What is a Christian? The Fallacy of a Good Man

“There’s an 11th commandment in the church: ‘Thou shalt be nice.’ And we don’t believe the other 10.”
                                                                               -Voddie Baucham

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​In a particularly poignant scene of his book The Intentional Father, Jon Tyson paints a picture that I continue to mull over. Tyson’s treatise on how to shepherd boys into manhood is chock-full with practical examples that he and his son walked through, shoulder to shoulder. One of the most thought-provoking interactions is detailed when Tyson was discouraged by his son’s interest in studying Scripture and engaging deeply. He asks his son if he knows why his dad is putting so much effort into teaching him the way of Jesus, and what it looks like to grow into a Christian man.

The boy's response exposes many of our hearts: “You want me to be a good man.” The picture of a good man that this teenager envisioned is similar to my own caricature. A good Christian man wears ill-fitting khaki pants and a tucked-in shirt and goes about his business quietly and in an uninspired manner. He goes to work, waves, nods, and offers surface-level pleasantries to those who are lucky enough to stumble upon his milquetoast path. When he gets home, he works on his projects, keeps the house in order, and makes sure to attend church on Sundays.

Rinse. Wash. Repeat.

Is this what a Christian is? Did Jesus condescend to humanity, die on a shameful cross, and roundhouse kick the grave and Satan so that his followers would be primarily known for their nice and smiley countenance?

Many of us need to reframe our definitions and images.
What is a Christian?

A Christian is one who has been scooped out of the mud. This is not a person who was encouraged to stand up by their own strength after listening to a self-help guru. He is not an intellectual heavy-weight that concluded Jesus is the best option after encountering Jesus’ moral bonafides. He is not a Christian by birthright - God has no spiritual grandchildren.

The late theologian R.C. Sproul makes the clear point: “Christianity is not just about knowing that God exists. It is about knowing God personally through His Son, Jesus Christ, who redeems His people by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.” A Christian is one who has been plucked by God, and God alone. Dejected and hopeless, warped in mind, and wrapped in sin, a Christian was given life by the only one who could give life. A Christian is broken and hopeless, but God has given them life by his intensely personal hand.

The word “Christian” was not used of Jesus’ followers until Acts 11:26, when the early disciples were mocked for their foolish association to a man born out of wedlock. In fact, all three (yea, only 3) times that the word “Christian” is used in the Bible, there is a clear undercurrent of mockery and ridicule (see Acts 26:28 and 1 Peter 4:16). People who zigged from Roman culture, identified themselves with a crucified “Messiah,” refused to bow down to the popular gods, and willingly took their ostracism, beatings (and eventually killings) were a bizarre group of people.

Imagine the context and viewpoints of the people to whom Luke would say this in Acts 5:13-14: “No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.”
Nobody wanted to be a Christian, but the truth of Christianity and the grace of Jesus was impossible to slow down.

John Piper explains, “Christianity is about seeing and savoring the supremacy of Jesus in all things. It is faith that finds ultimate joy in God and lives to display His glory to the world.” He asks a painful question (I will paraphrase), “If the only thing that was missing in heaven is Jesus, would you want to be there?”

A Christian is one who has been redeemed by Jesus personally, and he is one who has found the affection of his heart in the One who has redeemed Him. A Christian is not a person who crudely tapes a Jesus-worldview on top of his life. A Christian is one who identifies Jesus as the jewel that He is, and gives everything up in order to behold and share that jewel with others… no matter the cost.

My final quote (maybe), is from Tim Keller. He states, “Christianity is not about being good enough for God. It is about recognizing that we are not good enough, but Jesus was, and through Him, we are accepted by grace.”

There is one prerequisite for Christianity, and it is moral and spiritual bankruptcy. The only way up is down. The only way towards life is death. Christianity is not only not about being a good person, it is the repudiation of the idea!

Christianity is engaging in a divine dance where the spiritually dead and rebellious are given the opportunity to reverse sin’s hold that was introduced in Genesis 3.

In the Garden of Eden there was one prohibition: do not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God offered this law for the protection of His people and the foundational line of demarcation between the Creator and His created beings. If the people chose to eat from this tree, their eyes would be opened in a way that they were not created to be: they would now have the capacity to see their shortcomings and the opportunity to elevate themselves to a role that would destroy them. Instead of living in the paradise that God created them to live in, Adam and Eve would be saddled with the creeping anxiety that comes with dictating and deciding what is good and what is evil. Without the tools to steward this responsibility and the serpent’s perpetual deception in their ear, our forebears were now predisposed to try to be God.

The flow of human history and its manifold atrocities show the path of people who fight and claw to sit on a throne in which they cannot fit. We step on each other to make it to the top. And like a dog chasing a car, we have no idea what to do when we catch up to our poisonous ambition.

The freedom of Christianity is actively walking the path that Jesus laid down for us, where He reversed the curse. Instead of conforming to the false promises of a life where we are the master of our fate, we are blessed to submit to a King who is trustworthy and compassionate.

This path is called discipleship. The road of discipleship is not a flat, benign highway without sights to see and challenges to traverse. Instead, it is riddled with challenges and adventures. To be a Christian is not be simply good or nice, it is to know where the journey ends; to be intimately acquainted with the companion that walks next to you, picking you up when you are knocked down and empowering you to throat punch that which attempts to pull you off the path.

Christianity is not for the good, it is for those who have been chosen. It is for those who have given up the throne to fight behind the victor. It is for those who have found life and have abandoned all else to keep Him.

Sell your khakis, untuck your shirt, and pursue adventure. The King is calling you on the path.