How to Become a Christian

How to Become a Christian

As we listen to the people in the world around us, once in a while we realize that there are more important things than the daily grind of work, sleep, television, Facebook. Perhaps the most important thing we will deal with is to answer the question “what will happen to us when we die?” Will we be with God in Heaven? Will we be alone eternally? Will we simply cease to exist? Is there a real Hell with fire reserved for us? Almost all people have a time when these questions become important to be answered and settled.

But our popular culture has strayed far from the traditional teachings of Christianity when it comes to the question: How do I become a Christian? Let’s take a look at what our culture, largely driven by Hollywood, teaches, and what the traditional teachings of Christianity truly are.

Our culture asks the question: Do you believe in God? By this question, most people think that this means, “Do I think that a Supreme Being exists?” And polls tell us that 85 to 90% of Americans do indeed think that a Supreme Being exists. But believing in a god is not the same as being a Christian.

Christianity has a bit higher bar than most religions. To become a Buddhist, one simply says, “I am a Buddhist” and you are. Being a Buddhist is simple, because there are so many different types of Buddhism.

To become a Moslem, all you need to do is to state sincerely “There is one god and Mohammed is his prophet.” Simple, short, and sweet.

But to become a Christian requires more than simply stating that you are a Christian. It requires that you accept a few, a very few basic principles in this world, and take a simple action.

First, you will need to accept the existence of a Supreme Being. In English, this Supreme Being is generally called “God”, but may be referred to using other names from the Bible, such as Jehovah, Yahweh, etc. Yet, while necessary that you accept the existence of God to be a Christian, it is clear from Biblical texts that this is not sufficient, for it is written that even the devils believe in God and tremble.

And so, believing requires a bit more. After all, where does Jesus Christ come into the picture?

While our dominant culture looks at Jesus Christ as one of the greatest moral teachers of history, on a par with Buddha, Socrates, Moses, Plato, etc., we have to deal with one uncomfortable claim that Jesus made which is ignored by our popular culture. In several places, Jesus took actions which indicated that He was God, or made very clear and obvious claims to be God. In the Gospel of John, it is recorded that Jesus even said, “I and the Father are one.” (10:30). And there was no mistaking these claims – in almost every case when Jesus made such a claim, the crowds around Him decided that He was claiming to be God and tried to kill Him for blasphemy, which was a capital crime in those days. In fact, Jesus’ famous death upon the cross was for the crime of claiming to be God. And so we must deal with this claim and the ramifications of this claim.

Since the earliest days of Christianity, the standard orthodox belief of Christian leaders and teachers has been that Jesus Christ was indeed God walking upon the earth. Thus, we have the formula, “God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit”, a three-in-one unity. When a mature Christian talks about Jesus being the Son of God, he or she means that Jesus was indeed divine. This is the principle difference between Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Pentecostal and Baptist Christianity, and similar non-Christian groups such as Jehovah’s Witnesses and Unitarians.

And so, Christian believers will need to accept that Jesus was and is God. Explaining this in detail is beyond the scope of this short essay, but is something that most ministers, pastors, and priests are ready to answer.

Helping us to believe in Jesus’ divinity was one purpose of the Resurrection. It was a way of assuring us that Jesus’ claim to be God was true, and thus Jesus’ teachings are not just the teachings of a wise man, but are the direct teachings of God.

And what were those teachings? They are written down in the first part of the New Testament, in the four books known as the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. At the very least, you should find a readable translation of the Bible or the New Testament, flip to the Gospel of John, and read this short report about Jesus’ life, teachings, death, and Resurrection.

(If you visit any Christian bookstore, or for that matter, any Wal-Mart or other bookstore, you will find bibles for sale. My suggestion is that you purchase a “New International Version” (NIV), which is currently the version used in more American churches today than any other. This is because the older King James Version (KJV) or Authorized version was translated around the year 1600 and reads like Shakespeare. Many of the words have changed their meaning since that time, and so the NIV, the Common English Bible (CEB), the New King James Version (NKJV) are all much easier to read, largely because they have been translated since 1960.)

Perhaps the most important teaching of Jesus (after His teaching that He was God), is that any person who chooses to follow Jesus will have eternal life. This is related to what Billy Graham meant by “believe in Jesus”. Do you believe that Jesus was divine, and thus is worthy of being trusted and followed? Do you believe that Jesus has the power to grant His followers eternal life?

It is true that jumping from “Jesus was a wise man” to “Jesus is God” is quite a difficult leap for most people. However, if you will read the Gospel of John, you will see how it was a claim made repeatedly by Jesus – and the people around Him understood this claim.

But if you would like some evidence for this, let me suggest Leo Strobel’s book The Case for Christ, or Paul D Little’s book Know Why You Believe. I’ve also written about the evidence both on my sermon blog (brianboleysermons.blogspot.com) and in my book What do Evangelical Christians Believe? All of these books are available at Amazon.com or at most bookstores.

And so, a Christian needs to believe the following:

· God exists

· Jesus was God walking upon this earth.

· Jesus is worthy to be followed.

And you must make the choice to follow Jesus.

This is the minimum needed to become a Christian. However, there is also an ancient ceremony by which people announce their desire to follow Jesus. This ceremony is baptism. In baptism, you do something which is mildly uncomfortable to show that you are truly going to follow Jesus. If you are not willing to appear in front of a few people and get wet, there is some question as to whether you are truly planning to follow Jesus, isn’t there?

Traditionally, baptism has been done in one of three ways, depending upon the tradition of the church and the physical facilities available. You may be sprinkled with water, you may have a pitcher of water poured over your head, or you may be dunked in a pool of water, a swimming pool, or a creek. Discuss the appropriate methods with your local pastor, the leader of the church you choose to attend.

The church I want to attend? Can’t I stay at home?

Not really. There is no such thing as a Christian hermit. Even the monks joined together to teach one another, to support each other in prayer, and to strengthen each other. So you will need to find a church in your community, and begin to attend it regularly. Try out a few and settle where you feel most comfortable.

And that, my friend, is how you truly become a Christian. The rest of the teachings of Jesus will come to you as you begin to read the Bible more extensively, as you listen to sermons at the church, and as you become involved in Sunday School classes or midweek study groups.

There is one final critical point to recognize:

Becoming a Christian should change you. And this is where the Holy Spirit (Remember “God the Holy Spirit”?) come into play. In most churches, when you are baptized, the pastor prays for the Holy Spirit to come upon you. The Holy Spirit is the third person of God, and acts as a still small voice to lead you to do the work God has for you. Learning to listen to the Holy Spirit, and to learn to follow the teachings of Jesus, will take you the rest of your life. But as you listen and study and practice, you should see your ability to handle the troubles of life grow. For as we learn more and more, we develop a relationship with Jesus through the Holy Spirit that strengthens us.



May you be blessed in your journey.