Christian, who are you?

I attended the funeral for the father of a friend this week, and it raised questions for me. What sets me apart from others as a Christian?

The bottom line answer is that Christ claims me as His very own. I am not my own, but I belong to Him.

It’s not that as a Christian I don’t sin. It’s not that I don’t do bad things or that I don’t swear, smoke, drink alcohol, or associate with certain people. I may do all of these things, and I can personally say that I do or have done each of these. It isn’t that I’ve sinned or that I continue to sin. It is that Christ has revealed Himself to me as the savior of the world and the savior of my very self.

I am a Christian, bought with a price, owned by God himself. I am a child adopted into the lineage of Abraham. I’m not adopted as a Jew, but as a chosen one of God. I don’t every fret or worry about this status.

What I struggle with is that fact that I sin. I sin daily, and I sin extravagantly. I struggle because deep inside me I don’t want to, but there is still a part that craves that rebellion. That rebellion doesn’t make me a “non-son” it humbles me and shows me that I’m nothing without God.

In eternity, we will be surprised by the scoundrels who are in heaven. We will also be surprised by the nice people who end up in perdition. I know I’m a scoundrel who needs a risen savior.

It’s not that I’m a hypocrite because I’m not perfect. Rather it’s that I need Christ because I’m not perfect. That sets Christians apart.

Picture: the Episcopal Church in Three Rivers, MI.