True Christianity: Imperfect People Striving for Perfection

Defining a Christian

We could spend weeks on that subject and only begin to scratch the surface. A Christian is many different things all at once, but so much of it comes down to action. The apostle James warned that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:20) because, when it comes to believing in God, “even the demons believe—and tremble!” (verse 19). Believing in God is one thing, but unless we couple that belief with action, there isn’t much that distinguishes us from the demonic spirits who call Satan master. The demons believe in God, they even fear God, but they refuse to obey God.

A true Christian doesn’t stop at believing in God. A true Christian repents, is baptized and receives God’s Spirit (Acts 2:38). A true Christian pursues a relationship with God, studying His Word and speaking with Him in prayer, seeking to know Him better and better each day (John 10:27). 

A true Christian is in a continual state of self-examination (2 Corinthians 13:5), perpetually looking for ways to improve and grow. A true Christian is attentive to the will of God, striving to understand God’s commands and expectations and then live up to them, regardless of the personal cost or obstacles involved (1 John 5:3; Matthew 7:21). 

A true Christian is all of these things, but not only these things. In fact, there’s at least one major attribute of a true Christian I neglected to include in this list. It’s an attribute I don’t think most Christians talk about as much as we should—maybe because we’re embarrassed by it or ashamed of it. I can understand that. It’s not a pretty aspect of following God; but it’s vital for us to understand it, talk about it and—even if we can’t exactly be proud of it—accept it:

A true Christian is still flawed.