Is Christian Still a Label Worth Wearing?

Tough Questions. Real Answers.
Is Christian Still a Label Worth Wearing?

I. Introduction

A. “After years of pondering and searching, the great gift of faith in Our Lord Jesus Christ, as Our Savior, came back to me on a December afternoon.” (Anne Rice)

B. “Today I quit being a Christian … I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being ‘Christian’ or to being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to ‘belong’ to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.” (Anne Rice)

II. Back to the Beginning – The Original Meaning

A. Acts 11:26 (NLT) When he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. Both of them stayed there with the church for a full year, teaching large crowds of people. (It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.)

B. I Peter 4:16 (NIV) However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.

C. Semantic Drift: The process by which a word’s meaning changes over time. Sometimes cultural change, casual overuse, or broader application stretches a precise, weighty term until it loses much of its original specificity and force.

III. Marks of Christless Christianity

A. Mark 3:1-2 (NIV) ¹Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. ²Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath.

1. Christless Christianity is good at what’s wrong, but offers very little to make it .

B. Mark 3:3 (NIV) Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”

1. Christless Christianity to the back the very people Jesus is calling to the .

C. Mark 3:4a (NIV) Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?”

1. Christless Christianity looks for opportunities to . Jesus looks for opportunities to show .

2. Christless Christianity makes your a biblical principle.

3. Mark 3:4 (NIV) Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.

4. Sometimes we think righteousness is simply avoiding bad things. Jesus reminds us that righteousness also means refusing to ignore opportunities to do good.

D. Mark 3:5 (NIV) He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.

E. Mark 3:6 (NIV) Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

1. Christless Christianity becomes so with everyone else’s sins that it loses sight of its own.

IV. Conclusion