How I decided to pursue becoming a little Christ

I said the sinners prayer when I was eight.
I didn't really take ownership of my faith until about ten years later, when I really asked myself the question... what does it mean to be a 'Christian'?

Growing up in church culture I had head/seen/used the word in many forms. It seemed to mean someone who went to church, read their Bible and prayed. Someone who probably didn't drink, smoke or cuss. All the people I knew who called themselves Christians squirmed at the mention of sex, and especially homosexuality. Every single one of them voted Republican. I mean, at least the real Christians did. Mostly I just heard the word 'Christian' used as an adjective you attach to things... You know, a magazine, a book, a radio station or a CD. At 18, I was confused... did Christianity even exist outside church buildings and Christian bookstores? Cause everything else seemed to be a little sketchy to me. All this talk about 'the world' and avoiding it was confusing.

I opened my bible to Matthew and started reading... what does it mean to be a Christian? Well, first thing... did you know they Jesus never used the term Christian? Apparently it was a name that people started to identify Jesus' followers after he left earth, while they were going around preaching and healing people. They called themselves followers of The Way. (Combine that name with all the rumors flying around about how they ate flesh and drank blood and you could imagine the level of confusion that arose. Sounds super sketch, huh?) Anyway, people started calling them Christians, which literally means 'little Christ's'. Apparently there was some controversy surrounding the title because the followers of The Way didn't necessarily think they were worthy of such a tittle. But, apparently something about them must have resembled Jesus' life one earth, because otherwise they wouldn't have been given the name.

Obviously, it stuck. It seems to me that the meaning has been diluted over the years. Not only do we throw the title around without serious consideration for it's true meaning... we started calling objects 'little Christ's'... you know, magazines... CD's. I don't know about you, but I am more than a little uncomfortable calling a person a little Christ, much less assigning the title to a piece of paper.

So, what does it mean to be a Christian? Well, It seems to me the direct definition is to BE a little Christ... to follow the example Jesus set, and live life as he demonstrated for us and how he told us to while he was here on earth.

...If only that was a simple task.

While I was reading through Matthew, the subsequent gospels and then the writings of Paul, I took very specific notes. I listed everything that gave me guidance on how to live.

Yeah, it was a LONG list. An entire notebook to be exact.

But you know, as I started to analyze this list I realized that I had been doing it pretty wrong. The focus had always been on what we are not supposed to do. But after careful consideration I had a thought, maybe we should weigh things by how much Jesus said them. See, it seems to me that Jesus is trying to tell us to DO something... I mean, he repeated it over and over. It seems like he wants us to love, and not just people at church... but everyone. Once I realized that I started to think about what that would mean. If we really loved people, most of the rest of the stuff we are supposed to do would come as a by product. Similarly, it seemed like the stuff we are not supposed to do probably wouldn't happen as much. And you know what else is funny, he didn't seem to go to church very often.

At 18 I was finally evaluating my faith and I discovered something a little surprising.. I was going to like being a Christian. Like most, I had become disenchanted with church politics and religion. I was looking for something that gave my life purpose and it seemed to me that Jesus did that. I mean, what better thing to live for than love? I started thinking about all of the people I admired in the world... you know, Mother Theresa, Gandhi, MLK, Nelson Mandela... What did they have in common? Well, They lived for a purpose beyond themselves. They put themselves in harms way, gave up material possessions and did what was right. They helped people, they demonstrated something real, something I could get excited about living for.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that Jesus was even better than all of them. He was truly selfless, the only one capable of really loving unconditionally. Suddenly, I realized that I wanted to be a little Christ! I mean Jesus was a pretty sweet dude, If I could be half the person he was I will change the world. But, you know what... I realized that don't have to. All I need to do is love people and show them God loves them too. All I have to do is change a few people's lives by showing them what is real worth living for. ... I will leave the changing the world stuff to the pros.