What a Christian is not

The following DO NOT make you a Christian:

I am a Christian because my parents were Christians

It’s great to have Christian parents! They can encourage you to go to Church, and they can teach you about Jesus and how the Bible teaches us to live, but having Christian parents does not make you a Christian.

I am a Christian because I live a good life

It’s good to try and live well, to be kind, compassionate, helpful, forgiving etc. We should try and live the best we can, but we ALL make mistakes and we all do things wrong. The bible calls this Sin. No matter how much good we do, we all at some time in our lives, do things wrong. The good will never out weight the bad.

I am a Christian because I go to church

It’s great to go to Church. It’s nice to belong, and it’s good hear hear God’s teachings. However, you can go to church and not be a Christian. You can stand in a garage, it doesn’t make you a car. You can spend all day in the sea, it doesn’t make you a fish. You can…. well, you get the point!

I became a Christian because someone baptised me

Baptism is an important part of being a Christian. Some churches baptise only adults, some churches baptise children. Either way, the baptism is an outward sign of something that has happened inside. The baptism it’self is not enough to make you a Christian, if you haven’t trusted Jesus Christ with your life, your future, with everything.

I am a Christian because I prayed a prayer at a meeting many years ago

It’s good to pray, and it’s great to ask Jesus into your life, but that’s not the end. A lot of people pray at some point in their life. People even ask Jesus to come into their life, but then do nothing more. Part of being a Christian is an initial trust in God, but then we have to daily walk with Him, join a church and live in community with His people, and learn how to live more like Jesus.

If you prayed a prayer a long time ago, and nothing has changed in your life, then it’s doubtful you are a Christian.

So having said all that, what does it actually mean to be a Christian? Lets start at the beginning.