Wait -- Before You Say You're a Christian

It's kind of hard to not be labeled as a Christian, because at the end of the day, I do indeed follow Jesus. But the problem with being a Christian is that being a Christian is like being an American -- there's many varieties of us, and many stereotypes for us.  

If you were to ask 10 people what a Christian is, you would get 10 different answers.

One person would describe a Christian as someone that tries to do more good than bad.

Another person would tell you that Christians are people that try to pass laws to restrict people.

Another person would say that Christians are people that think everyone else is going to hell. 

Someone else would say that Christians are people that are the most loving people they know.

And they'd all be right. And they'd all be wrong.

Just like any other major religion or culture -- there is a massive amount of variety.

This is why I don't want to simply tell people that I'm a Christian when I'm asked the question. It's like me telling someone that I'm an American and expecting them to know what I'm all about.

What happens when you tell people that you're a Christian, or a Muslim, or a Buddhist, or a Wiccan?  You draw a caricature in your mind of what this person is like.  As humans our brains can't help but to fill in the blanks of what we don't know with assumptions.  We will draw from our experiences of what we know about Christians (right-wing Republicans), Muslims (terrorists), Buddhists (meditation, pop religion), Wiccan (magic spells) and unfortunately we easily become fixated on the label we slap on them and it hinders our chances of building a relationship with them.

What happens when you draw assumptions? You don't need to ask questions because you've already drawn up your answers. And when you don't ask questions, you don't learn what that person is about and you will judge them based on your assumptions.

What if someone asks you if you're a Christian, and that person thinks that Christians are narrow-minded, judgmental, a-holes? Whether it's an ignorant assumption or it's an experience that they had with a Christian (or Christians)? They likely will have 20 foot walls go up if they have to have a conversation with you.

Instead, what if when someone asks you if you're a Christian, you throw the ball back in their court and say something like "well it depends what you mean by "Christian" -- if I were to tell you I'm a Christian what does that mean to you?"  By answering a question with a question you're helping to break down any assumptions that they would have by putting a "Christian" label on you.

I know it's much too easy for me to draw assumptions about other people when I get just a few facts about them, so I want to become better at asking a lot of questions about who they are so that I can really get to know them as a unique person. As Christians, I think it's our responsibility to really get to know people, because this is how we learn to love them.  

Are you a Christian? ...don't answer that yet.