Five Words
On the way to work last night, I was thinking about the defining marks of a Christian in one word answers, so I thought I would ask you. In your opinion, what are the five defining or distinguishing marks of a Christian, marks that you would want also to be said of you (ex. faithful, grace, joy, etc.)? Number them from one to five, one being highest in degree. I would love to hear what your top five words are for defining a true Christian. I know one can think of more than five, but your top five is what I am looking for. One caveat: "Jesus" or "Christ-like" cannot be one of your answers. This is default #1 or should be at least for all of us. It reminds me of when I would daydream in 6th grade Sunday School, and the teacher would ask me a question about the lesson. I would say, "Jesus" and always be right. Anyway, the point is - while we don't want to take it for granted, it is assumed that if you are a Christian, the number one defining mark is that you be like your Savior.
5 Comments:
Not sure about order of degree, but
• Love for God/Seeing Christ as precious
• Love for the people of God
• Faith in Christ
• Repentant/contrite heart
• Merciful/forgiving toward others
These are five important marks of a true Christ.
4/07/2006 10:23:00 AM
Thanks Kenan! Great thoughts.
4/07/2006 03:06:00 PM
Let me take a shot at it too. While this is also pretty random, I think the first one must be true before any of the others can be true.
1. A testimony of repentance and faith in Christ and of sanctification since.
2. Fear of the Lord - a deep and abiding awe, reverence, and dread of God (and Christ)
3. Love for the Lord - which includes in my mind a love of the Word)
4. Love of neighbors - brothers and sisters in Christ as well as the lost
5. Missional attitude - concerned to fulfill the Great Commission in whatever setting one is in
This said, I love Kenan's list, but think many of those attributes are implied in this list. What do you think?
4/07/2006 04:37:00 PM
Just, merciful, gracious/compassionate, forgiving, humble.
4/07/2006 04:50:00 PM
Thanks guys for taking the time to share your thoughts! I think it is important for us to do such an exercise as this to remind us of the essence of Chrisitianty and what ought to define us in our day-to-day lives. Where theses can be helpful, so can one word.
4/08/2006 06:17:00 AM
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