Just a "Christian"

[picasso_13]

I have heard this statement many times from my Protestant friends and it puzzles me. It goes either like “I just belong to a Christian church” or 'I am just a plain Christian." What is that supposed to mean?

I have two images when I hear someone say they are just a “christian.” I either think, “oh, good, you’re Catholic!” or more often than not I get this image of an emaciated believer. I see this thin image of a person with a Bible in there hand, but they look like they have been living off of bread and water. From some of the conversations I’ve had with my Protestant friends they try to stay away from being labled as a Protestant or even with the community they belong to. This could be because although some of them belong to a Baptist or Presbyterian church, many couldn’t tell you how they line up with the beliefs of that community.

Just wanting others thoughts on this strange proclamation.

 

[mango_2003]

picasso_13:

I have heard this statement many times from my Protestant friends and it puzzles me. It goes either like “I just belong to a Christian church” or 'I am just a plain Christian." What is that supposed to mean?

I have two images when I hear someone say they are just a “christian.” I either think, “oh, good, you’re Catholic!” or more often than not I get this image of an emaciated believer. I see this thin image of a person with a Bible in there hand, but they look like they have been living off of bread and water. From some of the conversations I’ve had with my Protestant friends they try to stay away from being labled as a Protestant or even with the community they belong to. This could be because although some of them belong to a Baptist or Presbyterian church, many couldn’t tell you how they line up with the beliefs of that community.

Just wanting others thoughts on this strange proclamation.

See, that’s just it. Some people feel that labels aren’t important. What is important to these people is that they are saved through the blood of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To call themselves anything else other than a Christian would be superfluous.

I, on the other hand, just say “Not Applicable” when asked. Labels aren’t important to me. Besides, I’m not really a member of any church.

~mango~

 

[bengal_fan]

mango_2003:

I, on the other hand, just say “Not Applicable” when asked. Labels aren’t important to me. Besides, I’m not really a member of any church.

actually, whether you know it or not, if you are a Christian you are a member of Christ’s church. i am still trying to figure out what exactly that is (catholic church as it claims or the just the body of all believers), but you ARE a member of a church and to say anything else is to deny your brothers and sisters.

 

[mango_2003]

bengal_fan:

actually, whether you know it or not, if you are a Christian you are a member of Christ’s church. i am still trying to figure out what exactly that is (catholic church as it claims or the just the body of all believers), but you ARE a member of a church and to say anything else is to deny your brothers and sisters.

Well yeah, you’re right. I just kinda assumed that it was understood that I meant “church” as in “human organization”. I know that I am a member of Christ’s church.

Sorry for the confusion.

~mango~

 

[srkbdk]

bengal_fan:

actually, whether you know it or not, if you are a Christian you are a member of Christ’s church. i am still trying to figure out what exactly that is (catholic church as it claims or the just the body of all believers), but you ARE a member of a church and to say anything else is to deny your brothers and sisters.

Bengal why dont you start a thread on is the Catholic Church the true church of Christ. If you have let me know please, as I enjoy your posts and talking with you.

 

[bengal_fan]

srkbdk:

Bengal why dont you start a thread on is the Catholic Church the true church of Christ. If you have let me know please, as I enjoy your posts and talking with you.

thanks. i think though that the underlying theme of most of these threads is just that so i wouldn’t want to be redundant.

 

[WhiteDove]

Hi,
I think by her saying she is ‘just a Christian’ means that, although she believes in Christ, she considers herself a free agent and doesn’t like to answer to the authority of any denomination. I think her statement probably also implies that she has disdain for any church hierarchy or obedience to such, and would rather figure out the details of her beliefs on her own. She is probably rather an individualist, like many in our society, putting less emphasis on the communal aspect of faith than on her relationship with God. In short, she is a non-denominational Christian.

Also, there is a chance that she has been a church hopper, always dissatisfied with some aspect of every church she attends, and therefore prefers to go solo rather than putting up with the human frailties that one inevitably encounters in any church. So, I believe her statement is actually an emotionally loaded one with a lot of meaning to her.

 

[RisenAgain]

Well - I am a Roman Catholic and proud to be so; BUT sometimes I wish I could say - “I am just a Christian.”

It seems to me that there is a lot of pressure for us Catholics to not only proclaim the goodness of our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ (which I love to do and do so naturally) BUT also to proclaim the Catholic Church. There is a lot of pressure on us to represent our Church as if it is our Savior. It is handed down to us through this way of thinking: that if we would just point men and women to the Catholic Church - they would be safe and be “saved.” But you know as well as I do - that there are millions of so-called Catholics who will perish because they love not our Lord Jesus Christ - they only love “The Catholic Religion.”

But this is all backwards - is it not? Are we not supposed to point men and women to Christ? Are we to believe that Jesus Christ can only be found within the walls of our community? No - for St. Paul said plainly to those in Athens:

“God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, he dwells not in temples made with hands; 25 Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he gives to all life, and breath, and all things; 26 And has made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27 **That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us.” **

We would do well to remember that the Church is saved - and not the Savior. To continually treat our Protestant brethren as if they are not a part of the Church which is the body of Christ - is to bring disrepute upon the sacrifice of our Lord - who shed his precious blood as willingly for them as he did for us.

To play this big game about - “to which congregation do you belong?” - is a mockery of the Living God who indwells all believers by His Holy Spirit. Did not the holy church fathers teach us - as do the sacred Scriptures - that it is the people who are the church - and not the institutions that we create? WE - believing and baptized men and women - are the Church of the living God - built up into a holy habitation of God through the Spirit!

We Catholics often times pretend that we care about our Protestant brothers - but when I see threads like this one - I am ashamed to call myself Catholic. This type of divisive thread brings a stain upon the faith of Christ. If we cared truly about our Protestant brothers and sisters - then we would comfort them, and encourage them - and rejoiced with them about the goodness of our Savior Jesus Christ - NOT just pitch them line after line after line - in a marketing fashion; only caring for them to become members - NOT OF THE BODY OF CHRIST - but of the Catholic Church.

But the Father of spirits and God of all flesh loves His children - and will chastise those among them which stir up such dissimulation. Our Father does not love Catholics more than Protestants - if we be His - then we are all His beloved children.

This is why - as I see it - it is better for one to say “I am just a Christian!”

 

[Our_Refuge]

Well - I am a Roman Catholic and proud to be so; BUT sometimes I wish I could say - “I am just a Christian.”

To play this big game about - “to which congregation do you belong?” - is a mockery of the Living God who indwells all believers by His Holy Spirit. Did not the holy church fathers teach us - as do the sacred Scriptures - that it is the people who are the church - and not the institutions that we create

How is it a mockery? Christ desires One Faith, One Baptism, One Fold, One Shepard not 35,000 different faiths with many doctrines.
The Early Church Fathers did not condone other churches, other beliefs. They fought heresy after heresy. That is why Ignatius of Antioch said in AD 107 " Where the bishop is present, there let the congregation gather, just as where Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church"(* letter to the Smyrneans 8.2*)
He made this statement because there were other “churches” from the heretical gnostic movement that were claiming to have the truth. He wanted to distinguish the True Church from the false church.

 

[RisenAgain]

How is it a mockery? Christ desires One Faith, One Baptism, One Fold, One Shepard not 35,000 different faiths with many doctrines.
The Early Church Fathers did not condone other churches, other beliefs. They fought heresy after heresy. That is why Ignatius of Antioch said in AD 107 " Where the bishop is present, there let the congregation gather, just as where Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church"(* letter to the Smyrneans 8.2*)
He made this statement because there were other “churches” from the heretical gnostic movement that were claiming to have the truth. He wanted to distinguish the True Church from the false church.

Yes - I agree - and there is one Church!

Are you saying that our Protestant brothers and sisters are not a part of the Body of Christ? Ignatius was condemning those who held beliefs that denied the deity and divinity of Christ - his virgin birth - resurrection etc. He was not speaking about Protestants, who hold all these truths.

What does St. John say? “Whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God!” (1 John 5:1) Would you say that there are born-again believers that are not a part of Christ’s Church - simply because they are not a part of “The Catholic Church?” And if they are not a part of Christ’s body - then they are all going to hell.

So what do you say about this?

 

[RisenAgain]

Well - I am a Roman Catholic and proud to be so; BUT sometimes I wish I could say - “I am just a Christian.”

Actually - I no longer hold to the “ROMAN” part -that was a serious typo! I am a Catholic - period. Thanks!

 

[Dale_M]

To play this big game about - “to which congregation do you belong?” - is a mockery of the Living God who indwells all believers by His Holy Spirit.

This may be why many persons who call themselves “just a Christian” do so. They reject the faith interpretations and traditions handed down by the various churches, choosing instead to focus on their personal relationship with Christ.

I suppose they would have trouble articulating a theology, but perhaps their focus is on how they live should live their life as individuals. As such they aren’t interested in the minutiae which separate the various churches. But that is just a guess on my part.

BTW, this thread is four years old. The moderators frown on us “resurrecting” such old threads since many of the prior participants have gone on to other things and can’t respond. The moderators encourage us to start a new thread when an old thread catches our eye.