How can we know if someone is a Christian?

There are many people in this world who proclaim to be Christians and go on to do some very un-Christian like things, much to the consternation of genuine seekers after truth and much to the delight of the militant atheists. There are scores of folks who attend Sunday church services religiously and then from Monday to Saturday proceed to live the exact opposite of what they were taught during the 9am sermon, treating other people in a spirit of pride, beating their wives or engaging in morally questionable practices. There are leaders of countries who proclaim their Christian faith but then go to war at the slightest pretext, allow their security forces to engage in terrible practices, lie about it, and then try to justify those actions when uncovered by the media. There are church leaders who spend years committing adultery (or worse) and seem to have no problem with continuing to preach in the pulpit on Sunday, advising their congregation on issues pertaining to morality. Business owners or MD's who regularly cheat their customers or fuddle their tax returns and yet arrive dutifully every Sunday to the mid morning family service with a WWJD bumper sticker on the rear of their car. And we all know of opposing Christian groups who take up arms against each other and seem to have no problem slaughtering their brethren in Christ to defend their particular favourite doctrine. Or how about Christians killing non Christians or people from other religions simply because they disagree with them? Sadly the list of this kind of terrible behaviour that Christians have perpetrated over the past 2000 years is extensive.

With all of this kind of behaviour happening so often these days it is no wonder that many people today simply do not want to become Christians, they have seen the hypocrisy and want no part of it. Reportedly Mahatma Gandhi said: “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” What a sad indictment that we Christians have become our own worst enemy, unravelling the work of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, by our words and actions.

Before coming to Sweden I had heard that Swedes were very atheist and that the majority of them had no interest in hearing about God or spiritual matters. However having been here for almost two and a half years I have come to the conclusion that the majority simply dislike the church and “Christianity” (and other religions) while in fact many of them do indeed believe in the spiritual dimension and a higher creative being, but because of the terrible atrocities committed in Europe by the so called “Christian Church” they are very disillusioned and unreceptive to mainstream Christianity. Yet many people here are searching for truth, and when you take it (very) slow with them and get to know them on a personal level I have found that they are nowhere close to being as atheist as is claimed. Actual atheists, as in the rest of the world, are in the minority.

The time has come to show the world the true face of Christianity, to proclaim the true message that Jesus came to deliver by living that message in our daily lives and interactions with others. When Jesus walked this Earth His message and sample was simple, clear and concise: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself”, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you”, “whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them”. This message reverberates throughout His teachings and lays the basic groundwork for our lives as Christians. (Matthew 22:39, Matthew 5:44, Matthew 7:12)

Of course Jesus didn't just preach it, He lived it as well by actively seeking out the sinners, the weak in spirit and the outcasts of society, engaging them and winning them to the Kingdom through His acts of all embracing non-judgemental pure unselfish Godly love!

He then took this one step further and said: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (John 13:34)

How then can we know if someone is a Christian? Well certainly not by whether they attend church or not, and certainly not by whether they tell you that they are Christians or not, and not if they are wearing a large crucifix around their necks and have a cool Christian bumper sticker on the back of their motor vehicle either. No, the only way to tell if someone is the genuine article, the “real deal”, is by their actions! The Cambridge Online Dictionary describes a disciple as “a person who believes in the ideas and principles of someone famous and tries to live the way they do or did:” The time to be cultural Christians, the time to be Christians on Sundays, the time for “playing” Christian, the time for giving our Christianity lip-service only is past. Now is the time to become DISCIPLES, followers of Christ who believe the message and deeds of our incredible leader Jesus and attempt to live it out in our everyday lives!

This will be no easy task to accomplish and when you make that kind of commitment I can guarantee that every conceivable obstacle to reaching that goal will suddenly appear to hinder you in every way possible and cause you to slip and sometimes fall. But I can also guarantee that if you do what you can do with an open and willing heart then God will do the part you cannot do and you will change the world within your sphere of influence. It will take time and you will have to “take up that cross” daily, but the end result will be people who will know that Christianity works because they have seen it with their very own eyes!

My children, our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.
1 John 3:18 (GNT)