Or perhaps they are simply methods for controlling people...
There is something inherently frightening to humans about the idea of exclusivity, and many would argue that it is fundamentally UNLOVING overall.
This idea that there is only ONE WAY to do things correctly is polarizing to people.
Living according to one way to access the "Kingdom of Heaven" (if such a place is believed in) can be quite unsettling.
As I write these words, I feel a deep emotion rise within me. My heart sings and breaks at the same time because I understand the feeling of being skeptical about such things.
The supposed belief that I am fortunate to know the right way to live is quickly challenged by the dread I feel when I think about the many loved ones in my own life who do not share that same perspective...
So another unavoidable question comes up:
Is it the "Christian" God? The "Muslim" God? The "Jewish" God? All of the above? Or none at all?
Is it ONE God? Or many gods?
And what about all those OTHER religions or faiths that exist around the world? Are we just supposed to "write them off"?
I recall a moment in college when someone challenged me in this way, and honestly, it struck me hard. It caused me to pause and reflect on my life amid a vast, complex world filled with constant events and uncertainties I couldn't fully grasp at the time (and still don't).
It's no surprise that when we consider exclusivity, religions like Buddhism appear more appealing, emphasizing the "journey" toward Nirvana rather than the destination itself.
Speaking exclusively of heaven and hell seems totally unloving when you imagine a God sitting on a cloudy throne, shining with holiness, just waiting for His creation to appease and worship Him so they can go to "the good place," and not be forced to stay in "the bad one."
And yet, Jesus himself — the central figure of the Christian faith — uttered those very words:
C. S. Lewis writes in what is arguably his most famous book, Mere Christianity:
We either believe and accept Jesus at His word, dismiss the possibility of such a thing, or deny what Jesus said about Himself entirely.
But we still have to decide what to think about Him... because there is no denying His existence.
Why Trust Christianity?
Of course, many religions and faiths exist out there to follow.
Many people, particularly those studying world religions, often happily claim that all faiths and religions ultimately lead to the same core idea:
Reza Aslan, a scholar of world religions, states that religions are essentially languages — signposts guiding humans toward the inevitable "thing" beyond the material world that we refer to as "God."
Reza often quotes a well-known Buddhist maxim:
His point is that all religions lead to water because they are "fruitful" and worth exploring. Essentially, all faiths and religions are different languages we use to communicate with the divine entity we believe is God.
So, choose your "six-foot well," and dig it. It doesn't really matter which one because all paths lead to God.
I might be inclined to agree with this, but Christianity and the person of Jesus Christ fundamentally conflict with this idea — quite significantly, in fact.
I'm not trying to claim that Christianity is undeniably true through forceful arguments to prove myself right and others wrong. Nor do I intend to compare Christianity directly with all other world religions (though I might consider doing so in the future).
I just want to explain why I consider Christianity a particularly trustworthy faith and, in fact, the most unique of them all.
And it all starts with this fundamental idea:
Unlike other religions or faiths that describe an end state, a journey, or an ultimate destination for our souls, Christianity begins with Jesus Christ extending a hand and inviting us to "come as we are."
Following Jesus does not require a person to attain a certain level of faith or perform specific acts before accepting Him and beginning a relationship with Him.
Even baptism is not meant to "cleanse" us of sin, but to serve as a public declaration (both to God and to others) of our commitment and dedication to follow Jesus.
This public act of baptism symbolizes a "rebirth" where we renounce our sinful nature and shed our old self, embracing a new identity grounded in Jesus.
Because all worthy relationships require commitment and devotion.
That is, go to class (do the things).
Don't break the rules (be a good person).
Work your way to graduation day (perform enough good to enter into your eternal rest).
Something like that...
Christianity teaches that the world is fundamentally broken, and humans have fallen so far from God that no matter what we do, we can never fully restore God's original created order. This is because the effects of sin are far-reaching and have negative consequences.
We alone are incapable of saving ourselves and need a Savior.
However, because God was deeply moved by His love for us, He has spent countless years pursuing a fallen humanity, determined to transform the evil and brokenness of our world (which we caused) into something that works for the ultimate good.
And so, God delivered the "good news" of redemption to earth in the form of a truly sinless human being.
What Is This "Good News?"
There is good news surrounding Jesus.
This news is also known by another name you may or may not have heard: the "Gospel."
The English word "Gospel" comes from the Greek word euangelion, which means "the good news."
In essence, this good news is all about Jesus and what He has accomplished for humanity.
When the first humans, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God and fell in the Garden of Eden shortly after creation, the created order of God's good world was broken so deeply that sin corrupted it.
Under Adam's watch, God's good world becomes tainted.
But Jesus renews our fallen world.
The only way God could save us from sin was by descending to earth, becoming part of humanity, and willingly experiencing human suffering despite being perfect, holy, righteous, blameless, and undeserving of death.
God becomes flesh as Jesus and bears the world's sin — past, present, and future — so that everyone who accepts Him and His sacrifice can be reconciled with God.
Therefore, we are either found in Adam or in Christ. The decision is ours, as God will never compel anyone to accept Christ's righteousness against their will.
Nevertheless, although our Creator shows love and forgiveness, we are still unworthy of this mercy because of how far we have fallen from God into sin.
In a perfectly just and righteous system, created by a being like God, He cannot forgive sins without violating His justice. In other words, the wrongs we have committed must be adequately paid for...
...and paid for they were by Jesus on the cross.
Forgiveness also has a price for each of us because it requires absorbing the debt that others owe us.
Of course, the only explanation for this is that God possesses a profound and deeply pure love for His creation.
As we all know, love has the power to compel us to do all kinds of things. So why wouldn't the author of love be any different?
It is the fact that God chooses to suffer through Jesus on the cross that, in my view, gives the Christian faith its ultimate uniqueness. This is because, personally, I don't believe that a God who doesn't suffer is a God worth trusting.
Without the courage to crawl down into this world and feel the darkness with the same helplessness as the rest of us, how COULD God be trusted?
How could He be relatable without His own suffering? How could God possibly author a redemption story meaningful enough to hold the weight of OUR suffering?
Psychologist David Benner concludes:
So many people throughout the ancient world couldn't recognize or accept the idea of a God who suffers and dies willingly.
A Lord on a throne was easy to understand and recognize, but a God who bleeds? A God who weeps? A God who grieves?
Unimaginable...
Jesus, and only Jesus, makes suffering sufferable.
Through His OWN suffering, He looks both you and me in the eye in the midst of OUR suffering and in so doing, wins a decisive victory by bearing the cost of the curse by enduring the real-life experience of a sin-infected world.
And that redemptive hope lands deep within my soul.
Where Christianity differs from other religions or bases of faith is that the punishment WE deserve is taken on by God in the person of Jesus, resulting in the accomplishment and fulfillment of God's law and justice.
As a result, we attain mercy and grace.
Three days after His death, Jesus famously rose from the grave.
He defeats death.
It couldn't hold Him.
And like Jesus, all who believe in Him and accept His sacrifice shall not perish but have everlasting life.
Ultimately, it wasn’t Jesus’s life that died following His arrest and crucifixion, but instead OUR sin and suffering.
It was suffering’s grip on the world that was put in a tomb, never to rise.
A Call to Discipleship
Certainly, Jesus was not only sent to die as a ransom for humanity, but He also spent the 33 years before His death teaching. Again, during this time, He gathered followers, demonstrated how to live, emphasized loving our neighbors as ourselves, and showed us how to even love our enemies.
Jesus understood that love is the acid test of spiritual formation, and in the Gospel According to Matthew, Jesus issues a command for all who follow Him (that is, all Christians):
God establishes a new and better covenant through Christ, resuming His desire for humans to be "fruitful and multiply." This time, it’s about spreading the "good news" and making disciples of Jesus.
We have already established that being a Christian means following Jesus.
Now that we know WHO Jesus was and WHAT He did, the questions become:
Being a Christian is not about "getting people into heaven," but rather "getting heaven into people."
And the way that we accomplish this is by apprenticing under Jesus.
John Mark Comer describes it like this:
Becoming a Disciple
The word "disciple" is often used only within church circles. Although it seems to be a verb on the surface, it is actually a noun.
The Hebrew word for "disciple" is talmid, which means "a student of a teacher or philosopher."
A disciple is not just a student who endeavors to learn but rather someone who intentionally learns from their master and seeks to become like them.
The Hebrew word talmid closely resembles the English word for "apprentice." Christians often use the term "disciple" as a verb, as if it were something they DO to others.
But the word "disciple" is never used as a verb in the New Testament, not once!
Language matters here. If discipleship is something done to you (a verb), then someone else, like your pastor, church, mentor, etc., is responsible for YOUR spiritual formation.
But if discipleship is a noun, if it is who you are, then no one can disciple you but Jesus Himself.
In his book Practicing the Way, author John Mark Comer explains three key discipleship goals for followers of Jesus. These goals perfectly describe what being a Christian ought to look like as a journey of discipleship.
Goal #1: Be With Jesus
Where does your mind fall without thinking?
Where are your thoughts drawn to throughout the "dead spaces" of your everyday life?
I'm talking about sitting in traffic, staring at the office monitor, zoning out at the weekly board meeting, walking the dog, jogging through the neighborhood, etc.
If you're like me, it doesn't often go straight to Jesus...
Instead, it frequently falls to my desires, fears, insecurities, and negative thoughts about myself, others, and the world around me.
Spending time with Jesus is, as A. W. Tozer calls it:
Christians are called to "abide" in Jesus.
Abiding means to follow, but in Greek, it translates to "remain," "dwell," "stay," or "make your home in."
Abiding in Jesus means to be with the Spirit, and being with the Spirit means being with God the Father. In most instances, this is best achieved through solitude.
The Bible tells us that Jesus often withdrew to secret places to engage in prayer and worship of God the Father.
A part of abiding in Jesus and following Him as a "mini-Messiah" is spending time with Him in much the same way.
Are we making space for Jesus each day in order to seek the Father amidst the "dead spaces" of our lives? I certainly struggle almost daily...
Moreover, are we seeking to spend time with Jesus by reading His words and learning from Him?
If not, we simply aren't living the way faithful Christians are called to...
But I take profound comfort in knowing that Jesus is always with us, even when we are not with Him.
Goal #2: Become Like Jesus
I often ask myself (and I encourage you to do the same):
Do I meet others with love or wrath?
Am I prone to forgiveness or retribution?
Am I trying to be like Jesus, the gold standard for humanity, or am I trying to be like ME, a deeply flawed human born into brokenness?
Again, love is the acid test of spiritual formation.
God gave us the gift of Christ's example and sacrifice. To be an apprentice of Jesus is to be the "body of Christ," a body that moves, acts, worships, speaks the Truth, extends grace, remains gentle, and shows love and mercy to those who need it.
Love resides at the heart of the Gospel message:
Put simply, we effectively disciple others by embodying Jesus Christ in our everyday actions.
Goal #3: Do as Jesus Did
When Jesus sought to build the faith of His original disciples, He said to them, "Apprentice under me, and I will teach you to do what I do."
Jesus was a Rabbi, and in the ancient world, Jewish Rabbis took on apprentices who could learn, live, study, and travel alongside their master in hopes of one day becoming like them.
The final goal of any apprentice is to carry on the master's work.
He taught, encouraged, empathized, demonstrated, and led others, all with a loving and cheerful heart.
Hospitality was a key aspect of Jesus's ministry, as He often shared meals with others because, naturally, everyone appreciates receiving hospitality.
To this day, one of the best things we can do is invite someone into our homes, cook them a meal, and sit down to talk about their lives and express interest in them.
Doing so allows them to feel known, seen, and heard.
Jesus did this better than anyone.
He broke bread with others at either His table or, often, someone else's.
He listened well, asked questions, and sought to truly know others. Jesus often ate and drank with society's outcasts, but it didn't matter to Him because, in His view, everyone is a person to be loved.
Jesus's love and hospitality are meant to be an example for us to follow. This is often the best way to make space for the Gospel message, especially in countries where Christianity is becoming statistically less prevalent.
Standing on street corners with megaphones, judging and scaring people with talk of "fire and brimstone," is just weird and off-putting (trust me, as someone who grew up a Southern Baptist).
Inviting people into our homes, meeting their physical needs through a meal, fostering conversations about Jesus in a gradual manner, encouraging healthy curiosity, and welcoming them to "come as they are" is more compelling and, arguably, truly Christian because it reflects what Jesus did.
Good old-fashioned hospitality is the LOVE of the stranger, not the HATE or fear of a person's "otherness."
Of course, we cannot (and should not) force a person to become a disciple of Jesus, but we can foster an environment where such a change can take place gradually over time.
A follower of Christ is only asked to connect people to Jesus while also living as He did. If you're like me, then you have faith that the Holy Spirit will move and work to care for the rest.
People need good examples of Christianity, not poor ones that will only discourage others from walking with Christ.
Giving Up the "Self"
C. S. Lewis puts it beautifully in Mere Christianity:
We are all constantly pursuing meaning and purpose. Whether or not you adopt a religion, everyone chooses to follow and place their faith in something (or someone).
The core Christian belief is that Christ's death reconciles us with God and offers us a fresh start.
Christianity is the person of Jesus, His Claims, suffering, death, and resurrection, NOT the theories.
Christ died for us, His death washed away our sins, and by dying He defeated death itself. That is the core message. That is Christianity. That is what every Christian believes.
This belief embodies a profound sense of purpose through a lifelong commitment to disciple-making.
One that emphasizes being with Jesus, becoming like Him, and ultimately doing as He did.
