I found this blog post and thought it was an interesting piece. I especially liked reading the comments. I'm curious to see if we can get the same kind of discussion going on here. KenGurley writes:
Lately, I've been thinking about a report I read a year or so ago. The report was based on a national survey sponsored by Christianity Today International and Zondervan Publishers and found in the Leadership magazine. The report said that there were five kinds of Christians in America.
Rather than grouping these folks by their individual denominations, the survey groups them by their overall beliefs. The five types of Christians are:
Active Christians. These believe that salvation comes through Jesus Christ and are committed churchgoers. They read their Bibles and share their faith.
Professing Christians. Beliefs are similar to Active Christians, but their actions differ. They are less involved in church and less committed to Bible reading and sharing faith.
Liturgical Christians. Primarily Catholic and Lutheran, these people are regular churchgoers, have a high level of spiritual and community activity and recognize the authority of the church.
Private Christians. The largest and youngest segment surveyed believe in God and in doing good things. The majority own a Bible but do not read it. Only about one-third attend church at all.
Cultural Christians. Little outward religious behavior or attitudes. They are aware of God, but have little involvement with him. They believe that there are many ways to God and that Jesus Christ is not the only way.
One item of interest was that 9 in 10 Active and Professing Christians believe that accepting Jesus as Savior and Lord is essential to salvation. Liturgical, Private and Cultural Christians hold to "believing in God" as the main characteristic of being a Christian. For a large percentage of people who called themselves Christian, Christ is not the centerpiece of their faith.
Based on the above categories, I guess you can call me an Active Christian. I believe Jesus is still "The Way." What about you?
I would say I am more of the professing Christian type, with traits of an active Christian. I believe Jesus is the only way and I have a deep faith and commitment to serving Him. However, I don't read my Bible or share my faith as much as I should and I have not been involved with a church (as it's commonly known) for about 4 years. I used to be the active Christian type but found myself burnt out and empty after a number of years of living by the "rules" of Christianity.
So I'm curious, how do readers of CBC categorize themselves?
Hi Reformer,
“None of the above”, for me, I’m afraid.
For the simple reason that all those definitions are “churchy” (read: centered around institutional membership / attendance). Anymore, I’m loathe to be called “Christian” for reasons too many to list. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Messiah and I’m a follower of “The Way” – but “Christianity” is the ‘Roman-izing’ of what the Messiah taught which turned “the Way” (which implies individuals walking with the Lord – a journey – forward progress to the Kingdom) into “Christianity” (or ‘churchianity’ if you will which emphasizes camping out on the past and group conformity). Hard to stomach? Consider Hebrews 13:13-14 which exhorts the brethren to leave the camp and join the Messiah / Savior outside of the camp!
“The Way” emphasizes relationship and following / communing with the living Savior, “Christianity” studies the historical Jesus (Jesus is another ‘Roman-ization’)
To that end, I wanted to look up the scripture about when followers were first called “Christians” – it is NOT a name/label that the Savior established – rather – it was a name applied by men. What is startling to me, is something I never saw before until today – specifically, IMMEDIATELY after the scriptures record that believers would be known as “Christians” (a Roman/institutionalized term), along comes Agabus the prophet to “prophesy” a FAMINE throughout the whole world!
Imagine “Christianity” as the famine Agabus prophesied! Why? Christianity has replaced Yeshua with the fictional Jesus, replaced “The Way” with “Christianity (institutional religion ruled from Rome) … in short, the “wine and bread” of “The Way” has been replaced by the tissue paper wafers and grape juice of “Christianity – following the Messiah / Savior has been replaced by following / submitting to a pastor/minister.
Famine and starvation of the spiritual sort, indeed!
If I had to choose from this list, I would say I am a Private Christian who ponders Cultural Christianity and I would be of the 2/3rds who do not attend church at all.
However, without this list, I am with Scrupe in that I do not consider myself a Christian at all even though I believe in the Christian God. To me, “Christian/Christianity” is just another label.
I like what Scrupe has to say (always!), but since I am not in absolute certainty about Jesus or the Bible, I am not sure how much it would apply to my life at this point in time.
Since I left my mega-church, my faith has become much more personal (and often private) to me. I talk to people about it, but with no goals or agendas — just talking about me and what I think/believe rather than trying to convince anyone it is “the way”.
I hear you both…I hate the term “Christian” as well. Especially since it’s starting to carry such a negative connotation with those outside the church (i.e. homophobic, gun carrying, money grabbers). However, I get why we have to have the label…it helps define our belief, as dose calling someone a Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, etc. I wish there was a better way of putting it for the sake of representing Christ. It’s sad how many “Christians” really don’t do that.
Let’s see…. I’m an active, professing, liturgical, private follower of YHWH. Is there a label for that?
Every time someone asks me if I am a Christian I ask them what that is to them. Usually their answer prohibits me from answering in the affirmative.
The best thing that could happen to mainstream evangelicalism is for it to collapse. Maybe then it truly take up the cross and follow Yeshua.
This is totally off subject, but I don’t know where else to put it.
I dedicate it to Cat: The Top 15 Biblical Ways to Acquire a Wife
Well lately I’ve been thinking of becoming more of a Messianic Gentile. What do you think of that? Apparently the early belivers viewed themselves as “Messianic Gentiles”, the word Christian literally means “Messianic” a folower of the Jewish Messiah.
I’m definitely the second on the list. I left church after things started getting wild and heated…(as usual). It seems like I join a church at just the right time for drama to ensue, or I may be just bad luck…
AnnaL, I know something of messianic congregations, so maybe I can help answer. Of course, each is different, and so my comments are very general.
As a whole, messianic congregations tend to retain Jewish culture. There is a tendency toward being kosher, celebrating the holidays, some have dancing during worship (that’s always fun!).
Their doctrine may be NT, but I’ve found it to be a mix of judaism and orthodox christianity. The flavor of the mix varies from congregation to congregation. If you coose to join one, make sure you have a good grasp of the doctrine of grace.
I’ve also found messianic congregations to be very pro-Israel (duh). But you know how American christianity has almost made American patriotism a part of being a Christian? Well, in messianic congregations, it’s the same thing with Israel. I remember at a CBC July 4th picnic how Lori belted out “I’m Proud to be an American” as part of the worship service. At a messianic congregation, it’s not unusual to sing Israel’s national anthem.
Replacement theology is despised in messianic congregations. Be aware of the doctrinal dynamic surrounding this subject.
And of course, when looking to join a new place, pay attention to what kind of a personal relationship with the living God the leaders have. I love doctrine, and it’s important. But it’s empty without the Lord Jesus Himself.
Hope this helps.
Actually I wasn’t planning on attending one of their fellowships.
There is a web site I went to called Baruch HaShem, and they had several articles on their site distinguishing Messianic Judaism and Hebrew Christianty (something like Jews for Jesus) and also gave historical aspects of the Holy Spirit moving in their lives. I found them biblically balanced in their teachings. However I have been to other sites that made me question if they held to the truth that the gospels present.
What I see is God working in our midst weather Jew or Greek, but I have a sence that the Lord is going to be doing some paradigm shifting in “American Christianty” that we haven’t seen in the past and I am one that wants to remain open to that shifting. I think there is understanding we have lost through the ages that the early church grasped (Jew or Greek) and knew that we don’t. I believe God is going to be using the the Messianic Jewish community, as God is bringing the revelation of Christ to them in our lives.
I am excited. I like the fact that they understand paganism like I never have. I don’t know about you but through the years I have become more and more dismayed by our festivals, Christmas and Easter. And I have read weather Jew or Greek our culture or say huminism is shaping our festivals.
And I totally agree 100% that salvation comes through Jesus Christ by grace through faith, if it doesn’t I’m toast. However I also strongly believe 100% that we are to love the Lord our God with all our mind, strength, and heart and our neighbor as ourselves. Problem is we have so many god’s we have made up in our mind, anyone can say that. What I mean by God is Christ Jesus the Lord. If we don’t love him we don’t love the Father.
Thank-you for the instruction.
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Wow I thought I was the only one. Do I know you? LOL. What the heck is going on.
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No it’s not just you…this is the way most churches are unfortunately. Churches are made up of people and people are filled with sin. For that reason no church will ever be drama/problem free, however the good ones have pastors and leaders who recognize this fact and focus on what Jesus has already done in order to take care of it, rather then on what their members should do (“spiritual disciplines”) to overcome it. My best advice, find a church that preach Jesus’ work as the center and run far away from churches that preach self work as the center.
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I’d say good advice. When I joined in the bandwagon, I was young, impressionable and a new Christian. Only later I started discovering the self-centered nature of my old church. I left and started attending a church that teaches Jesus Christ and the teachings are like a mirror that let me see the bigger picture beyond what I know.
I’ve felt very relieved, peaceful, less confused and doing much better. I’m glad for my decision to leave my church despite comments, gossip and drama from other people around me.
There has been much good advice already on this subject, but I wonder if we haven’t been a little too hasty in our criticism of the church. I say this because of a lesson I learned a while back which has given me a much better way of dealing with ‘drama’ and hypocrisy in the church.
I wonder if, while waiting for God to somehow supernaturally reveal to us the best church for us, we haven’t lost His will for bringing about the character of Christ in us by trying to work through the difficulties in our present situation.
Rick Warren said that “It usually takes about five times more energy to reactivate a disgruntled or carnal member than it does to win a receptive unbeliever” (Purpose Driven Church, p. 183) but does that mean we should not try?
Do we expect the churches we attend to be in such a state of holiness that there is no need for further growth?
The church, as understood in the New Testament use of the word “Ekklesia,” is, “God’s people viewed together as a new and whole community” (Richards, p. 164). It is a body of believers in Christ who, through the power of the Spirit of Yahweh, work out their gifts and differences in love, instead of ignoring them and only greeting one another once a week with public etiquette and nicety and going home only to gossip and complain.
When I was growing up in the church, it seemed that even the worship of the Lord was heartless and dead. A few years later, after I had finally gotten fed up with the hypocrisy and blasphemy of Yahweh’s Holy Name, I left the church when I found out that the new pastor of my hometown church had been sexually abusing my adolescent nephews. Going to church had become too much of a challenge to my Christianity!
20 years later, when I came back to the church and found it pretty much the same, or even worse, I found that the Spirit of Yeshua was telling me that my problem with the church’s dysfunction was caused by my own dysfunction! I was blaming the church for something that I was very clearly doing myself. I realized that developing a relationship with the Lord was easy compared with developing relationship with His children! I also realized that I was not obeying the second greatest commandment of loving others with the love of Christ. Lastly, I realized that my growth in the Lord was stifled until I learned Christ’s means of growth was through His Ekklesia.
Now, my attitude toward the Church is one of sacrifice.
Specifically, this means that when I lead worship, I no longer see people who are dead, but people who are suffering from an unenlightened perspective. It means that when I teach Sunday School to the adults, lead my small group, or the men’s fellowship, I do not look at them as stiff-necked, complacent, and lazy, but love them into understanding of life-changing application of Godly truths. This means that when I direct the choir, I am not trying for perfection in music as much as perfection in praise. When I preach, I no longer prepare a sermon from the platform of condemnation, but with the attitude of encouragement and enlightened revelation. Lastly, because I now have the love of Christ for my neighbor, when there is conflict, I first look inwardly with serious contemplation of my neighbor’s perspective, then upwardly for the conciliatory nature of God’s Spirit.
Yahweh constantly shows me in very specific ways how far my nature is from His and yet how close His nature is for my use in the church and in my life. It never ceases to amaze me how my Creator can take those gifts that He placed in me for being a teacher, shepherd, prophet, and evangelist and miraculously use them to His glory and purpose while I daily take up my cross and abide with Him.
I close with J. B. Phillips
“The trouble with many people today is that they have not found a God big enough for modern needs. While their experience of life has grown in a score of directions, and their mental horizons have been expanded to the point of bewilderment by world events and scientific discoveries, their ideas of God have remained largely static.”
(Your God is Too Small; P.7)
Ekklesia = called out ones.