What are the marks of a Christian?
Yesterday I posted a story about some groups in Christian circles that deny the deity of Jesus. It brought about some interesting questions. Ask an Atheist and the book I’m reading by Eric Michael Bryant called Peppermint-filled Pinatas made me think about what truly distinguishes someone as a follower of Jesus. Also, some of our discussions over the last few weeks about Grace vs. Law have been spinning in my head.
As I began thinking about it, I think one word would some up the mark of a true follower of Jesus–”LOVE.”
I Thessalonians 3:12
May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.
I think doctrine is important, but someone can have a relationship with Jesus and have flawed doctrine. Think about areas in which believers disagree: Calvinist vs. Arminian, Tongues vs. cessationists, baptism by immersion vs. sprinkling, suits vs. jeans, contemporary music vs. hymns (organ), Sunday School vs. Small groups in homes, King James only vs. NIV, NLT, NASV or Message, etc…. I could go on and on. None of those doctrines or styles are going to bring someone or keep them from a relationship with Jesus. Many people are very dogmatic about their stances.
But there is only one stance that matters: That Jesus is the Son of God, God himself who died for our sins. There is nothing we can do to earn His favor it is all a gift. Those are some of the Non-negotiables for me. I have friends who are Calvinists (my dad is) and others who are pentecostal. I don’t agree with their points of view but I consider them fellow believers. I believe we are serving the same God and working together to fulfill the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20.
So, I have become convicted in my own life that I must show more love. Eric Michael Bryant points out in his book that the 1st Century believers didn’t talk about Love, they displayed it extravegantly. Eric says that many of our programs, ministries and churches operate like the world is wanting to become Christians but don’t know how. We need to become more interested in people and loving them. Eric also said that the early church was winning people and then influencing friends. That is deep.
To me, we can have differences of opinion and debate various theologies and world views. But Love must be displayed. If someone claims to be a believer and has the most perfect theology but they don’t show love, I would wonder about their salvation. I have been corrected (rightly so) by people who comment here that I have been judgmental at times. I was wrong and ask for forgiveness. I will start to look less for what is wrong and focus on what is right. I’m not promising perfection. 
The song says they will know we are Christians by our Love but unfortunately the world sees that we are Christians by our “demanding to be right!”
What do you think?
Kevin,
As an atheist, I may be one of just a few people on this blog who is in a position to say this: having corresponded with you via your blog (and mine occasionally) for quite some time, and having also met you in person, I’ve always felt that you put our friendship first. This has been true despite our very different outlooks.
I presume you believe that when someone is saved and becomes a new creature and is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, the outward sign is that the person naturally becomes more loving than someone who is not saved. The Love of Jesus shines through. Do you find this belief at odds with the idea that Christians must be admonished to try to become loving? Also, what do you think about people of other faiths and people of no faith who are as a group just as loving as Christians as a group (and of course there are non-Christian individuals who are more loving than most Christians, and vice versa)?
The marks of a Christian are faith in Jesus Christ. See the criminal on the cross for exhibit A. He never tithed, loved, read the Bible, took communion, got baptized, did good works, etc. but he was saved by faith in Christ.
Of course, for those of us who aren’t put to death shortly after making an authentic confession then one would expect to see the sanctification process at work, resulting in transformed but still imperfect lives.
All Christians are at least a little saved and confused in the sense of not having 100.000% perfect theology. But the focus should be on the essentials. Romans 14 and other passages address how we are to handle disputed matters. From this we can immediately infer two things:
1. God knew we’d have disputed matters.
2. He gave guidance on how to handle them.
More here - http://4simpsons.wordpress.com/2008/06/14/disputed-matters/
The Christians you mentioned should know better about the deity of Jesus, though. That is clearly an essential taught over and over in scripture, just like the theme that Jesus is the only way to salvation (about 100 direct and indirect passages for that one). To point people to the all important faith in Jesus we need to accurately describe him. For example, that is why pointing them to the Mormon Jesus is a bad idea, but that Jesus isn’t the real Jesus and can’t save anyone.
Neil’s last blog post..Evangelism experiences 3
Kevin,
Your atheist friend said:
“I presume you believe that when someone is saved and becomes a new creature and is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, the outward sign is that the person naturally becomes more loving than someone who is not saved. The Love of Jesus shines through. Do you find this belief at odds with the idea that Christians must be admonished to try to become loving?”
This is something I have struggled with in the past, but now think I understand. First, I should confess from the outset that I used to be very anti-Calvinistic, but I’ve now joined your dad in the 5-point arena. It’s actually very freeing. However, Dale hasn’t joined me yet, so yes, we can all agree to disagree on doctrine and still be true believers–and happily married.
Now, my explanation. I think when Christians (or even people who only think they are Christians) have to “try to be more loving” that love is coming from the wrong place. I think human effort is futile and all you get is the amount of love a human can muster. We’re flawed, so that isn’t enough. I think if we surrender to God, meditate on his awesomeness, our unworthiness, and how thankful we should be to be included in the plans of the creator of the universe, we will just experience “overflow” love. I know that all sounds fairly cliche’, but I’ve found it to be quite effective in loving without having to try to.
My heart has been ‘convicted’ time and time again that I can have any given amount of theology, and even speak in tongues, cast out demons, prophesy over people… and so on and so on, but without love I am nothing.
I’ve been looking at 1 Corinthians 13 lately (the famous “love chapter”) in a light that has been shared with me over the years by a handful of people. I started a series on it the other day and I plan to continue with it in the next day or two. Paul lists 16 examples of what agapē looks like. Agapē is patient, it is kind, it is… all sorts of things. The thing is, John wrote that “in this is love, not that we loved God but that He first loved us.” I think we can be filled completely with the love of God, spiritually speaking, but if we don’t first understand the height, width, depth, breadth of God’s love, we won’t be able to show it. To me it’s not so much a matter of striving to be more loving, but rather first growing in God’s love. And so since John also says that “God is love (agapē), we can look at 1 Cor 13 and see what God is like. He wouldn’t ‘expect’ us to agapē other people if He didn’t first demonstrate it.
I guess what I’m saying is that in order for us to show love (not just have loving actions, but really demonstrate the agapē of God), we need desperately to know love. As we set our hearts and minds on God’s love, I do think it will flow out of us more naturally. As to the question of Christians being admonished in this, I think that’s a natural part of “getting it out” of us. It’s a matter of encouraging and admonishing one another in God’s love that is already in us, but that we ourselves need to grow in our understanding of in order to live it out.
Joel B.’s last blog post..Whatever the law says… (Part 4)
Joel,
A3,
That’s a good question/observation. I’ll start out by saying that even though there are those who don’t believe in God, it’s only because of His love that anyone knows even an ounce of love. In other words, His love is evident to all, even if they don’t believe it’s His love, and any form of true love on the earth is rooted in Him.
The thing that I’m getting at is that there is no such thing as “perfect love” (agapē) coming from human beings, and the only way to grow more and more towards that true, perfect love, is to know God’s love (agapē) more. This is not simply a mimicking of loving actions… which anyone can do (even those who don’t have Christ in them). It’s actually agapē that is born out of a deep relationship with God in which we see and understand His agapē in action and acknowledge it and appropriate it into our lives (in other words, we simply receive His unconditional love, not thinking there’s anything need to do in return) and as we grow in this love, we can encourage and admonish one another in it, and as a result the actual agapē of God flows from us.
From 1 Cor 13 we see many things about God’s agapē. Agapē is patient. Agapē is not impatient. Agapē is never not patient. (We mustn’t mistake justice for impatience). Show me someone who has learned to be patient, and I’ll tell you that whether they acknowledge God or not, they’ve demonstrated something that comes from Him. (I’ll point out the obvious difference, though. Christianity isn’t about people who have learned simply to be loving. It’s about people who have been “born again of incorruptible seed” through faith in Jesus the Messiah. Hopefully those who have been born again will actually get to know this God and His true agapē, but yet it’s true that many are simply “saved” without much of an understanding of love.
Also from 1 Cor 13, “agapē is kind” and “agapē is not self-seeking.” How many times are people (Christians and non) kind to others, but with ulterior motives? A husband who wants something from his wife. A child who wants something from her parent. A Christian who wants to get someone to church. Etc. True kindness isn’t kind because it’s looking for a response. It’s kind for the sake of being kind. Agapē is agapē for the sake of agapē alone. God gave His Son for the world whether the world would respond to Him or not. I’m telling you, I just don’t see this kind of love coming from too many people in the world, Christians included.
And I think it’s because they don’t really know God’s love. They simply know do’s and don’ts.
Joel B.’s last blog post..Whatever the law says… (Part 4)
Joel,
First, that was a very thoughtful answer and I appreciate your making the effort to explain where you are coming from. First, let’s agree that, as you say, we don’t see enough unselfish love (or kindness just for the sake of kindness) in the world from either Christians or non-Christians. Let’s also agree that, as you say, there is no such thing as perfect love that comes from either Christians or non-Christians. Maybe we can also agree that there are individuals, both Christian and non-Christian, that exhibit more of the type of love and kindness you’ve described than the average person - I’ve seen it first hand and maybe you have too.
Here’s what I still have trouble following your thinking. On the one hand, you say:
That would explain how you might accept that some non-Christians might have an abundance of love toward others and are exceptionally kind for kindness’ sake. But that seems at odds with another thing you said:
On one hand, you seem to say that the most loving and kind non-Christians can be as loving and kind as the most loving and kind Christians because the agape originates from God in either case. But then you add the stipulation that only Christians are capable of the highest love and kindness because of their relationship with God. That brings me back to my original observation in my first comment on this post: that what I (and perhaps you too) observe is that there are non-Christians that are as loving and kind as the most loving and kind Christians. Could you clarify?
What is the distinction you make between “non patient” and “impatient”?
I could show you many people who are very patient - some are Christians and some are not. I personally don’t find Christians to be any more or any less patient as a group than the general population. And of course I know people who are saved (and you would probably agree that they are saved) who have very little patience. What have you seen that makes you believe otherwise?
I think in a round-about way, we may be agreeing after all with my first comment on the post. Kevin said in the post that “if someone claims to be a believer and has the most perfect theology but they don’t show love, I would wonder about their salvation.” We might be agreeing that the amount of love someone has does not seem like a reliable indicator of whether the person is saved.
I figured my two statements would perhaps appear to conflict, but if I can simplify/clarify it a little, I’d say that the difference is that the non-Christian (not indwelled with the Holy Spirit) can exhibit a kind of love that is God-like because the love of God is demonstrated throughout His creation, and to a point it can be imitated. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil had both good and evil in it. People who are not saved can yet be the “goodest” people of all, but they’re still eating from the same tree.
What I’m saying about the person who has the Spirit of God indwelling them, a display of agapē-love doesn’t come so much from imitating as it does from actually knowing personally the God of agapē. Christians should no longer be eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but from the tree of Life.
The problem, as I said, is that many Christians are tying to imitate God, and eating from the old tree that got mankind into trouble in the first place, rather than know Him and live from His live that indwells them.
Joel B.’s last blog post..Whatever the law says… (Part 4)
I would highly suggest for you, and any one else interested to read the book ““The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and its Scientific Pretensions.” by self-professed secular Jew and mathematics/philosophies teacher David Berlinski.
This tells the story of a Jew who was forced to dig his own grave prior to being shot by a German soldier. Prior to being shot, the old Jewish man advised the German that “God is watching what you are doing.” The Jewish gentleman pointed what i think is the real problem with atheism. “If you have the time please check the book out
[…] Kevin Bussey (from Charlotte) and an atheist friend of his quote my book at each other! (check out his post about the cheeto that looks like Jesus!) […]
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