Whenever I tell people that I go to church and that I’m a Christian, they always ask me to be more specific. Which church? Are you Catholic? What denomination are you?
I just started David Platt’s book Radical, and as I read it, one word comes to mind. I also was going through Google Reader just now, where I saw that Ray Ortlund posted through his blog on The Gospel Coalition’s site the promo video for Rob Bell’s new book, Love Wins. And the same word comes to mind, but with a new prefix.
I tell people that I’m a Christian, nothing more, and they respond with a “Oh,” or a “Oh, okay,” as if they suddenly lost interest. Now, I don’t know if my not being of a denomination is the reason the topic tends to change after that, or if they respond this way to any answer and had only asked the question for the sake of asking the question and/or the sake of learning one small fact about me. But I think I’m going to change my answer to this question. Unfortunately, telling more and more people that I’m “Christian” seems to leave them hanging and confused.
The word that came to my mind was biblical. If there was one word to summarize the small amount of Radical that I’ve read so far, it would be biblical; David Platt encourages us to remove ourselves from the sphere of influence that is the world and America and replace ourselves in the atmosphere of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. If there was one word to summarize Rob Bell’s teaching that Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection allow a free passage to heaven for everyone, regardless of whether or not they repented for their actions, regardless of whether or not they confessed Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, it would be unbiblical.
It’s crucial to know that God has given us His Word in order to speak to us, to teach us, to allow us to get to know Him better. I wish I could express how important, how essential the Bible’s teaching are to our relationship with Jesus. If we should neglect the Bible, then we would have forgotten the good news that saved our souls for eternity. Our beliefs should be centered on biblical teachings that are from Jesus, with all our words and actions and relationships stemming from these teachings. And let us not forget, all of this stems ultimately from an adoration of Christ and a desire to worship him forever with all that we are because He has saved us from ourselves and the ramifications of our sin. The Bible is it, and it is a joy to know this. God’s Word is accessible to you in many forms, the Bible being one of the two main ways (prayer being the other). Thank God for the Truth that is in Christ Jesus, and devote your life to the exalting of this Truth.
With that being said, I’ve come up with a new response to questions about my denomination. If someone were to ask me what denomination I am, I will tell them that I am a biblical Christian. (There really shouldn’t be a need for this—the title “Christian” should be enough to tell the questioner that I’m a Christ-follower.) Hopefully this will let them know that being Christian means following God and His Word and its teachings because it is the only appropriate response to His great Love for us.
Everyone should at the foundation of their beliefs be a biblical Christian. Let’s be one Church, please.
