Christian vs. Christ Follower - Which is better

If you haven’t yet seen the new Christian parody of the Mac vs. PC commercials, you can see all four of them here, here, here and here. In the commercial you have a somewhat strange fundamentalist with his bumper stickers collection and suit who is called “Christian” and then you have the laid back, hip, even a bit witty “Christ-follower.”

At first glance the video seem to strike a cord because we have all run into that “Christian” guy or girl who was just a little off. It is true that sometimes Christians can get carried away with strange little things, dare I mention the Test-a-Mints if you need to have your breath freshened. Ultimately, there is nothing wrong with poking a little fun at ourselves and the strange things Christians do, but these videos are doing more than that. They have a message which comes into play at the end of each video that says “Christian no more.”

Though it is not completely spelled out, the message is this. Let’s not call our selves Christians anymore, and instead let’s call ourselves Christ-followers. The reason for this change is that the term Christian carries with it too much baggage. Which ends up being a stumbling block for anyone trying to reach out to the world. Thus, the answer to this dilemma is to call ourselves Christ-followers instead because it is more precise and hasn't been misused as much.

Is the solution really that simple? The way to get people to stop making Jesus look bad is to simply change what we call ourselves. I am going to argue no. At best this is a shallow answer to the problem. Here are three reasons why.

1. Even the term Christ-follower carries baggage with it and it will only end up getting more baggage as more people start to use the term. There are some who are in the emergent church (notice I didn’t say all), who are pushing this change who are so bitter against the local church and the flavor of their lives puts a negative spin on the term Christ-follower. Making the term already some-what embarrassing to wear. And do we think that the world will really buy the name change? Doesn’t scripture teach us that the name of Christ is a stumbling block to many? And which Christ are we following, the Christ of the Christians that have lived in the entire history of the Church? You know, the ones Peter calls Christians in 1 Peter.

2. It segregates the strange amongst us, instead of embracing and loving them. Instead of saying "don’t associate me with that person," we should own up to the fact that they are our brothers and sisters in Christ even if we don’t agree with everything they do or say. Even though both the term Christian and Christ-follower carries with it baggage that the world will not like, we should be willing to embrace both of them, because they actually mean the same thing. And even though I am in strong disagreement with some of those who are pushing for the name change, and I think they cause problems for the way the we relate to the non-Christ-followers, I must not be afraid to bear the name simply because of some of the problems I might face because of the attitudes of one of my brothers or sisters in Christ. Yes, they may be strange, but I still love them. In fact, the world will know we are His disciples by our love for each other. Even our love for those who persecute us and disagree with us within the Church.

3. It assumes a wrong soteriology or understanding of salvation. It paints a picture that the world is just waiting to accept Christ, but Christians and some of their strange antics are keeping them from coming in. The problem with this is that Scripture paints a completely contrary picture. The natural man is not waiting to accept Christ. Instead he is doing everything in his power to suppress that truth. In fact, the message of the cross and of Christ is foolishness to him. Now it is true that when Christians do stupid things we add fuel to their fire in the same way that riches can make it even harder for a man to comes to faith. But money is not the reason why the man won’t accept Christ. He won’t accept him because he is sinful, and riches only fuel that rebellion. But praise God all things are possible with Him.

So what is the solution to the problem set out by these videos if it is not a name change? It seems a call to clarity as to what it means to be a Christian is in order, and the place we will find out what it means is in Scripture. We must be people who study the Word and then live it in love. We must realize that the world will always hate us because it hated Him. But as we respond with the truth in Love, through the Holy Spirit’s work some will come to faith, because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

When a non-believer meets a Christian or Christ follower like this, much of the false baggage of the term “Christian” will begin to fall off, but don’t get your hopes up too much, because without the Holy Spirit working in their lives they will not accept Christ's message. In fact there have been many who loved there enemies and were so Christ-like that they were put to death.

Live the life of a Christian and a Christ-follower, since both terms mean the exact same thing. Proclaim the truth in love, contend for the faith, and live lives of Holiness, and you will be blessed, whether or not the world finds you foolish. And remember our goal is not to try and make the world like us. We are to live to please God and love the world whether they like us or not.

You can see my video response here.

God Bless,

Doug