Are You A Christian?

This question was asked on my recent visit to Turkey as we boarded the bus headed for Ephesus. The one asking the question was our Turkish guide. My friend and I quickly put our hands up, but some people appeared to hesitate, which prompted the man to ask, "Well, are you, or aren't you?"

I looked around and there were no more hands.

How do you answer this question? If you ever took a vow of Christianity, you would answer 'yes', but what does it really mean to be a Christian? A Christian, quite simply, is a follower of Jesus Christ. Therefore if you are following Him, you would do the things He did.

This morning when I awoke, the first thought that popped into my head was the division that exists in the Christian church here in America. Someone said, "The most segregated time in America is eleven o'clock on Sunday morning." Sad, but true. But we are not just divided on Sunday mornings, we are also divided in our thoughts and attitude toward certain issues. The recent Trayvon Martin debacle is a case in point.

As Christians we can no longer see people and issues through a black lens or a white lens, relegated to this corner or that corner. We must see ourselves as belonging to the elite family of God and therefore what affects one member affects us all. When Jesus walked this earth, He went out of His way to show that racial division is wrong. Read the stories of The Good Samaritan (Luke 10 : 30 - 35) and the woman at the well (John 4 : 4 - 27).

Jesus is coming soon for His church, all the signs point to that, and we need to get ready. What the church needs to be ready is not more buildings or even more money, but for "the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost" (Romans 5 : 5) to so permeate our beings that we cannot help but love everyone the way He loves us. Are you a Christian?