What is the TRUE meaning of Christian??

Question

I'm sort of on a roll tonight and I've asked 2 questions already - so bear with me. It's just that...I've had a lot of really interesting experiences (that's a nice way to put it) and I'm asking a lot of questions. My faith in God and love for Him has NEVER waivered - but my belief in religion and the church is in serious question. I've been a Christian since I was very small. no one ever told me about God - I just knew and I loved Him. Still do. Despite 15 years spent in an abusive cult and later being asked to leave a church because I initiated a divorce from an abusive man. I am now engaged to a man from India and I'm finding that a LOT of what we Christians in the West call Christianity is SIMPLY CULTURE...and I feel confined by the things the church says/does...I want to know what is really necessary to be a true Christian? I think it's just faith and love in God...the rest (doing His will, etc) comes from that...am I right? I can't believe it's a list of rules any more.

Answer 1

For me Jesus is one of my three favorites along with Krishna & Guru Nanak. What I really like in all of them was their revolutionary approach towards the society & you'll find this in all their teachings. Once one of the disciple of Jesus asked him which is the most important commandment out of the ten or what should be the real commandment that we should follow to be a good person, for which Jesus replied there are only two commandments which one should follow, first one love your God with all your heart, mind & soul & second one love your neighbor as yourself, only these two are the most important that make any one a good person. Now let’s see do we have any one in our time who really followed these two commandments in real sense? Yes we do have one such person whom most of us know & she was mother Treasa, this lady was a good Christian & a very good person we had in our time. She loved the God with her heart & mind & loved her neighbors as herself, here every one next to you is your neighbor & for her the poor & destitute people suffering with all sorts of diseases were her neighbors whom she loved just like herself. She was a true Christian. If you want to be one like her just do as she did, Love the God with your heart mind & soul & love your neighbor as yourself, just forget every thing else just by doing these two things you will become not only a good Christian but a good human being.

Answer 2

I totally understand why you divorced that man, and in my eyes, it is not your fault, but I'm just a man, not god. I believe it is not your fault, because the man obviously decieved you into believing that he's friendly and kind, then turned nasty.

To be a true christian, you must study gods word. I know for a fact that NO-ONE study's harder than Jehovahs Witnesses. They can show you in the bible, ANYTHING about there faith, from the fact that the christian bible makes it clear that hell is not a place of torment, it is where every dead person is sleeping, to the fact that the trinity is not what god teaches. They are the only ones I have found that don't cover up things in the bible, or bring in personal opinions. For them it's fact only, nothing more, nothing less.

They're quite friendly too

Answer 3

Being a Christian, is not just having faith in "God." Christianity is about loving the one true God and his son, Jesus- who died on the cross so that we wouldn't be condemned to Hell. It is about having a PERSONAL relationship with Jesus Christ.
As for the Christianity of the West being simply culture. I agree with you. That is how it is for many Americans, simply something to call yourself, like a boy or a girl. But that is not how EVERYONE HERE IS. I personally, go to a church that is not like that. They believe what I just wrote. It isn't a list of rules.
Christianity isn't a religion, it is a way of life. A religion is just a list of rules.

Answer 4

Hello and to say one is a Christian it is saying one is Christ Like, and in order to find a company of believes that has a set of values that is correct one must compare what The Holy Bible says with what is taught, if the place you go to makes excuses for not obeying a plain "thus saith The Lord" then your in the wrong group, and in any relationship do not put ANY relationship above that of Jesus Christ keep Him first and if ANY person would lead you away from Christ then that relationship must be given up. As far as Faith in God that is important but its not enough to just say i believe, in James2:19 The devil believes and trembles, one must not only believe but BE-LIVE, IF ye love me [then] keep my commandments John 14:15, try some free bible lessons www.itiswritten.com God bless.

Answer 5

Forget about rules and traditions of man.....go back to the basics and read the book of Acts seeing what they did as the 1st church. Jesus wanted us to fellowship and didnt want us to be islands of worshippers. So get together and fellowship and be hospitable to others. Culture is fine to incorporate as long as you dont put culture or tradition or lifestyles in place of or instead of what Jesus wanted us to do. But dont knock the western worshippers because there are many sincere saints in the body of Christ who love the Lord and give much to helping in time and money to anyone who needs it. I look to Africa when I need encouragement . Some live with dirt floors and persecution often and still love the Lord,
Be humble and dont envy people. I used to not like wealthy people until God sent me to a church of wealthy people and I saw that some actually read the bibleand study it and were real Christians......they knew they were accountable by God for the money they had and they were to be good stewards of it. Let God deal with the people who are not handling the churches right and go to one that is bible believing and wants to know and follow Jesus. Jesus said to abide in Him. A real Christian denies themself, picks up their cross daily and follows Him.

Answer 6

Jazmin, just by you advertising to millions of people that you love your God is faith and belief by itself. As Vijay says, the two commandments are the most important and most powerful of faith.
Blessed are those who believe in me yet have NOT seen me, for they shall see the Kingdom of God. Living by faith is living Christ-Like. There is no perfect Religion. If there were, we'd all follow it am I not right? No one can cast any stones unless they are perfect and free from sin.
Keep believing in your faith and God....Your religious institution wont take you to heaven...God will. God Bless.

Answer 7

True Christianity was to worship ONE God Almighty of Abraham and all other prophets before Jesus Christ. Imagine trinity appears somewhere as if a new god appearing at a point of history. The Trinity is no where in the Holy Bible and there is not a single verse where Jesus Christ says I am your GOD or he saying worship me. If one needs salvation, one has to believe in the ONENESS of God. The truth before God is always one and is eternal. Thank you.

Answer 8

Praise be to God! We are living in this most radiant century wherein human perceptions have developed and investigations of real foundations characterize mankind. Individually and collectively man is proving and penetrating into the reality of outer and inner conditions. Therefore it has come to pass that we are renouncing all that savors of blind imitation, and impartially and independently investigating truth. Let us understand what constitutes the reality of the divine religions. If a Christian sets aside traditionary forms and blind imitation of ceremonials and investigates the reality of the gospels, he will discover that the foundation principles of the teachings of His Holiness Christ were mercy, love, fellowship, benevolence, altruism, the resplendence or radiance of divine bestowals, acquisition of the breaths of the Holy Spirit and oneness with God. Furthermore he will learn that His Holiness declared that the Father "maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." The meaning of this declaration is that the mercy of God encircles all mankind; that not a single individual is deprived of the mercy of God; and no soul is denied the resplendent bestowals of God. The whole human race is submerged in the sea of the mercy of the Lord and we are all the sheep of the one divine shepherd. Whatever shortcomings exist among us must be remedied. For example those who are ignorant must be educated so that they may become wise; the sick must be treated until they recover; those who are immature must be trained in order to reach maturity; those asleep must be awakened. All this must be accomplished through love and not through hatred and hostility. Furthermore His Holiness Jesus Christ referring to the prophecy of Isaiah, spoke of those who "having eyes, see not, having ears, hear not, having hearts, understand not," yet they were to be healed. Therefore it is evident that the bounties of Christ transformed the eye which was blind into a seeing one, rendered the ear which was formerly deaf, attentive, and made the hard,  106  callous heart tender and sensitive. In other words the meaning is that although the people possess external eyes, yet the insight or perception of the soul is blind; although the outer ear hears, the spiritual hearing is deaf; although they possess conscious hearts they are without illumination; and the bounties of His Holiness Christ save souls from these conditions. It is evident then that the manifestation of the Messiah was synonymous with universal mercy. His providence was universal and his teachings were for all. His lights were not restricted to a few. Every "Christ" came to the world of mankind. Therefore we must investigate the foundation of divine religion, discover its reality, re-establish it and spread its message throughout the world so that it may become the source of illumination and enlightenment to mankind, the spiritually dead become alive, the spiritually blind receive sight and those who are inattentive to God become awakened.  107 

(Abdu'l-Baha, Foundations of World Unity, p. 105)

Answer 9

The True Meaning of a "Christian"

(From an Historical Protestant Reformed Perspective)

At the very heart of Christianity, of course, is Christ (The Messiah or "Anointed One". The means to connect with this deity, Christ, is via faith. The true meaning of Christianity is acknowledging that Christ died for the ungodly (in particular, you), and fully trusting in Him through faith. This "faith" or "trust" is not any old belief that man can do on his own- rather, it is a special gift that God grants to us when we call upon him. With this gift of faith, we believe in Christ- that He is one with his Father, and that he came down to earth to rescue mankind from the Father's wrath. That is, Jesus was sent to rescue those who the Father has given the gift of faith. You could say that not a single one of us humans deserve anything short of hell and condemnation. This is because God is perfect and holy. He demands the very same from man. He created man as perfect, but man used his free will to disobey God. When this happened, God cast mankind out of paradise and mankind lost much of his glorious image. Man became mortal, and the earth became fragile. The law of thermodynamics kicked in. Things started going from order to disorder. So, God had to create a second "Adam". One who would be perfect, as God demands. One who's perfect blood could be shed for the remission of the sins of mankind. You see, God provided an escape route from his eternal wrath. A Christian is one who has taken that escape route by the direct call of God's spirit. A Christian is simply a sinner who God has decided to forgive in his great mercy. A Christian deserves every bit of wrath and condemnation that the unbeliever will receive, but the Christian will be pardoned on judgement day because he simply believes in and places his faith in Jesus Christ.

Answer 10

To be a Christian, the Bible says you must believe that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, that He died on the cross to cover your sins so that you may go to heaven to abide with God for all eternity. Must follow Him in being baptized and believe all the Bible teaches. It is pretty plain and simple, not complicated at all, just like Jesus is not complicated.