Welcome to the Coffee-side Chat series on the Simple Not Shallow podcast. This podcast is for those who want to enrich their faith, and this series is doing so, one thoughtful sip at a time. My name is Charles. Over the past 9 years, I’ve come to see that there is no better way for friends to talk about Jesus and our faith than over a cup of coffee, or Coffee-side, you might say. So grab yourself some coffee and put on your thinking cap, cause here we go.
In this episode, the question we will explore to enrich our faith is:
What is Christianity? Or to phrase it another way, what does it mean to be a Christian?
I mean, since the goal here is to enrich our faith as Christians. We should probably discuss what it means to be a Christian. Right?
Here’s what I have found while looking through the Bible. Christianity is following Jesus. Now, before you say, “Well, duh, Captain Obvious…” Allow me to share some of what I have found to lie just under the surface of that simple phrase. I tell you what, let me first offer a definition of what it is, and then how I came to this definition.
Christianity is: a following of Jesus the Christ that involves, first and foremost, a relationship, leading to studentship, leading to actions taken, to a life lived, based on what is learned. And this is the order in which they must occur: you love Jesus, you learn from him, and then you live based on what you have learned.
And here is something else to consider: It is not one or the other of these three things, but all of them, altogether. Indeed, you cannot have one without the others and be a true follower of Jesus.
This means that without studentship, you have no real relationship, and without a relationship, you have no true studentship. If you do not live out what you have learned, not only have you not truly learned anything, but you are also demonstrating that you do not have a relationship, for love leads to action (James 2:14-25).
For if you focus only on the relationship to the exclusion of the other two, you get feel-good mushy chaos. Where, more or less, anything goes. And, if you focus exclusively on either of the others, you get cold, calculating, harsh rules and judgmentalness.
Balance. You must have balance. They must exist in balance with each other, or you do not have what the Bible describes as a follower of Jesus.
Now, you may be thinking, “Ok. That’s all well and good. But I want to know how you came up with this definition.” Fair enough.
In order: Relationship first: the two greatest commands are to love, all else is based on these two, Matt. 22:34-40. Since the commands on which all else is based are relational, to love God and then our neighbors, the relationship must be first, for the other two parts of our definition must also be based on this love. Right? Also, 1 John 4:8 says that whoever does not love does not even know God. Kind of hard to follow Jesus if you don’t know him. Don’t you think? Just what love is will have to be the topic for another day. But for now, the relationship must be first.
Ok, second, learn: Matt 11:28-30, take my yoke upon you and learn from me. I find that to be pretty straightforward. To come to him involves learning from him. If we are to follow him. And in John 15:15, Jesus calls the disciples friends because he has made known (or taught) to them all he had heard from the Father; in other words, to be his disciple involved learning from him. And, third: live a life based on what we learned. John 15:10 says if we abide in Him and his love, we will keep his commands: in other words, we will do the things he teaches. (As an interesting side note: take note v.12, here his stated command is to love each other as he loves us; part of following him is learning from him how to love). Ok, back to our regular scheduled program… I’ve always wanted to say that. Anyway, abiding in him leads to doing. This is highlighted in James 2:17, where we are told that faith without works is no faith at all; it is dead. So too a loving relationship in which you do nothing is not a loving relationship at all. And if not a relationship, not a following of Jesus.
I’ll list more Scripture references in the show notes so you can look into this further if you wish.
Now, granted… granted… granted. This is all very streamlined. There is much more that could be said, but the coffee is running short, and so must I.
But before we wrap up our chat, there is one more thing I’d like you to sip on. The life we live from his teachings is not divided into two parts, daily life and Sunday religious churchy life. It is one life, and that one complete life is to be a full expression of what we have learned as we relate to him. Our whole life (both inside and outside a church building) is a part of our worship of God. Our whole life becomes our religious expression to him.
Now, you might be thinking, “I’m no monk. How is my whole life a religious expression?”
Well, this is based on something else James tells us. In James 1:27, he tells us what God considers pure religion. But, before I share that, do you know what God calls pure religion? Take a moment, what would make sense for a religion to be pure?
Ready for this? Here is what James says God considers pure religion: looking after the vulnerable and the helpless, not being influenced by worldly or cultural considerations, and, while doing this, minding our tongue. All of which is done outside of the service times of your local church. Your life lived is your religious expression of following Jesus. That may be worth another cup of coffee.
Anyway. What do you think? If you don’t mind, let me know all about what you are thinking in this episode’s comments section. Click on the link provided in the show notes for this episode. Copy and paste it if you need to. And once on this episode’s home page, scroll down, and you will find that comment box and can share away. Thank you for listening and for sharing.
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Well, until next time, then. May you continue to grow in your relationship, your learning, and your living, based on everything you have learned. In so doing, may you come to learn the full depth, width, and height of his love for you.
May your relationship with Jesus grow and your coffee cup overflow.