Christ as Savior verses Christian as Label








I hate labels.


    I hate labels, but I use them all the time. Most


often I slap them on other people. Occasionally I use them


on myself.


    In America, it is often convenient to call yourself a


Christian. At other times, it’s very inconvenient. It


seems that many people use that label as needed, putting


it on when it helps and shedding it when it doesn’t. Often


Americans claim to be Christians because their family has


always been. Or as a means of saying that they are not


Jewish, Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist. In a sense they are


aligning themselves with a cultural mentality. And there


are a lot of negative connotations involved. Frequently


being a Christian is defined by what they don’t do rather


than what they do. For example, many people think that


Christians don’t drink or swear or smoke or gamble. This


suggests then that someone who doesn’t do these things is


a Christian when they may not be. More importantly, it


undermines the true base of Christianity, which is not


what we do but what we believe and/or what has been done


for us.  It is aligning with Christ not a moral code.


     So what does it mean to align myself with Christ?


I’ll attempt to set that out here without using too much


church language. Hopefully it will be clear that it is far


more than a mere label.


    The Bible tells us that we all sin and have sin in us.


Sin is falling short of God and who God intended us to be.


In short it is being less than we truly are. We live our


lives with something lacking, something missing that would


complete us. We are out of relationship with God as he


intends. We are separated from God and he doesn’t want


that. God desires us and wants to be in relationship with


us.


    At this point, you are probably saying, “I’m a good


person, not a sinner.” It may be true that you are good,


but you can never be good enough. This is not being


measured by my idea of good or your idea of good. This is


being measured by the one who is the source of all good,


the greatest of the good.


    Think of it this way. If Forrest Gump told you that


you were smart, would you be impressed with that? On the


other hand if Einstein told you that he genuinely thought


you were smart, wouldn’t that give you an emotional lift?


Someone astoundingly smart saying you are too, puts you in


the same category. Now, if Einstein told you that you are


smart, but not smart enough, either you could reject him


or accept that he is right.


    Let’s say he is right, that you are smart but not


smart enough to understand something. What if he told you


he was able to make you smart enough? What if he could


share his brain with you and then you would be smart


enough to understand?


    That’s a weak picture of what Jesus is offering to us.


He, the source of all good, is offering to make up the


difference for us. We can never be good enough to please


God, but Jesus can and if we let him, he will make up that


lack in us so that we can be good enough for God. How can


he be good enough? Jesus is God’s son, the one person who


embodied everything human and everything God at the same


time. By virtue of this he alone is able to be good enough


to please God.


    How can this happen? It’s pretty simple. We simply


have to admit that we can’t do it ourselves and ask Jesus


to be our goodness and bring us to God.


    Why would Jesus do this? Why would God let him?


Because they love us. Just as I love my children, God


loves all of his children. That means all of us. He wants


to be close to us, to be in our lives, to share our days


with us. We, by being sinners have wronged God, our fellow


humans and ourselves. God wants to correct that. He wants


to heal that. He wants to fill the places of hate, fear


and pain with love. He has already done what he can to


restore relationship with us through Christ. It is now up


to us to accept it.


    Many of us are used to hearing Christians telling us


that we are evil and will rot in hell because of all the


bad things we’ve done. If you are like me, you either want


to hit this person or run away. There is some truth in


this since the Bible does say that we are all separated


form God because of sin and need God’s forgiveness. To be


forgiven means that despite having wronged or hurt someone


that is no longer held against us. If I say something


stupid and hurt my wife’s feelings, she can forgive me.


This isn’t an “it was nothing” response. This is


acknowledging that she was hurt but deciding to not hold


that offense against me. The sin in our lives separates us


from God but he has released us from that offense and no


longer holds that against my account. Since God has


already forgiven us, the thing that is really sending us


to hell is refusal to accept that forgiveness.


    Some will still say that they don’t need forgiveness


and others would say that they are beyond forgiveness. But


God loves all of us, each and every one of us. He has done


all he can for all of us. This means that even Mother


Theresa needs forgiveness and even Hitler has been offered


forgiveness. No one is so good that they don’t need


forgiveness and no one is so evil that they are


unforgivable.


    So that means you and I all have the same chance to


enjoy God and bask in his love. Regardless of what you


have done or what I have done, God loves us and has


forgiven us. All we have to do is accept his forgiveness


to know God and enjoy him. We align ourselves with Christ


rather than slapping on the Christian label. This is what


it means to be Christian.


    Here is how you can do this. Simply call out to Jesus


and accept his forgiveness. Then ask him to be your


goodness in God. Tell him you are tired of labels and that


you want to be called by his name. Ask him to breathe life


into you. Finally thank him for doing all of this for you.


    If you have done this, please let us know by emailing


us or calling the number below. If you have any questions


about this or would like to understand this better, please


feel free to contact us as well.