someone emailed me yesterday with this question and i thought hearing you guys discuss it would be a great way to provide a well rounded answer.
?When does someone become a Christ follower??
1-2-3, go.
someone emailed me yesterday with this question and i thought hearing you guys discuss it would be a great way to provide a well rounded answer.
?When does someone become a Christ follower??
1-2-3, go.
Comments
64 responses to “great question from the mailbag:”
I believe it starts with the very first time you acknoledge and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Your walk with Him happens at that very moment, and although it’s “Baby Steps” at first, it’s the first step in becoing like Jesus! Make sure you get connected with people who are grounded in Christ and can mentor you along the way and give you accountability.
when your ealize you have to make hard choices such as standing up for Christ, rather than denying Him through your vote/actions/progressiveness to fit in
When being with Jesus is the ONLY thing that matters. No matter where He leads you.
Simply… when they respond to “Come Follow Me”. Following, ultimately the way of redemption both for their fallen ‘sin-self’ and for the path of their world. Shawn has it right when he says when you acknowledge Jesus as Lord… but after the acknowledgment/acceptance do we follow or stand around basking in God’s mercy? Today we are confronted with two very different groups of people. Christians and Christ-followers. Both have received Grace, but the latter extends it.
I’m with Chris. You become a Christ-follower when you start to follow Christ.
When they decide to.
I have a psuedo-online-virtual-friend named Hugh who is gay, has aids, and is living in LA. He does not consider himself a Christian, but I have heard him call himself a Christianist.
From what I gather, he follows much of what Jesus taught, but not everything. You know, just like us Christians.
peace|dewde
dewde.com
When they’ve heard Christ’s message, taken him at his word, put their faith in him…and then got up and FOLLOWED. For me, it took nearly 20 years before I got to the FOLLOW part. I always knew, always believed, even as a child, but the action of following – really DOING what Christ commanded me to do – came later. (Wish it would have been sooner..as following Him is the only lasting thing, and what an adventure at times!)
There is not a 1,2,3 answer to this. For each person it looks different. But when you acknowledge that He is the only one who is faithful and you lay down your wants and desires to follow Him. But I continue to get closer and closer to it….but there is always the next step. I don’t think you are ever fully there becuase it is a proces and growth.
repentance and faith result in the Spirit’s indwelling whose desire is not to make us “happy” but rather “holy.” I agree with Lynse that this “looks different” for different people; I was converted in jail enroute to prison; so (looking back) the Spirit’s priorities were different in my life than in others…and as we who are “older in Christ” look on others, we (I?) need to be careful not to expect more of new Christians than I did of myself…
certainly there are other passages in Scripture that address this topic, but I believe Paul puts it very eloquently in Romans 10.
paraphrased? a right relationship with God begins (a person comes to faith) when she or he believes in their heart and confesses with their mouth Jesus is Lord; that God raised Him from the dead.
I will give a short answer to what probably is a much longer answer.
I think that many times becoming a Christian is much more of a process than an event. For a long time I only viewed it as an event – you stop at a certain time and place and ask Jesus into your life. And then I started actually interacting with the people around me and I realized that is much more like a process.
The question I ask people – are you heading toward Christ or away from Christ. I think Jesus is very interested in our direction.
A person becomes a Christ-follower when they confess Jesus is Lord and believe it from within their hearts. But, how does one really know for sure?
Becoming a Christ-follower is the hardest thing anyone can do. Not because it’s not simple… but because it requires you to make constent choices you would normally act contrary to by human nature. To love when you’d rather hate, to help when you’d rather hurt. To stop when you would rather keep going. To give when you’d rather keep.
The truth is, these are un-natural results (the fruit) of becoming a Christ-follower which is how you know according to Jesus, the one we follow.
Every time you have to make a decision between Christ and something else and you choose Christ, you are a Christ-follower.
In my opinion, it’s not a one-time thing. It’s a continual choice. Similar to loving someone.
taking care of the widows, orphans, hungry… the least of these.
on the first step.
So is the question essentially “when does one become a Christian” – i.e. born again, eternity in Heaven, etc.? Or when does a Christian (or other) become a Christ follower? Can there be a difference? If our salvation is not based on works or what we do or don’t do, how “well” we follow, does the extent or quality of our “follower-ship” matter to our salvation? Obviously of course, how we follow Christ is an external representation of the internal heart – but not always. Outwardly actions and appearances sometimes can be deceiving. Some of this all boils down to semantics obviously, too. Interesting question.
when they decide to follow Christ.
great question.
Romans 10:9…I believe a more accurate question would be when do you ACT like a Christ follower.
i’ll fess up :) i am the one who (subtly) suggested that Anne put this question to the Flowerdust community. but, it seems my wording may have been unclear.
my curiosity…sorry to throw out a $64 word here…was largely soteriological in nature. that is, what is your understanding/belief about when someone enters into a saving relationship with God?
hope that helps!
I agree with John C. I don’t see in studying the Word, that it ultimately has anything to do with us or what we do. If God knows everything, then He decides the appointed time when He calls us and we respond. In this kind of calling, there is confidence that we are his child.
If it was a process and up to us to take steps, then how could someone on their death bed ever become a believer?
I feel the process you talk about is Christian Maturity, a mark of a true conversion is that we begin to take steps to become more like Christ. But in my opinion the moment of conversion is when Christ calls us and we accept.
Thanks John Ireland for the $64 word that I’ve never heard!! (actually, I think it’s worth more like $164 maybe?) OK – so I’m a caveman! Anyway, now I’m one word smarter today! (“soteriological” – largely related to the theology of salvation.)
With that said, boy, NOW we’ve asked the $64 million dollar question! This should keep this blog busy for awhile.
In my mind I make a distinction — a semantic one, admittedly — between becoming a Christian and being a Christ follower. To me, being a Christ follower is more than subscribing to an idea; it’s more than saying “I believe in Jesus.” Like James says “… faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (2:17, NIV). That’s not to say our works save us, but they are an indication of the true condition of our hearts.
I was thinking this the other day. Sometimes I have doubts.
When you find the truth.
I searched for the truth for /years/. When I found it, I didn’t just follow him, I chased him down.
Wow, I love your comment Cindy…good visual.
Unfortunately, I’ve got a problem with my legs or something because my personal relationshp with Jesus Christ began twenty years ago and has resulted in me chasing Him down very few times, I’m ashamed to say. Well, I guess not totally ashamed cause I just said it.
Anyway, whether you say it out loud, pray it with a pastor, head to the altar, stare at a sunset, follow a nudge to the poorest in the world, or are looking down from a high rise apartment…someone gets salvation when they believe, like a child, that Jesus is real and sign on, in faith, to being covered by his undeserved love.
you are welcome, John C!
Lori: if i understand your comment correctly, i think we might differ. i wholeheartedly believe that God’s unchanging will is for all to know Him; that He has not predetermined who will be saved and when they will be saved. i have no problem believing that He knows those two things about all of us. i simply don’t believe He has already decided. put another way, i am Wesleyan in my theology as opposed to Calvinist. :)
Get this, I’m obviously Calvinistic, but both my kids attend Indiana Wesleyan University!
Lori: certainly did not mean to label! reckon i misunderstood part of your earlier comment. :) i was more identifying myself as Wesleyan than pegging you as Calvinist.
That’s ok, I love the Lord same as you!!
When you start having a reflection?
uh, when they start following him, hence the term “Christ follower” :-)
I’m with Bob…
I’m about the journey, not the event.
Settling into the “classroom of life,” seeking Him as the teacher, role model, guide… knowing full well sometimes the class will throw me some curve balls I will need His help with, and sometimes I will spit some spit wads I will need His forgiveness from. Troubles uninvited or brought on by ourselves, to me, seem to need time to process.
Blessings,
Roxanne
It really is more of a journey than event. Having said that, i believe you instantly receive His grace as you begin to change your mind about your selfish pursuit in life and begin to pursue God’s will.
“Accept Christ” …. What verse is THAT ???
Since when did Jesus need ME to accept HIM? He’s not a fraternity pledge.
Thankfully he graciously accepted me.
And Ghandi was a Christ follower but is now eternally separated unless there is something he didn’t reveal before he stepped into eternity.
personal i have never cared for the term “Christ Follower”. i also don’t like the term born again christian, christian, believer and so on… i am not into labels…but to answer the question…when an individual puts their faith and trust in Jesus Christ…
When someone gives their lives to love and follow Christ. The two main questions God is asking throughout scripture are, “Do you love me?” and “Do you trust me?” A true Christ follower is learning to say “Yes!” to both questions. And the invitation is his, not ours.
BTW, the word “Christian” is used 3 times in scripture. “Believer” about 20 times. “Saint” about 70. And “disciple”? 269 times. There’s a message there.
Brad’s insight into words brought up a thought, I’ve been looking for the term “personal relationship” lately and I’m having a tough time finding it. In reference to the common phrase “personal relationship with Jesus Christ”.
Anyone have insight?
peace|dewde
dewde.com
This is what has put me in a quandary lately and has literally made me question every single thing about my faith/Christianity: How much of my Christian faith/relationship with God – what it all means – the whole deal – is a valid expression of a true concept and manner with which God has conceived and designed for us, and how much of it is merely a product of the culture I’ve lived in around other “Christians” – (saying doing the right things) along with the American Christian Culture, the culture of the church I accepted Christ at (in my mid 20s) the worship culture, music culture, etc. How much of it is really true and real to what God would have designed? Does it look this way in eternity?
Case in point that I’ve been asking myself and posing this scenario: At a very young age you’re left on a deserted island. You have no understanding of God or faith, no bible, just you and an island. (OK, I know, far fetched, but run with me here!) What would my faith look like THEN? How would it come about? Would it at all? Would I have a “natural hunger for God? A natural hunger to worship God? (as I so often hear I should?) Is there any way a person like this can come to eternal salvation in Christ? I call this concept “desert island Christianity.” In some ways, that’s what I want my faith to look like. What if it were just God and me without all the extra fuss we make around it all? Then what would it look like? (Is anyone following me here or am I sounding totally wacked?) (I may be!)
Being a follwer suggests a journey. But on that journey you have to be willing to commit to that leader (in this case being Jesus).
Therefore when he said, “And He summoned the multitude with His disciples, and said to them, ?If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” pretty much sums it up.
When you acknowledge that you are saying YES to Jesus, you are a follower….the journey is the hard part.
Brad…you are a numbers man…still don’t like labels though…
As a young person sitting in a circus tent in the middle of a cow pasture in Pennsylvania with about 35,000 other young people, I will never forget the definition of a (then) twenty-something evangelist from Washington, DC, Larry Tomczak:
“Coming under the loving Lordship of Jesus Christ, and being joined to a company of imperfect people who are trying to live a new life in a new way.”
May not be a perfect definition, but it always stuck with me.
And now Anne, I’ve got one for you: Is salvation a progressive (i.e. gradual) experience or a crisis (i.e. instantaneous) experience? That’s a key question in the Christian & Missionary Alliance denomination, which, if I remember my C&MA doctrine correctly, believes it is a bit of both.
so i’m too tired right now to read all the comments, but i’ll definitely get on that later. i did want to add my two cents, though …. my apologies if i repeat something that someone already said.
i think the wording of the question is notable: when does someone become a “CHRIST FOLLOWER” … this question does not seem to be asking about SALVATION, but about SANCTIFICATION.
here’s my very basic understanding of the difference between the two:
salvation has NOTHING to do with our own efforts. salvation is entirely the work of God in Christ on the Cross and through the Resurrection. substitutionary atonement that is available should we choose to embrace it.
sanctification, on the other hand, has quite a bit to do with our own efforts. it is the process of God taking us from being only positionally righteous (He looks at us and sees Jesus’ imputed righteousness — salvation) to being also practically righteous (actually righteous in our thoughts and actions). sanctification is becoming like Jesus … sanctification is the process of Christ living through us.
so if someone is a CHRIST FOLLOWER … that would mean they are following in Christ’s footsteps. this involves a whole lot more than just saying a sinner’s prayer and asking for the blood of Jesus to cover all sin. and i don’t know if there is a ‘moment’ … there may be a first time, after salvation, that a believer finds the proper place that good works holds in their faith, and they being the walk of sanctification, but it’s a process, and it can be an up/down, stop/start, fall off the horse/get back on type of a thing. not like salvation, which, because it is wholly the work of Christ, is unchangeable and unstoppable.
at this point i’m so tired that i’m afraid of incoherence, so i’ll stop now :D
I think those are really good ways to put it, Rachel.
TIMELY !!! And time consuming at a little over an hour, but worth it.
http://www.extremetheology.com/2008/10/the-huge-differ.html
I agree with Phil T. in that there is an instantaneous event that occurs. I think some of us realize it and others not so much. At that point I think most of us say be our Lord and Savior but really don’t understand the Lord portion of that title. It is that portion that comes with time and experience and the refiners fire as I was reminded by a dear friend yesterday.
May we all be better Followers of Christ!
as indicated above, i instigated this whole discussion when anne and i were swapping a couple of e-mails.
seems i should offer some follow-ups:
jud: if you are suggesting that there is no role of response/acceptance/receiving each of us has when presented the grace of salvation available through Christ, then i think we fundamentally disagree. certainly, i may have misunderstood your initial comment.
brad: seems right…how often do we overemphasize something and miss Jesus’ point altogether?
rachel: thanks for your thoughts…my curiosity with the question i posed to anne was connected to salvation; though, as someone who aligns with wesleyan doctrine, i appreciate your words about sanctification (aka spiritual holiness :))
thanks, all, for engaging in this!
I love that term. I see it as facing us with a constant choice in life, to follow or not to follow Christ. As a Christian I all to easily fall in love with the fact I’m saved… but for what? Sure I’ll go to heaven if I’m a believer but I still have to face that choice of following or not following daily, hourly, even by the minute! It’s a great way for me to see my faith as a work in progress, not just a destination.
John,
Accept or TRUST.
The semantics of “accept” imply a man centered Gospel. This is where my Calvinism (moderate) comes in and where I get very concerned about the direction of the church today. Where in scripture do we see anyone not already in a relationship with Christ SEEKING God. The Bible is clear that God seeks man, not the other way around. Now, a Christian led by the Holy Spirit seeks after God. But of our own, without Christ we seek what satisfies the flesh.
This is where I have a huge problem with the idea of “seeker” churches. Man seeks after a form of godliness and most of these churches offer just that… a form of godliness. “Is a servant greater than his Master” no one seems to question how many of todays church leaders have a much greater favorability than Jesus experienced during his ministry… especially at the end when His “followers” if you will, had dwindled to tiny numbers.
So, Jesus doesn’t need me to “accept” him, rather to place all of my trust in him.
I heard a recent Rob Bell talk in which he went to great lengths to convince his audience that Peter sunk beneath the waves because he lacked faith NOT IN JESUS…. but HIMSELF !!!!
That’s just a brief example of the error that is widely accepted in the Church today. Man centered theology, not CHRIST centered theology.
jud ~ thanks for that last comment! i am more clear now on what you meant, and – overall – i agree. i suspect my wesleyan bent would get me only so far. :)
“So, Jesus doesn?t need me to ?accept? him, rather to place all of my trust in him.” ~ well said. by accept, i more meant “receive” in the sense of a person appropriating the gift of salvation through faith in Christ. certainly did mean to suggest a simple (and cheap) mental assent.
blessings…
They just did. :-)
They asked the question.
Ask and you shall receive!
http://danamj79.blogspot.com/
Simplify people!
In all things, especially the gospel, KISS:
Keep It Simple Stupid or Keep It Stupid Simple
(depending on how you look at the world)
Either way, these answers ARE EASY! Jesus said, “ask and you shall receive” “seek and you will find”
The hard questions:
How do we fix the world economy?
Why haven’t we found a cure for AIDS yet, are the researches retarded or is it that hard?
The truth, as I understand it from my cousin, a biologist, is THEY NEED MORE MONEY to do the research! You just took away their grant and they needed to fire people and now this college educated, mother of four kids under 5 years old is on welfare while her brain and skills rot away!
HONESTLY, does anyone in the world have a brain other than me?
Another good question to ask or problem to solve. People die everyday while waiting for organs. WHY? Didn’t that wife deserve to keep her husband another year? Shouldn’t this eight year old little girl know the joy of hugging her mommy at her high school graduation? WHY ARE WE SO SELFISH?
Shouldn’t there be a national kidney donor registry? All of us can live with only one kidney, did you know that? (my aunt says, God didn’t intend for us to live with one kidney…well, maybe God intended for us to make our own choice about our own body) Perhaps God in His infinite wisdom gave us two kidneys, two lungs for a reason. Unlike a heart and liver, also both vital organs, (vital means you’ll die if they malfunction) but we only have one of these, so you can only be a heart donor at death. Should I have the choice to give you my lung or kidney to save your life? I WILLING TO DO IT, are you? I’m a blood donor, I save lives regularly, DO YOU?
The truth, you can live with one lung, don’t freak out if you get lung cancer, IT’S TREATABLE!
You can live with one kidney or on dialysis for years, don’t freak out! Doctors are trained to handle this stuff! Relax, God’s got the big issues. He created people capable of helping you when you are sick. It’s your responsibility to seek treatment and mental help if you get afraid or depressed. YOUR MENTAL HEALTH IS YOUR JOB!
We, the church in America, really should be better at answering the stupid little questions, like “when does someone become a follower?” Before you can follow you have to seek.
Seek and ye shall find.
Your thoughts?
What questions do you think we should be asking and solving instead. The answers about God stuff are in the text book, read the bible and look them up! WE HAVE BIGGER PROBLEMS HERE TO WORRY ABOUT. OMG!
significant correction: certainly did NOT mean to suggest a simple (and cheap) mental assent.
:)
wow…
when you stop following everyone else and put Him first.
So, what’s the score? Who’s winning? Christians vs. Christ-followers, gotta love it. Can’t you just be Christ acknowledgers? Following sounds messy and uncomfortable. There might not be a convenient place to load yer iPod, recharge yer iPhone, or post to yer blog…(grin)
messy and uncomfortable – very well put
but maybe the election will make us all clean, and cozy : – (((((((
the very moment you accept Jesus!
The Holy Spirit becomes a part of who you are at this time and then He begins to lead you, step by wobbly step, as you grow up with Him in the knowledge of His will, and experience His forgiveness and grace.
i like messy and uncomfortable. these adjectives may have different ways of manifesting themselves for different people, but, regardless of what they’re describing, i feel those words are pretty clear indicators of a life that is dedicated to serving God.
It is interesting how the wording of the question forces us to make distinctions and/or assumptions. That the word “start” was used implies that there is some kind of non-christian/christian line, that the transformation is very black and white. I’ve noticed that a lot of responders have stated that they feel “it’s more of a process”, which implies that the the line between a non-christian and a christian is more of a large gray expanse between the dark and the light. I like that imagery. I like grayness. Not because I enjoy indistinctness or confusion, but because in my years as an individual seeking to be more like the Christ, I’ve found that there are a lot of life situations that don’t it into neat little back and white boxes. And that sometimes we do ourselves and our Lord a disservice by trying to make something a clean and easy 3-step process that just isn’t. C.S. Lewis talks a lot about this in “Mere Christianity”.
Just adding to the noise.
Remember that there is a difference between a Christ follower and a good Christ follower. Or a new Christ follower and an experienced Christ follower. If I give my life to Jesus, my first step toward him qualifies me as a follower.
I have to disagree with that Brad. A “good” Christian? … “No not ONE” . The word “experience” implies something done on our end of the deal. My how works based righteousness has creeped into the church! The “seeker” movement has so diluted the expositing of sound doctrine and it’s absolute ricchness. I wonder, how many “christians” have never bowed the knee in true repentance (because we don’t use that word) in repentance of sin (because we know our audience doesn’t like that word) in surrender (because that concept doesn’t play well to suburban Americans) to the Living God. Instead we give people busy work… get involved in this, go be a part of that… take a short term mission trip… do an “in depth” study of ROB BELL”S philosophical meanderings. People leave our weekend fabricated “experiences” jolted full of energy out of what they experienced but have to come crawling back out of desperation the next week. Since when did Christianity began producing such a bi-polar product. I contend when we began “producing” and making “products”.
We appease people with month long jaunts into “How to get along with people better”, “How to love your Job”, “How to have better Sex” , How to get along with my teenager” and “I love the 80’s and Jesus loves you” kind of message series that, end the end do not bring lost people before the law and show them not only the END of themselves but and their need for salvation, but string them along with “practical” advice to improve their lives.
Which is…. works based righteousness and the art of making false converts not disciples. This is all backed up in the Pew research polls and the Willow Creek and Granger surveys that were released earlier this year.
well…
i was a Christian for 23 years before i was saved.
i was saved for 7 years before i loved God.
i don’t know.
Mallory:
I think that is the most authentic and accurate perspective yet. Thank you for sharing.
peace|dewde