“Are you a Christian?” I’m finding it is dangerous to say yes to this question. People already have their impressions of what being a “Christian” means, and frankly, they’re not good impressions. Here’s an idea I got from more than a few Jesus-followers: When someone asks you, “Are you a Christian?” instead of saying, yes and letting them determine for themselves what you are (and what Jesus is) all about, you have the spiritual freedom to respond differently. When asked are you a Christian, ask that person, “What do you think it means to be a Christian?” Then, if they tell you it means something awful you don’t have to keep the label. For example, if they tell you Christians are a bunch of simple-minded, judgmental haters who can’t keep their marriages together, who treat women as sub-humans, who isolate themselves from the world and are unwilling to experience and learn from other cultures, who don’t understand health care issues, who don’t make as much of a difference in the world as compassionate atheists and homosexuals, etc., then you can emphatically respond, “No, I’m not a Christian!” and leave it at that. (For anyone wondering, yes, these perceptions of Christians are held by a large and growing number of people in America and the rest of the world today.) Our hope is that our lives will speak more than any attempts at self-labeling. And if/when people really want to know, they will ask, “Then what are you?” Then you can tell them on your own terms what you’re about (and what you think Jesus is all about). I think this is a small but very important thing we can do to help make Jesus attractive in view of the bad rep Christianity has acquired for itself.
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