So, Are You a ____________?

I've been asked quite a bit lately, "Are you even a Christian?"  That's a loaded question.  There are so many layers to that question it is hard to give just a simple "yes" or "no."  Some questions are easy to answer with a "yes" or "no".  For example, if somebody asked me, "do you work for Nurses Care."  Then my answer is a simple "yes."  If I were asked, "Are you married to Amanda?"  Once again, simple "yes."  If you asked me if I had a son named John, I would simply say, "no", and correct you with, "His name is Nyles." 

The whole Christian thing/identity spans over 2,000 years and traveled over a few continents before it got to us over here in 'Merica.  Not only has Christianity spanned over time and continents, but through splits, reformations, rebranding, reidentitying itself (Catholic/Protestants/Eastern Orthodox), and thousand of denominational interpretations.  Then to heap more stuff on top of all of this, you have churches that have membership factors that plays into identifying what "Christian"is, hierarchy that influences doctrine that determine if somebody is a Christian or not, along with creeds, statements of beliefs, and mission statements.  They all go into the identity of "Christian."  To make this an even more complicated issue you might as well throw in the religious subcultural conditioning of each area, education, upbringing, and influence of family members that all go into determining how the word "Christian" is defined. 

I told somebody this once when they asked me if I was a Christian or not, and they said, "Wow, you sure make things confusing."  He was probably right.  I wish I could just give a simple yes or no to this answer, but my brain doesn't process information this way. Even though it is probably impossible, when I'm asked this question I want to give a simple answer genuinely and completely honest.  Therefore, I need to add caveats.  Not only do I need to add caveats, but I need to be very careful when I answer this question based upon who is asking it.  I need to know more about the person asking the question then the question itself because my answer will cause the person asking the question to create an identity for me in their head.  I can be the greatest guy in the world, but if the person asking the question only sees Christianity as an abusive system that hurts people and I identify with Christianity, it is not based on my definition, but how he/she defines it.  Once I identify as Christian to this person, my identity immediately changes from positive to negative.  My definition means nothing, their definition means everything.  Their definition will shape their reality of how they see you.    

Here is another example: Let's say I consider myself a Christian according to my definition.  A right wing, conservative, fundamentalist asks me if I'm a Christian and I say "yes" without an explanation. Then they attempt to fit me into their conservative fundy identity of how they define Christian.  If I go outside of that mold then I suddenly become a "non-Christian."  So, "Christian" in that sense is all relative to the one defining it.

My wife tells me that I lose people when I pontificate like this,  but there is a simple reason for my silly philosophical rants.  This question, "Are you a Christian" is not a question simply for "gaining more knowledge", but a relational qualifier, which in my opinion, is wrong from every angle.  Most people, not all, ask this to simply see if they can be in a relationship with you or not.  I watched a friend of mine join a fundamental independent right wing--uber conservative Christian group and he immediately eliminated all of his friends that didn't join him.  He cut all ties and those he hung out with, he no longer did because his values changed. He now attempts to convert Christians of other denominations to his denomination and calls it "evangelism."  In essence, if you aren't a ________(fill in the blank) then you are not a Christian in his eyes.  You're "lost." 

I don't know if Jesus was really concerned about labels that identified your religious affliation.  Peter Rollins once said that Jesus, "constantly reached across the divides (for example talking with a Samaritan woman and eating with a Tax Collector), and who condemned those who held rigidly to their own traditions (the religious leaders of the day)."  Rollins goes on to say that when you identify with Jesus, "a person finds oneself having more in common with those who believe something different, or who have different practices, or different desires, than those who have the same beliefs, practices and desires."  Jesus was more concerned about the relationship and the deepest human need, than a label that was completely relative to the person's interpretation. 

The whole Middle Eastern drama that we hear about constantly with Israel and Palestine is over religious identification at its core.  Almost every war that has ever happened, every disagreement, or terrorist attack throughout history can be traced back to how a person interprets their religious identity--all through the lens of the interpretter and what they feel entitled to according to what they create in their mind.  Paul had a novel idea about created labels, identities, and relationships as he wrote to some folks in Philippi in the first century:

"Does your life in Christ give you strength? Does his love comfort you? Do we share together in the spirit? Do you have mercy and kindness? ² If so, make me very happy by having the same thoughts, sharing the same love, and having one mind and purpose. ³ When you do things, do not let selfishness or pride be your guide. Instead, be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves. ⁴ Do not be interested only in your own life, but be interested in the lives of others.

⁵ In your lives you must think and act like Christ Jesus.
⁶ Christ himself was like God in everything.
    But he did not think that being equal with God was something to be used for his own benefit.
⁷ But he gave up his place with God and made himself nothing.
    He was born as a man
    and became like a servant.
⁸ And when he was living as a man,
    he humbled himself and was fully obedient to God,
    even when that caused his death—death on a cross. (Philippians 2:1-8)

"Be interested in the lives of others."  Notice that labels and identities were completey torn and stripped in this letter.  They mean nothing!!  It even says that Jesus stripped himself of God and became nothing--he became like man, a servant.  His identity wasn't religious--as a matter of fact, even the generic "God" label was stripped.  Just go ahead and take that identity out of the conversation.  He became "human."  This is the simplest identifying factor of everybody that has ever lived.  A servant of the human race.  The cross was the identity stripper--NOT an identifier.  When a person comes to the cross, they become "human" and suddenly relate to everybody.  When a person comes to the cross they suddenly care about others more than protecting what they believe.  Creeds, believe statements, church memberships, denominational names, and any other thing that we say we are.  "Christian", "Jewish", "Muslim", "Atheist", "Hindu", "Buddhist", etc--are gone when you approach the cross.  We are all just human and have to learn to relate on that level, and that level alone.  Would being fully "Christian" be defined as being "fully human" at its most primal foundational level?

My answer to the question, "Are you really a Christian," would be, "I'm a human...nice to meet you." The more I read the Bible, the more I begin to question, "Do we have this completely backwards?"  Underneath all the layers of "skin" I've identified myself with, I've realized I am nothing more than just a human.  The more I've attempted to identify with Jesus, the more I've found myself not identifying with religious labels...the more free I've become.  Yeah, I'm happy with the label, "human."  Let's keep it simple!!  Lech lecha!