Beware of Christians

Tonight my church in Austin held a screening of the documentary, "Beware of Christians." I was expecting some crazy, hard-core, over-the-top emotional documentary on Christianity, but was pleasantly surprised to realize that although it was a serious film, it had me laughing my head off much of the time. It's about these 4 college-age guys who have kind of gotten tired of Americanized Christianity and take off on a trip across Europe seeking God's guidance on what it really means to be a follower of Christ. They dissect some sticky topics for any culture such as materialism, sex, alcohol, and media/entertainment, and really try to figure out what God says about them all in the Bible. The main question they had for themselves was, "What happens when four college Christians give up on religion and start following Jesus?"

In the past two years or so, the Lord has challenged me to ask myself the same question. I've really had to evaluate my faith. First, I had to figure out for sure if my faith was really my own or just something I 'inherited' from my parents and grandparents. Once I wrestled through my own beliefs and made sure I knew truth, I had to figure out what my life needed to look like as I pursued a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. I am in no way saying that I am perfect, because I have definitely screwed up along the way and will continue to screw up because I am a sinner and my only redemption is in the saving grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. I can tell you, however, that despite the mess I've made of myself, my life is different with Jesus in it. For most of my life, I have been programmed to respond with "Baptist" or "Protestant" when someone asks my religion. But recently I've begun to respond with "follower of Christ." I say that because nowhere in the Bible does it compartmentalize Catholicism, or Protestantism, and nowhere does it further discriminate into "Roman Catholic," "Orthodox," "Methodist," "Southern Baptist," "Pentecostal," or the like. Does that mean I'm going to sever all ties with the Southern Baptist church? Of course not. My beliefs align with theirs because I believe the Bible is the Word of God and is truth just as they do. But am I going to identify as a Baptist over a true follower of Christ as so many people do these days? I would hope not. Jesus is the bottom line. He's the reason I'm here. God sent Jesus, his only son, to die for me because He loved me, and He did the same for you. God in and of Himself is worthy of a response from us, the added fact that He sacrificed His own son for our good just seals the deal if you were at all hesitant.

Many of you may not know what to think about Jesus, and I would love to talk with you about it. I have a question for those of you who claim Christianity though - what would it look like for you to give up on "religion" and just follow Jesus?