We’re having a good week beside the Arkansas River at the foot of Petit Jean Mountain! God is good. Our virus numbers continue to fall, with only 15 active cases in the county. I am so very thankful for life, good health, my family, friends, and especially my name and place in Christ’s kingdom, His church that meets at 906 East Harding Street and all around the world for fellowship, Bible study, worship, and service here, there, and everywhere in small groups made up of two or three Christians and in large congregations, some into the hundreds of thousands.
The Lord Himself adds us to His church (Acts 2:47) when we believe in Jesus as God’s Son, repent of our sins, confess Him, and put Him on in baptism. We are then saved by grace through faith. We belong to Christ. He is the Savior, the Head and we are the saved, His body (Ephesians 1:22-23). This is the reason we call ourselves the church of Christ: the church that belongs to Christ. We can also look in the Bible and find that congregations of the Lord’s church are called “churches of Christ” (Romans 16:16).
We are Christians. We do not choose this name by vote or because it sounds good or because this name suits us. We are Christians because God calls us this name. In Acts 11:26 we find this name. King Agrippa used the name “Christian” when he was “almost persuaded” in Acts 26:28. Simon Peter wrote to us about the suffering of a Christian in 1 Peter 4:16.
I often think about the various names that people take on in religion and wonder why people just will not follow the Bible and be Christians. I realize why a Hindu calls himself a “Hindu” or a Buddhist calls himself a “Buddhist” or Islamist calls himself a Muslim or someone who will not believe in God calls himself an atheist. I do not fully understand why some who believe in Jesus Christ as God’s Son and claim to follow His teachings in the New Testament would call themselves by any other name but “Christian.”
One day I was speaking with someone and asked if and where he “went to church.” I realize that “going to church” is not the correct way to word this question, but in the world today people understand what I mean. He answered, “Yes, I am a _____” and went on to talk about his church. He asked me about my church affiliation. I stated that I am a Christian and a member of the church of Christ that meets on Harding Street across from the high school. After my answer, his immediate response was “Well, I am a Christian too. I’m a _____ Christian.” Now if we believe in Jesus and follow His words, shouldn’t we call ourselves what the Bible calls us: “Christians” with nothing before or after the word? I am not a “church of Christ Christian” or a ___ Christian, or an anything else Christian. I am happy to be simply and only a Christian, a member of the church that belongs to Christ, the church that Jesus established, purchased, provides for, and is coming from heaven to receive to Himself (John 14:1-6). Now this is a good question to ask ourselves; “Is the person I am, the person I need to be?”
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