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.
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.
Thanks Kenan! Great thoughts.
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?
Just, merciful, gracious/compassionate, forgiving, humble.
My words:
1. LOVE
2. Faith
3. Humility
4. Forgiveness
5. Brotherly/Sisterly (Yeah don’t know if they are words but you get what I mean.)
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.