Are you a Christmas Christian?

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Christmas is everywhere, but for those who call themselves Christians, we know that that doesn't necessarily mean that the celebration of Christ's birth is everywhere. Last year,  I remember watching an interview with one of my favorite SNL alums, Amy Poehler, on Ellen.  She was sharing that her daughter had a lot of questions about the story of Christmas. I realized I had incorrectly assumed she meant the story of the nativity, as she began discussing how her daughter responded to hearing about Santa and the North Pole. Ah, the legend of Christmas...not the real story.

A lot of people celebrate Christmas who are not necessarily Christians. After all, most Christians celebrate Santa, too. Adversely, if a person celebrates Christ's birth, recognizing Jesus was a good guy and role model, that also doesn't mean they are a Christian either. For those who have called themselves "Christian" for quite some time, it can actually become difficult to define what a Christian is.

Simply translated, "Christian" means "Little Christ," first used shortly after Christ's death and resurrection as an insult to those who followed Christ and his teachings (Acts 11:26). Andy Stanley's Christian, It's Not What You Think, focuses on this conundrum. What is a Christian? To some, it's someone who goes to church. To others, it's a group of people who share a belief. To more still, it's all about what you do that makes you a Christian. Even among Christians, there seems to be disagreement about what makes someone a bona fide Christian--have you been baptized? confirmed? is communion open or closed to you?

If you boil everything down, before "Christian" was even a word, Christ's followers were called "disciples." Yes, this term applied to the people beyond "The Twelve." Christ even called his followers his disciples.

So, what makes a disciple of Christ (not to be confused with the denomination of the same name)? Well, a disciple is a person who is a learning apprentice. Each disciple "looks to a certain other person as the authority and the example for everything. A disciple always answers yes to whatever that person asks or requires of him [or her]" (Stanley 11). So, a disciple of Christ is someone who does just that in the context of Jesus Christ as teacher, the rabbi.

Are you saying "yes" to Christ in everything in your life? Have you gotten to know Christ through His Word well enough to know what that means? This Christmas, remember that Christ's birth changed everything--it gave us all a decision to make. Will you believe through and through or believe simply in the "good" that is Christmas?

 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’- MATTHEW 7: 21-23

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