‘My child is not a Christian! Help!’
‘Madam, you’re using the wrong word.’
‘What!’
‘You used the word ‘Christian’. That’s a big mistake.’
‘Well, it is now. But he used to be. We did everything to encourage him. But he went his own way.’
‘Look at it this way. Is there any place you know in the New Testament where a person is said to be a Christian? … I’m waiting… I’m still waiting….
‘In fact the New Testament doesn’t use that kind of language. It does talk about getting gripped by God’s grace. In Galatians 1 Paul says God called him by his grace. Immediately he began preaching the Gospel. His hearers glorified God in him. To put it another way, what matters is outcomes. The labels don’t matter. The kind of person we are and our activities matter very much indeed.’
‘Are you saying it doesn’t matter whether a person calls himself a Christian or not?’
‘That is precisely what I am saying. Once the word ‘Christian’ came into circulation it began to lose any precise meaning. So we have Christian schools, Christian Science, Christian books, Christian broadcasting stations, Christian relics. The word has become meaningless.’
‘’Oh, thank you. I feel much better.’
‘You shouldn’t. Not until you’ve found out the kind of words the New Testament uses instead of “Christian”. And not until you’ve stopped feeling sorry for yourself because you have been judging your son by your misguided prescription.
‘Now get along. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Galatians 2.12, I think’.
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