Rev. Tatiana Cantarella

Mark 1:14–20; 8:34-37; Matthew 13:44-46

Who is a Christian?

I want to ask you a question: are there Christians here today? If you are a Christian raise you hand, please. Did everyone who believes to be a Christian raise one’s hand? Very well, thank you! That’s pretty much what I expected in the church, of course. But you know, what is interesting? If we had more time now, I would do an interview on the following topic: "Who is a Christian?" And "What is a Christian life?" And I'm more than sure that I would get very different answers. And if I asked these questions outside this church, it would be even more so. The fact that people have very different understanding of "who is a Christian" explains why life of various "Christians" is so radically different from one another. Sometimes to the point that they do not consider each other Christians, rejecting one another as "unspiritual" or a "legalist".

For some a "Christian" is a religious or highly moral person in general. Others consider themselves Christians because they attend a Christian church. Still others are Christians just because they were born in a Christian nation. I.e. they are "Christians" because they are not Muslims or Buddhists. I guess most of us would understand a Christian as "a person believing in Jesus Christ and His teachings." And although it's not a bad start and many of us are satisfied with this definition, somewhere deep down we understand that this is not all. Maybe you've had some spiritual experiences but feel still panting for more, feel that there should be something more to life. You are all for Christ and for His gospel but your spiritual life is still somewhat dry and cannot ooze with Christ and His hope as you feel it should.

And perhaps some of you were so dissatisfied with the formal understanding of Christianity that your stove for more with all your strength, and like a lot of evangelical Christians came to the understanding that a Christian is someone who has accepted Jesus Christ, His forgiveness, death and resurrection and now has the confidence that when he or she dies he will go to heaven – that’s what we also mean when we say that someone is "saved." Many believe that this is what makes one a Christian, who then always does certain things: 1) a Christian reads the Bible every day (morning or evening, or even better both times), 2) a Christian prays, and the longer the better, the more faithful that Christian is, 3) a Christian preaches to the people about Christ, is busy saving others, and 4) a Christian goes to church with every opportunity: for all the services, to all the prayer meetings, for all events and gatherings, participates in all the retreats, etc. For many this has become the measure of whether one is Christian or not. There yet is another side to such understanding of Christianity – there are also things that a Christian "does not do": does not smoke nor drink nor swear, etc. And a Christian does not fellowship with those who do so because bad company corrupts good manners.

So, for many the single-moment of accepting Christ and what he or she does or does not do becomes a measurement of whether he or she is a Christian. But you know what's interesting? Christ, who gave us the name "Christian" never focused on these things:

• He did not teach to regularly read the Bible (most of those who followed him either could not read or did not have access to the Scriptures). But this does not mean that reading the Bible is not necessary, it is and I myself do it regularly.

• Jesus was all for prayer, he constantly shared the Good news with others and he lived a holy life but that was not the center of his teaching.

• And yes, Jesus wants us to accept him but "accepting Christ" is only a "portal" rather than the goal - otherwise we are doomed for a very superficial Christianity. And whenever we define Christianity as "doing" and "not doing" certain things: our personal practices of piety become an end to themselves and we are doomed for 'legalism'.

Why do I talk so much about this? Because for most of us unfortunately, Christianity is either "accepting Christ" after which there is faith in Him but nothing in life seems to change, or on other extreme - following "the accepting of Christ" is a tiresome tendency to "do everything what a Christian should do and not doing anything that a Christian shouldn’t do with a constant awareness that time and again we have missed something. It is amazing how we can be at the center of church life, know the Bible inside and out, eloquently and fervently pray, and do all those good "Christian" things, and at the same time lose the One whose name we bear.

These questions: 'Who is a Christian' and 'what is a Christian life' came back to me as I was recently reading a book by Scot McKnight entitled "One.Life". He starts the book with his life story and how for many years he was part of the church that understood Christianity as "accepting Christ + doing personal practices of piety + not doing ‘unchristian’ things". Feeling that something was still missing and being in a NT class Scot was directed to Jesus and His teaching for an answer and discovered that according to Jesus a Christian is someone who follows Him, knows Him and continues to get to know Him, learning from His life. Jesus gave no instructions on what we consider to be "the criteria" of Christianity. Here is what was His main criteria: ‘Are you following Me? Are you My disciple?"

And following Christ is more than just "accepting Christ", than saying a sinner’s prayer, and it is more than personal practices of piety. Accepting Christ, praying, attending church and reading the Bible are very important to our spiritual life but not as an end in itself but as a means to knowing Christ and what it means to follow Him. After all through the Bible, through prayer and fellowship with brothers and sisters God does reveal His Kingdom - the Dream of what He means for this world and how He expects us to live.

I think we all had a dream at some point. In fact one cannot live without a dream. Dreams are always about something greater than what we have at the moment. A dream rises when we realize that life is created for something more than what we have now. Have you ever had a huge, "unrealistic" dream, which seemed to lift you up and make you soar above this mundane world? Have you ever so emerged in your dream that you suddenly find yourself smiling or weeping for joy? Or have you ever been so immersed into your reverie that your heart began pounding with incredible force jolting you out of this dream into reality? And though none of us will realize absolutely all of your dreams, Scot McKnight rightly asks – why do you think such great dreams are even born with in us – and replies: ”You dream big dreams because that is how God speaks to you about what God wants you to accomplish in your life” (One.Life, 22).

Philosophers and theologians have often said that because we can think of Someone bigger then us it means there Someone bigger than us, namely God, must exist. And perhaps the same is true of our great dreams about what our life, family, friends, neighborhood, nation and the world at large could be - be much better than they are now. Maybe it is because God planned it all to be much better than it is now? And this is God's Dream to which Jesus calls us to devote our One.Life. It is this Dream of God Jesus called the Kingdom of God!

McKnight calls us Forget "church, forget "Sunday morning service", and forget "Christian" and the mistakes of church history, and for now just focus on the following terms: Jesus, Dream and One.life (22). What deserves of our One.Life’s full devotion? I do not think that mere religion deserves it for it leads to legalism, deprives us of Jesus, and leaves a deep for divine life. Career life does not deserve our One.Life, a successful life and a beautiful life do not deserve it. There is a Dream beyond all these dreams – the Kingdom Dream of Jesus. And nothing else will be enough.

Nominal Christianity isn’t enough. To be accepted in the church isn’t enough. Rising to the top of the career ladder isn’t enough. Solving a difficult intellectual problem isn’t enough. Finding the person to love isn't enough. Having friends isn’t enough. Money isn’t enough. Clothes aren’t enough. Food and drink isn’t enough. Fame isn’t enough. Nothing is enough. True satisfaction comes only when there is Jesus and as we follow Him – that is commit our One.Life to Him and His Dream. That's what he said in Matthew: "Seek first the Kingdom of God and all His righteousness, and everything else will be added unto you" (Matt. 6:33).

In the following weeks we will be looking into how Jesus understands "Christian life" and what he has in mind saying, "follow me into the center of the Kingdom Dream of God." And the first thing we already see is that "accepting Jesus" is a good start but it’s not all. Jesus wanted much more than just being accepted into our lives. He wants to take over our lives, and the essence of his call is to trust him enough to subject to Him our whole being. And secondly, we see that our personal acts of piety (such as Bible reading, prayer, church attendance, etc.) are needed but are only a means to a goal and are not an accurate criterion of who is a Christian and who is not. Henry Arnold perfectly conveyed this thought: "Discipleship is not so much about our own efforts as about making room for God to live within us."

We are called to follow Jesus and that means being drawn into that only thing that is worth devoting our One.Life to: life in the kingdom of God. From the very beginning of His ministry Jesus preached the Good News of the kingdom of God saying: "The time has come and the kingdom of God is near: Repent and believe the gospel" (Mark 2:14-15). For Jesus the word "kingdom" meant "God's Dream for this world come true." And it was not only Jesus' dream but the dream of all Israel as well. Take a look at the books of the Old Testament prophets and you will see many passages of brave and sure hope of what one day God will do in the world. When Jesus proclaimed that the time has come He woke those dreams up. And he knew that God had sent him to proclaim that time Shift was about to happen.

The Jews of that time expected three specific things when they heard about the kingdom. They expected the King who would overthrow the hated Romans and their traitorous and corrupt government, they expected the Messiah. Secondly, they thought about the "land", in which the king will reign from the throne of Jerusalem, reign over a land that flowed with milk and honey where everyone will have a piece of land and a good harvest, and all will be good neighbors and follow the Law. And thirdly, the first-century Jew thought of the kingdom citizens who will love the King, serve Him and the kingdom, and will finally fulfill the promise given to Abraham that Israel would be a blessing to all nations. Jesus called his disciples to be that blessing.

But what do we think of when we hear Jesus proclaiming that the kingdom of God is near? Unfortunately, we often reduce the concept of the kingdom of God to a kind of "inner spiritual experience of God," "a personal reign of God in my life" – something like "God is with me and this is all is needed." We too often associate the message of the kingdom with that single-moment of turning to Jesus and find inner peace, restricting it only to the concept of "personal spirituality." However, for Jesus the Kingdom meant much more: it is God's community here on earth whom God planned to spread from the land of Israel to the world through those who follow Him. In the prayer that Jesus taught us He said: "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." And before that: "Thy kingdom come." These two requests can be properly understood only together: the coming of God's kingdom means the fulfillment of God's will on earth - in society and it is this society of the kingdom of God that church is called to embody.

So who is a Christian? According to Jesus a Christian is the one who follows him, the one who gives God his One.Life to "dwell in it" and allows God's Dream for this world to swallow him up and make him a part of this new community of God's kingdom. What this Kingdom like into which God wants to draw us into we will be learning in the weeks to come. We will see that the Kingdom of God is a society where people care for each other, a society marked by justice and strengthened by love. It’s a society living in peace and filled with wisdom. Kingdom of God is a society that values society and cares about its future.

Christianity that saves my soul, that gives me that warm feeling, Christianity that is entirely persona is far from Christianity, which Jesus proclaimed. Christianity that is only about me, that exists for me and cares for me (how I grow in my personal relationship with God) is missing something that was at the center of the call of Jesus. Jesus specifically chose the most "social" term of the time to show what God planned to do. He was not talking about "personal relationship with God" but about the kingdom of God. And so according to Jesus a Christian is the one who follows Jesus, dedicating his or her One.Life to the vision of God's kingdom. What is your dream? It is worth to give your One.Life to? God offers you the Dream about you and about this world. It is this Dream that I live by, and many others do too. Do you want to be a part of this dream of God - a part of His kingdom? Then Jesus’ call: "The Kingdom of God is near, repent and believe the Good News” and "Follow me!” is His call to you.  Many have responded to that call and left everything else in order to be completely drawn into this Dream Kingdom of God. Because they realized – nothing else deserves our One.Life.  What will your response to His call be?