We a sermon at church recently on this topic. The pastor said "Jesus never commanded his followers to be "Christian" (I don't even think that word was used by him). He commanded them to be "disciples".
Christian, to me, is to say "I accept Jesus Christ as my savior". Disciple is very different: use Jesus as your role model: life a life of kindness, empathy, and show them the good works that may lead them to Christianity.
Whereas for many, being a "Christian" is simply a get out of jail free card to willfully sin against the children of God that you see as marks and as beneath you. We all sin, but some choose to fight it and repent when it happens. Others make conscious choices to sin over and over again to get what they want. Repentance; that's for suckers.
We a sermon at church recently on this topic. The pastor said "Jesus never commanded his followers to be "Christian" (I don't even think that word was used by him). He commanded them to be "disciples".
Christian, to me, is to say "I accept Jesus Christ as my savior". Disciple is very different: use Jesus as your role model: life a life of kindness, empathy, and show them the good works that may lead them to Christianity.
Whereas for many, being a "Christian" is simply a get out of jail free card to willfully sin against the children of God that you see as marks and as beneath you. We all sin, but some choose to fight it and repent when it happens. Others make conscious choices to sin over and over again to get what they want. Repentance; that's for suckers.