A Different Kind of Life

Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. John 17:1–3 

What does it mean to be a Christian? If you ask that question to a bunch of people, you will get a bunch of different answers. Fairly or unfairly the word Christian has a certain amount of "baggage" with some folks outside of the Church. It is not just outside the Church, however, but inside as well that there is often confusion or even wrong belief about what it means to be a Christian. My aim in this short e-mail is not to address the ins and outs of the confusion and misunderstand or to fix them all. Rather, my aim is simply to assert that the Biblical portrail of what it means to be a Christian is to be one who is a follower of Jesus. It is a person who has (an) eternal (kind of) life -- which is in fact a very different kind of life. 

Jesus defines the essence of eternal life as a knowing God and Jesus. The knowing he is referring to is not a knowing about, or knowing the rules, but a qualitative, relational, learning from and walking with God. Knowing about him is important in that it helps us flesh out who he is and who we love. It's Valentines Day, so I'll throw in a courting analogy. If you are interested in a person and they are interested in you, you seek to get to know them: what are their dreams, passions, likes, dislikes? This includes knowing about them, but is not only knowing about them. If a relationship is only knowing about someone, it's actually kind of creepy. No, this is relationship, that you might know them; and this is eternal life, that you might know God and Jesus whom he sent.

And so, the life of a follower of Jesus -- a Christian -- is learning in this love, and walk in a deepening knowledge of Jesus. Todd Hunter in his book Christianity Beyond Belief does a good job of defining what this looks like. He says a Christian is a "cooperative friend of Jesus, seeking to live lives of creative goodness in every aspect of their lives, through the power of the Holy Spirit, for the sake of the world." 

I think that is a fair definition, one that fleshes out this growing knowledge and one that can be a check to see if we are living into our calling to Christ and to the world. 

I recommend Todd's book, you can purchase it here.

I also recommend the book Lent for Everyone. I am encouraging everybody at Creekside to purchase this book and read along as a devotional during the Lenten season. I think you will find it to be a good resource as you seek to live our your calling to be a cooperative friend of Jesus, living the eternal life that he has given you. You can order our devotional here.  Lent begins on February 22nd.

Peace, hope and love

Doug