What makes someone a Christian?

In its issue of October 29, 2002, ChristianWeek reported the story of an Iranian woman who was denied refugee status by Canadian immigration officials. The woman claimed that her life was endangered because she converted to Christianity. The Refugee Board judged her claim to Christianity invalid after she failed to answer some questions to the Board’s satisfaction. For instance, she was not able to identify the leader of her Church (she answered Jesus Christ) or to name the sacraments.

That situation raises the question, “What makes someone a Christian?” Is it being part of an organizational structure? Participating in religious rituals? Adhering to a series of beliefs?

I would like to suggest that even if there are organizational, sociological and theological components to the diverse expressions of the Christian faith, what really makes someone a Christian is a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Relationship

The descriptions of Jesus’ life contained in the four Gospels imply that assumption. For instance, the calling of the first disciples is described in relational language (cf John 1:35–50). The first disciples followed Jesus after John the Baptist identified Him as the Lamb of God. They wanted to know more about Him and where he lived. Jesus invited them to come and see.

They went, saw and stayed with Him. They brought their friends to Jesus, also saying “Come and see.” Some went, saw and followed Jesus.

Though the disciples discovered who Jesus was while walking with Him day after day, this discovery is not always easy. Peter is an interesting example of this.

We all know that Peter was a bold and impetuous leader. Fearlessly he volunteered to walk on the water with Jesus. Before all the other disciples, he quickly confessed that Jesus was the Christ. He boldly rebuked Jesus when the Master announced that He was to suffer in Jerusalem. He bravely confessed he would never stumble because of Jesus and that he would rather die than disown Him. When the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, he valiantly used his sword to defend Him. Peter recognized that Jesus was the messiah and was willing to use all his energy to help Him establish the Kingdom of God.

Failure

But one day his life was completely bowled over. After Jesus’ arrest, Peter followed from a distance to the courthouse of the high priest where he sat down with the guards. There, on three occasions, he disowned Jesus, even cursing and using vulgar language.

Then Peter saw the Lord, who looked straight at him. “And he went outside and wept bitterly.” Unexpectedly, Peter was confronted with his own limitation. It was a dramatic personal failure. Have you ever thought about what went through Peter’s mind that night? Could he sleep well?

But this was not the end of his surprise. The next day, Peter went to Golgotha where he saw Jesus hanging on a cross. From a distance, he contemplated the scene and attended to Jesus’ last breath. His distress was even worse than the previous day.

When we read this story, we often hurriedly flip to the resurrection account. But have you ever tried to imagine what kind of an experience Peter went through that weekend? He faced his personal failure and the apparent failure of the Kingdom of God in rapid succession. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong. All the hopes he had built during his three years with Jesus were dissipated. Jesus’ promises had proved to be unfounded. During this weekend Peter probably experienced the most distress of his life.

Restoration

After His resurrection Jesus showed Himself to His disciples, but Peter still needed to be restored. This restoration happened one morning by the Sea of Tiberias.

The disciples had spent the night fishing, but came back in the morning with an empty boat. There on the shore, they met Jesus again. After breakfast, Jesus took Peter aside. Three times He asked, “Peter, do you love me?” Peter probably recognised in Jesus’ eyes the same look he had seen in the high priest’s courthouse after he had disowned Him. This was probably a bit too much pressure for Peter. When he saw John passing by he quickly tried to divert Jesus’ attention from himself by asking, “Lord, what about him?” But Jesus replied to Peter “What is that to you? You follow me.”

This restoration account is very interesting because it takes us right back to the opening of John’s narrative of Jesus’ ministry, when Jesus called His first disciples by the invitation, “Follow me.” Being a Christian is primarily a relationship with Christ Himself, a daily walk with Him.

Rituals, a set of beliefs, an organizational structure are parts of the expression of Christianity, but they are not the essential thing.

Like Peter, our lives have been transformed by an encounter with Christ. Like Peter, we are going to experience our limitations, personal failures and maybe even circumstances that seem to be failures of the Kingdom of God.

It is important to remember that our relationship with Christ endures beyond our failure, our doubts, our questions, the absence of answers or the apparent failure of God’s project. These experiences might be opportunities, as they were for Peter, to deepen our relationship with Christ and to become more effective agents of redemption in this world.