Follower of Christ

Yesterday I went and talked to one of my professors after class and we were just casually talking about a book that I had mentioned and he asked me a question that really made me think. He knew that I wasn’t Catholic and that I was a theology major and he asked me if it bothered me studying theology at a Catholic college. I said, no I haven’t really come across any problems yet. He said well I was just wondering because I have been teaching Catholic Theology in this class. (The class is theology of christian marriage.) That took me off guard, I said, “Really?...oh.” I guess it hit me right then and there that I didn’t really know what the difference was. I mean we believe in the same God and yet there are all these differences between our “religions.” I was raised as christian reformed and thats what I had always identified myself as. Whenever some asked me if I was religious I would say yeah, Im christian. Then they would say back, ok what kind? People would usually say some variation of that and so then I would say, “Im christian reformed.” That always struck me as weird that people needed to ask that second question and that moment with my professor put it into perspective for me. Why is there this separation within the church? The more I thought about it I realized that I don’t really identify myself as christian reformed either. I’m simply a christian, a follower of the one true God and of Jesus Christ. I mean we all have the same Bible yet why are we so different? Jesus didn’t come to start a new religion or separate us, he came to unify us in God. I don’t necessarily identify myself as a christian in the traditional sense. I AM a follower of Jesus Christ. I follow the Bible and try to live my life the way Jesus showed us and try to live it in a way that honors God. I just don’t know if I like the thoughts and stereotypes that the term “christian” provokes. When people hear that term they think judgmental, hypocritical, condemnation and so on. I don’t like that, thats not what Jesus intended, yet people act this way and don’t truly live the way Jesus shows us. People say all the time how christians are hypocritical. And yeah, thats true. Everyone is hypocritical in their own right. Everyone is hypocritical because we are all flawed, we all have sin in us. The realization of this allows us to live our lives in the best way that we can in regards to what Jesus taught. The whole time knowing that we will make mistakes, we will seem hypocritical at times but thats just because of sin. If we really make an effort to live like Christ we will, we WILL to best that is possible for us, despite sin. That is why Jesus died on the cross for us, to forgive us of our sins, even when we are hypocritical. So I don’t know if I am a “christian” in the way that people always think of it. Instead of saying I am a christian I say that I am a follower of Jesus Christ. That takes away all of the different denominations within the church and gets to the root of what its really all about.
In the book of Matthew Jesus says, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14) We as “christians” get so caught up in the traditions of the church and we sometimes miss the bigger picture. We even forget or maybe we never even knew where these traditions originated. We need to stop getting so caught up in these traditions and so caught up in the differences between church denominations and just follow Christ. Sometimes people say they are believers and they participate in all of the traditions of their particular church denomination but they are not truly christians. They don’t know what it means to be that. They are just going through the motions and not living the way that Jesus taught. They are still going down the broad road instead of getting to the root and meaning of their beliefs and taking the exit onto the narrow road. This is why so few people find it. They are distracted by all the traditions, glamour and even flaws of the “christian church.” Now don’t get me wrong I am not saying that we need to get rid of these traditions or anything, I am just saying that as followers of Christ we need to redefine what it truly means to be a christian. We need to get to the root of the religion and live it how it was meant to be. Jesus did not intend for us to be like this, separated from other believers by petty differences but for us to come together and follow him. Now I don’t really know what all the different denominations believe, or what the differences are, and I don’t care. Because I am simply a follower of Jesus Christ.