Christ Follower or Christian

Spend some time on Facebook and look at the religious views of many and you will quickly learn that there is a trend to be a “Christ Follower,” “Follower of Christ,” or “Follower of Jesus” rather than a “Christian.”

You might be asking why…

I think this is something common in the younger generations who are unhappy with the way Christians have represented their faith in the past. So rather than being grouped with the “Christians” they’d rather keep the religion out of it in order to only follow Jesus.

Check out this great video on the subject (watch it here if you can’t see it):

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say this practice of denying being a “Christian” in order to be a “Christ follower” is completely wrong. About the only positive I can see is the extra emphasis on following Jesus. There are many people who do not hold to any of the basic tenets of the Christian faith who are “following Jesus.”

Why is it wrong?

  • It isolates. Meaning that part of being a Christ follower is being in relationship with fellow Christians, not just those who follow Jesus the way we do.
  • It segregates. The Christian faith has enough division. There is no need for there to be a division in how we state what we are as believers.

What do you think about this trend?