Luke records for us, “And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch” (Acts 11:26). The word “Christian” simply means “little Christ.” It is not rocket science to understand the significance of people referring to Jesus’ disciples as Christians – they behaved like him in word and deed. That is at the heart of what it means to be a disciple. To follow Christ is to strive to imitate him.
The natural question follows, i.e. how do I follow Christ? What does that really mean? Those that know Christ, i.e. those that would be called Christian, are those that obey him. John instructs us plainly in this matter. “Hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (I John 2:3-4). This is the acid test of Biblical Christianity – obedience to the word of God.
If you can take or leave the Bible; if it is of no consequence to you; if you don’t actively seek to know it that you might obey it, then John calls that person a liar. Being a Christian is more than just going to church on Sunday morning because everyone else in your community does so or that’s how you grew up. That is cultural Christianity – not Biblical Christianity. It is one thing to conform to one’s culture. It is a completely different matter to be conformed to the word of God.
Paul made the choice between cultural and Biblical conformity plain in his admonition to believers in Rome. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye…be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:1-2). To follow Christ then is to resist being conformed to this world – its affections, its thinking, and its pursuits. Rather, we are to be made like unto Christ by the word of God changing our thinking and, consequently, our behavior!
Friend, these two paths are headed in completely different directions and directly opposed to each other. One path is the path of life and the other is the path of death. Which path are you following?
From the Chaplain 