Christianity in a Nutshell

What does it mean to be a Christian? .The word Christian means many things to many people .Hence it is essential that we have a clear understanding of what it means to be a ‘Christian’

If we ask a random set of people what it means to be Christian the most popular responses you would get are ‘Someone who follows the ten commandments’ or ‘Someone who does good things’ and so on. I would like to define Christianity in very simple terms below

‘A Christian is someone who believes and affirms the life, person and work of Jesus Christ.’

That is the Christian acknowledges the life of Jesus Christ , his ministry here on earth and his death on the cross for our redemption and that belief in the above is the only way to salvation.

Though there are many many more things which are necessary for Orthodox Christianity , the above encompasses the very core of what it means to be Christian. That is if you do not agree with the above you can call yourself something else but not ‘Christian’

Often we tend to ignore this very central fact and disagree about things which are far less important/trivial to the faith. We should not disagree with people on things such as whether drinking is sinful, what sort of music/worship we should have in Church, views on creation/evolution etc where the topic might be much more subjective and there is no one ‘Right Answer’ to the question .Though we can debate on these things( and such debate is helpful) it is far more important to remember what the essentials of Christianity are

Therefore choose to fight your battles very carefully .Make sure that you are rejected for the ‘Right reasons’