I’ve been living under an assumed name now for years — Christian. God is slowly showing me that Jesus’ last command before returning to His Father was not “Go and make Christians of all nations.” You can’t really find any definition for Christian in the Bible. In fact in the KJV version the word only appears three times.
“Christian” was a derogatory term those outside Jesus’ followers used to call those who followed Jesus around. Jesus’ command was “Go and make disciples of all nations.” Now disciples has a clear concise definition in the Bible. Jesus defined a disciple as followers who loved one another.
Every command, every verse, every lesson, every book, every parable Jesus told, every Bible study we use today. All of it is based on that command: love one another. Love those we like, love those we love, love those we don’t like, love those who don’t worship like we do, those who don’t worship at all, those who rebel.
Jesus loves all those (in fact he hug out with tax collectors and sinners) as much as we who Jesus calls His children. He loves each of us regardless of who we are, what we’ve done, or where we’ve been.
So don’t call me a Christian anymore. You can define a Christian any way you want to, with a bushel full of beliefs, a plethora of principles, some authentic, contrived rationalized behavior, rituals, rules and regulations.
Instead of calling me a Christian, I want folks to know me to call me a disciple of Jesus Christ or an authentic follower of Christ. That’s my true identity in Christ and my one purpose is to love God and love others.
For His Glory 
Hey, thanks for following me on my LynLeahz site too! God bless you! You might not know but I have another site I just started a little over a week ago, http://PromiseBook.wordpress.com You might really like it! I love it! Lyn Leahz, the call to repentance/prophecy news side, and the promise book, the loving compassion softer side… for God is both a God of wrath and a God of love, as seen through Jesus Christ! have to have both!
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I, too, desire the name “Disciple” much more than that of “Christian.”
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Agreed. Thanks for the post.
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Great post. I totally agree with it. Beautifully written!
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Thank you. Thanks for stopping by.
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“I’ve been living under an assumed name now for years” Love it! I’m here from 5 Minute Fridays, and enjoyed your post. Much like you, I like research, the facts behind things, etc. Thank you for writing and teaching.
Peace and good to you.
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Thank you, Chelle, I appreciate your stopping by. I love writing for 5 minute Fridays. It’s my favorite day to write. Not much “research” involved in 5 minutes :>). Thanks again.
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Very thought provoking…but I LOVE it…I am so gonna use that…I am an authentic follower of Christ…I may need to consider changing my blog title…Thank you for sharing a wonderful perspective. Seems the label Christian as you say does rationalize any behavior and is too broad now…people jump away literally sometimes when I use that word. So glad to have stopped by from Gypsy Mama.
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Dionne, I am thrilled that the words God gave me blessed you and helped you. God is a great writer and I get all my topics and words from Him. If you enjoyed this you may enjoy reading my post, “I don’t want to be a Christian. It goes into more detail. Here’s a link for you if you’re interested. Thank you again so much for stopping by.
http://wp.me/pSMJV-XK
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How insightful. I am calling myself a Christian less often that I used to, because as you said, it can be defined so many ways. I find that I more often call myself a Believer. If anyone wants to ask me what I believe in, I am ready to tell them.
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