Portrait of the Christian

I wasn't into Star Wars initially. Sure, I had seen the films because of my interest in Science Fiction and partly from idle curiosity. However, when George Lucas announced that he was working on the prequels to the popular Star Wars film, I suddenly became interested.

I wanted to find out about the story of Anakin Skywalker - how he got made (into a Jedi) and how he became re-made (into the fearsome Darth Vader). Since then, it has been an almost common occurrence for the film industry to want to tell the story that made the story.

What makes a Christian? What are his/her unique features? Does the secular view of the Christian match what the scriptures' description?

If we are to be successful in this exercise, there are 2 features that we need to identify clearly - who must a Christian be and what s/he must do. While these two are somewhat intertwined, they are still nevertheless distinctly different. Be-ing is the internal state which may not necessary have outward projection for casual observation. Do-ing represents the outward projection(s) that may be observed.

Be-ing
Who a Christian must be can be grouped under the collection of Jesus' teachings which Oniwaasu will summarise as "Belief in Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Saviour". Passages such as -

"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6).
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16).
"Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.....and you will find rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:28-29).

- to name only a few, hang off this immovable, non-negotiable pillar of salvation. It follows that if anyone wants to be like Christ (i.e. a Christian), this belief has to be part of their be-ing. If we miss this, we would miss salvation and eternity [with Christ]


Do-ing
What are the things that Jesus commands His followers to do? The point here is about activities that are observable. It was in Antioch that this observation led to the coinage of the term - Christian. The first-generation Christians were observed to behave like the crucified Christ. However it is important to separate Man's observations from the actual directions given by the resurrected Christ. Rather than simply re-capturing the observations that were made in Antioch, it is much better to refer to what Jesus actually said about what His people must do.

As mentioned in the previous post, Jesus' key directions on this issue are 2-fold -

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them....,  teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:16-20).
"You are the salt of the earth....You are the light of the world....Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:13-16)

From these 2 passages, we can summarise what a Christian must do as the following -

• Evangelism (calling all to repentance and baptism in the name of the Triune-God)
• Teaching the gospel as demonstrated by Jesus
• Good works, for the glorification of the Father [not to the do-er]

Of these, the 2nd point appears to be divisive yoke among the modern-day Church. What message did Jesus preach and pass on to his disciples to carry forward? The answer to this question lies not in a deep, complex theological exegesis but in Jesus' own response to the question about the greatest commandment.

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind....Love your neighbour as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:37-40)

This means that all of Jesus' teachings - His divine grasp of the scriptures, fervent prayer, submission to the will of the Father, fasting, resisting the wiles of the devil, calling all to repentance, caring for the poor, loving the neglected, miracles etc.. -, are grouped into these 2 summary teachings. Also under these is the apostolic teaching on the fruits of the Holy Spirit.


Faith, in summary
These be-ing and do-ing are the un-mistakable portrait of the Christian. They make up the story before the [Christian] stories. Be-ing in its tiniest tangible form must lead to a certain degree of do-ing. Be-ing is the existence of faith, while do-ing is a demonstration of that faith.

Therefore, the essence of the Christian portrait is the existence and demonstration of faith in Christ Jesus as Lord and Saviour, as directed by the Messiah.

Many have been observed to be do-ing like the Christ commanded - in whole, in part or erroneously, but are not necessarily be-ing what Christ directed. It also follows that there are those who are be-ing as directed but not do-ing in whole as directed [by Christ].

Oniwaasu finds that in this simplified model, possibly, lies a problem.