I had a really good discussion recently that got be thinking about the stand points that people have. Primarily in the realm of Christianity. So many people complain about Christians because of their hypocrisy. And I can completely understand that, I would even agree. So I want to look at some various views and what that next “step” is… where people stand.

So first (yeah, grade school, first, second, third!! …) 3 options for people:

1. Non-believer : simply someone who does not believe in Christ and the salvation that comes through Him. Their lifestyle can be whatever they want it to be.

2. “Christian” : for these people “Christian” is just a title. They might feel they inherited it from their parents or from their friends taking them to church. They might use the title in order to meet expectations of those around them, parents, boyfriend/girlfriend. Attend church, when they feel like it, and they live life how ever they want. Sometimes that might be based on who they are around. They haven’t decided for themselves what their lines are, so if their friends are out sinning, they don’t mind doing that. But if another set of friends is against that, they can agree with it when they are with them.

3. Christ Follower : people label these people “Christians,” they don’t need to do it themselves. They choose to follow Christ and realize strive to live according to Christ’s example. When they sin, they have the Holy Spirit who reminds them of their sin and it hits them hard. It gives them even more motivation to repent of that sin and to turn their life around in that area. These people are not perfect, they are trying to imitate perfection, they will always fall short. What separates them from a “Christian” is that they are striving to follow Christ, they are constantly striving to make that yes or no decision to follow Christ.

Following Christ is a yes or no thing. Do you love Christ? That isn’t a 1-10 scale, how do you feel today? Every decision boils down to a yes or no, do I do it or don’t I. Many of those decisions are a choice on if you are to sin or not to sin.

So in reality, there are only two types of people. Christians, and non-believers. Those who claim the name of Christ but do not live the life are only being disrespectful to those who are trying to defend the faith that they live for daily, and are making non-believers have an even worse view and presumption about those who are truly living according to what they say.

That might come off as harsh, but having a sinful lifestyle and claiming to be a Christian is just as harsh for a non-believer, at least they are willing to tell the truth in that they don’t believe.

The next step and something I’m still thinking through has to do with “how radical of a life style is being a Christian?” If we are called to be examples of Christ, to bring light to the world, to make disciples of Christ… what does that look like? Do you talk about Christ only with strangers, or with only close friends who you’ve known for 3 years? And I think it comes down to learning to find the open doors God opens for us and taking advantage of those opportunities to develop friendships that God can open up.

And I’m still learning that.