Becoming
a Christian
Some
basics about becoming a Christian
Why
are you here?
Why
are you reading this page? Presumably because you wonder about
the Christian faith and you wonder about what it means to be a Christian.
On this page we'll cover the following things:
1.
Popular Misconceptions
2.
How you become a Christian
3. How you live as a Christian
1.
Popular Misconceptions.
The
following are some of the most common misconceptions about being a Christian:
a)
You are a Christian if you have Christian parents.
No,
Christianity cannot be inherited. You have to choose to become a Christian
yourself.
It
is a decision you have to make for yourself and no one else can make
it for you.
b)
You are a Christian if you live in a "Christian" country.
No,
because there is no such thing as a "Christian country".
There
may be a country were some people are Christians and there may be countries
where the bulk of the ethics or laws have a Christian heritage,
but you still have to choose to become a Christian.
c)
A Christian is a "Good" person.
No,
quite to the contrary, a Christian knows they are not a good person.
That's
how they became a Christian! A Christian's starting place is knowing
what they are really like, and knowing that they need God's help!
d)
A Christian is someone who works at being good.
Well
there is a half truth here. Christians do ask God to change them more
into what He wants for them, and they will seek to learn the things
that Jesus Christ and then his subsequent followers taught as found
in the New Testament.
However
a Christian knows that without God's help they will never be "good".
e)
Christianity is just another world religion.
No,
Christianity is unique among world religions.
In
no other world believe system is there the belief that God himself has
come and lived in human form, died by public execution and then rose
from the dead.
In
no other religion is 'salvation' GIVEN to you freely.
f)
Christianity is just a collection of myths and human ideas.
No,
Christianity is founded in historical fact.
Go
to the page about Easter to see some more about this, or the pages about
whether you can believe the Bible, to see that you can trust the book
and what is in it.
g)
Christianity is just escapism.
If
you mean escaping from a pointless, self-centred existence that is self-destructive
and harmful to others and has no hope for an eternal future, yes, you're
absolutely right!
But
actually most Christians didn't become a Christian for this reason;
they just found that these were some of the spin-offs when they received
God's love through Jesus Christ.
2.
How you become a Christian.
The
following tend to be the stages that people go through in becoming a
Christian. For some this happens very quickly, for others it may happen
over a long period of time.
a)
They come to the end of themselves
Nobody
becomes a Christian who is content with their existing life.
The
reality is that most people become Christians through a crisis. It may
be something that has built up within them over a long period, it may
be something they've only just become aware of, but they realise that
they are not happy with themselves.
No,
the truth is that most people don't feel good about themselves, but
they cover it up or compensate for it in a variety of ways.
Some
people try to be religious. Some people try to work out big goals
for themselves.
In
the West self-fulfilment, self-achievement, self-improvement are big
industries.
However,
all of these things focus on self, and eventually followers of self
(if they dare be honest with themselves) realise they are bankrupt on
the inside and life feels pointless, despite possible great achievements.
Ultimately
self-seeking is destructive. Christians are those who have come
to that awareness.
b)
They realise they need help - from God!
Help
in today's Western world comes in many different forms.
We
have professionals in many different guises: doctors, psychologists,
psychiatrists, life-skills mentors, social workers.... and so on.
In
their own realms they do good jobs and we are helped. But there
is still a spiritual vacuum which they are unable deal with.
So
today many people turn to New Age remedies, but they are still self-centred
remedies.
For
more on these things, go to the pages on the Occult.
They
provide a deceptive panacea. It is deceptive because it appears
to work, but in reality creates more problems than it resolves.
No,
the Christian is someone who has realised that all these remedies and
helps are self-centred and as such they fail. We need help that
takes our eyes completely off ourselves.
c)
They've heard about and come to believe in Jesus Christ.
Now
you'll have to go to other pages on this site to see more about Jesus,
but suffice to say on this page that he was God in human form.
He
clearly declared who he was, proved it by the perfect life he lived,
the death he died and his resurrection from the dead.
The
New Testament of the Bible teaches that Jesus (as the eternal Son of
God) died in your place and mine, as a criminal - even though his life
had been perfect and blameless - to stand in and take the capital punishment
that all the multitudinous guilts we accumulate through life, scream
we deserve.
Christians
come to a point where they say, OK, if that's what God says in the Bible,
I believe it.
If
God is offering me forgiveness for my faults, my failings, my inadequacies,
all the things the Bible lumps under the one heading "Sin",
then I want it.
d)
They ask for forgiveness and for a new life
They've
come to the end of themselves, they've seen they need help, they've
seen that that help being offered is in the form of what Jesus Christ
did.
They
surrender and say, yes, I want this, please forgive me. I've blown
it so far, please help me, I need a new life, there's no point in just
going on like this!
e)
They are changed!
Now
that seems too simple and it's open to misunderstanding. You may think
this just means 'turning over a new leaf' or 'trying harder'.
No it's not that at all.
What
happens is what Jesus described as "being born again". Now
you didn't have any say in your original birth. It just happened to
you. Now the best you can do for this spiritual rebirth is to ask for
it. Beyond that you're powerless.
When
you do genuinely come to the end of yourself, and you do genuinely realise
you've blown it and need God's help and forgiveness, and you do understand
just the basics of Jesus dying in your place, THEN God steps
in an does a number of things.
It
is that last item that brings the reality to the other two and suddenly
opens up a new level of intimacy with God.
Millions
and millions of people down through the last two thousand years, as
they have come to this point, have testified, "I'm different!"
and that has said it all!
Suddenly
there is a new relationship, suddenly there is a new power, suddenly
there is a new purpose, suddenly - everything is changed!
If
this has never happened to you, it may sound strange, but that's how
it happens.
3.
How you live as a Christian.
Do
you start living by a new set of rules? No. You start
living out a relationship.
What has just happened is that you have just entered into a living
relationship with God. There are likely to be four areas where things
will change:
Something
has happened but you only partly understood it. You probably have
a desire to learn.
Most
new Christians start reading the Bible. Get a modern version and
perhaps start reading the Gospels in the New Testament to learn
about Jesus.
There's
a whole new world to learn about. There's a whole new life to
learn about.
b)
A Desire to talk to God.
A
relationship means communication. Feeling thankful?
Thank God. Feeling anxious? Ask God.
That's
what Christians call prayer - it's just talking to God. You can talk
to Him whenever you like, wherever you like, and about whatever you
like.
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