Recently there was a post on the Blogstream, that asked this question:

"Are you a Christian?'

Here is my answer:

Well, actually I can't answer that question. You see the term 'Christian' was given to followers of The Way (one of St. Luke's descriptive titles for the disciples or followers of Jesus in the Book of Acts) by their detractors or enemies. The word, 'Christian' in Greek means, 'Christ ones' or those like Christ. Nowhere in the New Testament did a disciple or follower of Jesus ever claim the appelation, 'Christian'. For example, St. Paul never said, "I am a Christian". He did say he was a servant of Christ.

So the persons who are best qualified to tell me I am a Christian is those who look at my life and tell me that my life looks like one who follows the Nazarene (another title given to Jesus in the NT).

So am I a Christian? I don't know - ask my family, my co-workers, my neighbor.

If someone asked you, 'Are you a Christian?' what would your answer be?

What do you think about my answer?

"We evangelize too much; we don't disciple enough."

"Discipleship is first; evangelism is second."

"People need to not just hear The Word; they need to see The Word.

"We need to be what we want people to see."

"We think people need to hear instead of to see and believe. We have reduced our message to 'telling people about God' instead of 'people seeing God at work in our lives.'"

"We have emotional church growth rather than growth by discipleship."

If you still collect a pay check, you probably notice that line on the statement that tells you how much has been withheld for taxes.

I am sure that you, like me, sometimes cringe at the amount withheld.

Of course, then I get on the road and am thankful that I can drive safely on nicely paved streets.

But really, why do I have to pay taxes - besides it is nice to have safety and nice roads?

This question is as old as the human race. The price of government is the price of taxes is the report of ancient wisdom.

But there is another approach to paying taxes.

Paying taxes can be a revolutionary, radical act.

There is an old story - about 2,000 years old. It is the story of some disciples talking to Jesus about paying taxes.

Jesus asks his questioners, "Whose insignia is on the coin?"

"Caesar's," is their reply.

"Throw your line in the lake and get a fish. Take the coin from its mouth and pay the tax."

What! Jesus - what has this got to do with paying the taxes?

Who made the fish? God the creator.

Who does the fish belong to? God the creator.

Caesar, thinks he is god! Remind Caesar that his picture might be on the coin, but he isn't God!

God made the fish. God made you! The fish and you belong to God the creator!

You don't belong to Caesar. You belong to the Creator God.

So give the coin to Caesar and give your loyalty to God the Creator.

Worship the Creator not Caesar!

(c) 2007 Ronald Friesen

Some months ago, fellow blogger, Autumninnewyork, encouraged me to read the book, The Irresistible Revolution, living as an ordinary radical (Zondervan, 2006).

I ordered it some time ago and finally got down to reading it this past weekend.

A few days ago the Rev. Jerry Falwell died. Rev. Falwell was the founder of the Moral Majority in the late 1970s. There are various opinions to be found about the Reverend. Some see him as an evil, hate-mongering person who despised people and said ugly things after 9/11. Others see him as one of the leaders behind the conservative wins in the elections in the 80s and early 90s.

The reason I bring up Rev. Falwell in this context is that you will meet a very different Jesus and Christian faith in this book than which Rev. Falwell portrayed. If your idea of Christian faith is televangelists like Rev. Falwell, you need to read this book.

Reading The Irresistible Revolution is like reading a modern version of the Gospels, the Bible's account of Jesus' life and ministry.

I am not going to give away the story line - except to say that I think that the Jesus I talk about on this blog has much more in common with the Shane Claiborne's Jesus than Rev. Jerry Falwell's.

Get the book! And don't be like me and wait 5 weeks to read it!