Louie Giglio - What It Means to Live as a Christian - Part 1
The series, or the collection of talks, is called «Believer,» and last week we asked the question: What does it mean to be Christian? I can’t go back and pick that whole word up, but it’s foundational for us before we step into today. We ended last week by saying that to be Christian is to wholeheartedly and exclusively trust in the person and claims of Jesus Christ, activating a new birth that results in a lifestyle that mirrors His—Jesus' values, teachings, and ways—so that others may see and know Him. Not an «Amen,» not a «Yeah,» not «I’m with you,» nothing. But that’s okay because we’re in teaching mode, so that’s good. You can just be in learning mode. You’re like, «That’s a long definition, isn’t it?»
It’s not as simple as when the census comes in the mail and asks you what your religious preference is. There are options, and you check a box that says, «I identify as Christian.» No, it’s way more than that. The part of this last week that we unpacked, which I encourage you to go back and get your mind and heart around, is this idea of exclusive inclusivity. In other words, Jesus is opening the way of grace to everyone on planet Earth, but as He does, He’s saying that He is the way of grace. Jesus makes exclusive claims about Himself and the way, while inviting everyone in the world to come and find Him on the way.
That’s what we saw in His capstone statement in John 3:16: «For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.» This is where we see these two ideas coming together. Look at the inclusivity in this: God so loved—not just loved, but so loved—the world. There’s no one excluded from the love of God. No country, no nation, no region, no ethnicity. All people on planet Earth, every nation, language, tribe, and tongue—they are all loved by God. He so loved the world. This is very inclusive. That He gave His one and only Son—that’s exclusive. So, the way in for the whole world is very exclusive, through His one and only Son. «That whoever believes"—look how wide that is, look how inclusive it is. «Whoever believes"—even a thief on the cross in his last dying breath can believe. Whoever believes, but not just believes; whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Now, I know today at church—I would assume today at church and for people online, people at Cumberland today—I’m assuming there are people all over the map on the faith journey. If you’re just stepping onto the faith journey or beginning to seriously take on a faith journey, to walk in and hear someone say Jesus is exclusive, He’s the one and only, and He’s the one we believe in to not perish and have eternal life—He’s the one making the claim, «I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life.» You’re like, «Whoa, I just got here,» and that sounds extremely exclusive. You’re telling me that if I want to be a Christian, I have to only believe in Jesus.
I would say back to you, if you’re early in your faith journey, you don’t have to take that step today. You don’t have to take that step on step one. Go investigate the other faith systems that are available to you. Go and investigate other religious paths. Go and explore what others are offering to you as a way of having a relationship with God and a meaningful, powerful life in this world and the next. As you do that, as you investigate other systems of faith and ways of faith, you’re going to discover one of them stands out. You’re going to realize that the one that stands out is Jesus. If you’re listening to Jesus, Jesus Himself is the one making the truth claims about Himself that allow Him to open the grace way to the entire world.
Then you can take that step and say, «I want to identify with Jesus. I want to be a Christian.» We see the operative word here— I kind of got it a little mixed up with my circle—but it’s the word «believes.» This is really what it means to be a Christian. The word we talked about last week—you said, «I thought you weren’t going to go back and tell everything about last week.» Well, some of it I had to. The word «believes» means «entrusts.» So, it’s not just «I believe in Jesus,» it’s «I’m entrusting my life and my eternity to the claims of Christ, the person of Christ.» I’m putting all my eternity in the bank of Jesus, and I’m counting on that today and on that day. I’m entrusting; I’m believing in Him. But I love that it gives us a jumping-off point for today because «believe» starts with «be.»
So, being a Christian is not a box you check. It’s not really a denomination that you align with. It’s a person that you become when you put your faith in Jesus. You’re born again. Jesus said in this same conversation as a son or daughter of God. So, a Christian is something that you be before it’s something that you do. Secondly, if we take out the double vowel, a Christian is to live. In other words, it’s not simply a checkmark; it’s a lifestyle.
If I say I’m a Christian, then that would imply that I’m going to live as a Christian. I’m not just going to have this «kind of» in here. I’ve decided I’m going to be Christian of all the options I can be; I’ll be Christian. I’ll believe in Christ and not have that begin to impact every area of my life.
So today, we’re asking the question that really is about this: What does it mean to live as a Christian? We’re going to let Jesus guide us through a few statements this week and some next week. I know I’m taking a faith risk by splitting up a very important talk into two parts, knowing that some of you might not be here next week. But I’m going to roll the dice and trust the Lord with that one.
Okay, what does it mean to live as a Christian? Number one, it means to be Christ-like. Now that’s obvious, but if I am a Christian, I have entrusted my present and my eternity to Jesus. With that, I want to be Christ-like. We talked about last week this word «Christian.» It appeared in Acts; they were first called Christians in Antioch, and literally, Christians in the Greek in that verse means «little Christs.»
Now, we got a lot of response to that around the world this past week from a little clip we posted. So, can I just clarify one more time? Are we saying that we are equal to Jesus? When I say I’m a little Christ, am I saying I’m a little god, and God and I are the same? Yes, that’s what we’re doing; we’re starting a brand new faith movement here. No, that’s not what we’re saying. We’re not saying we’re Christ or that we’re God or that we’re going to become God. We’re saying that we’re born of God; we have Christ in us, and we’re born as sons and daughters of Christ.
What they were saying in Antioch when they called them «little Christs» was, «If you look at them, they’re Christ-like.» You can tell by being around them that they’re Christians. They’re Christ-like. No, they’re not going to grow up and be Christ. They’re not going to become God. We’re not on a pyramid scheme here where we all eventually are God.
What we are saying is that if you’re Christian, you should be Christ-like. Jesus even said that. He said, «Of the options of you being you-like or being Christ-like, I’d like you to be Christ-like.» If the option is that you build a life around you or you build a life around Christ, I would prefer that you build a life around Christ.
He said to His followers in Matthew 16, «Whoever wants to be my disciple"—we unpacked that word last week—"must deny themselves and take up their cross.» That means I’m kind of dying to me and following Him. In other words, if you want to be a disciple, and a disciple really is a Christian, another word interchangeably used for that, then you need to come to the end of «I’m going to do it my way» and build up your name. You need to come to the place where you say, «I am alive because of You, and I want to build up Your name. I want to follow Your way.» Jesus said it’s to follow Me—not literally like I’m going from point A to point B, and the way you’ll know how to get there physically is to follow Me. Although they did some of that, He’s saying, «No, I want you to watch Me. I want you to become like Me. I want you to do it like I would do it. I want you to say it like I would say it. I want you to treat them like I would treat them. I want you to think about it the way I would think about it.»
I want you to be Christ-like. Paul said, «I’ve been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.» So, if a Christian is «Whoa, God Almighty gave Himself for me so that I could have life,» what am I going to do with that life? I’m going to give that life back to Him and make Him the point of that life. Paul wrote it like this in a different place: «For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced—in other words, we’ve already settled this—that one died for all.» Jesus died for all, and therefore all died.
We didn’t literally die; we died to ourselves in the moment that we realized that one died for all. See how wide that is? One died for all. See how exclusive it is? One died for all, and therefore all died. He died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again. It’s a whole person thing—trying to be like the whole person of Christ. It’s all of me wanting to be like all of Christ.
Because I’ve met Christians who picked a slice of Christ, and they’re saying, «I am this way because I’m going to be like Christ; i.e., Christ turned over the tables in the temple. I’m going to make my life about turning over the tables in the temple because I want to be like Christ.» Somebody else is saying, «Well, Christ did miracles, so I’m going to make my whole life about doing miracles. That’s all I’m thinking about—doing miracles because I want to be like Christ.»
Well, Christ rebuked religious leaders. So some people take on their whole identity, saying, «I’m going to rebuke all the religious leaders because I want to be like Christ.» Well, Christ accepted all people. So some people’s whole point of view is, «I’m just going to accept all people because Jesus did that, and I want to be like Christ.»
He was alone with God, so some people are going to say, «I’m going to check out a life. I’m just going to get alone with God because I want to be like Christ.» You can slice Him different ways. He said, «I came to bring a sword and not to bring peace.» So you’re going to meet somebody saying, «Oh, bro, I came to bring a sword and not peace because I want to be like Christ.»
He was humble and a sacrificial lamb, so some people say, «Always let the world steamroll me because I want to be like Jesus.» He fought for the outcast, so some people say, «I’m going to make my whole life about fighting for the outcast because I want to be like Jesus.»
Then you meet them, and their life seems pointed at something because they want to be like Christ. But Christ didn’t say, «Look at Me and pick one thing and be like that.» He said, «No, look at Me and put your arms around Me and try to be like Me.» As you do that, do it with the same grace and spirit that He did it with.
And yes, He did turn over tables in the temple, but why? I’m not sure they didn’t need to be tables in the temple? No, because people were marking up the animals that the poor were buying for the sacrifice. He says, «No, there’s not going to be any markup in My house.» Yes, He has that spirit, but He also moved through life, and everywhere Jesus went, people wanted to be around Him.
People talk all the time about how Jesus hung out with the wrong crowd, but when you read the New Testament, it’s more that the wrong crowd wanted to hang out with Him. Why? Because there was something about Him that was attractive to people; it drew people in. Something about the grace way of God was attractive to people.
Now, yes, the religious system that He came to complete, fulfill, and ultimately upend—they weren’t so comfortable with Him. But it wasn’t His personality that was annoying; it was the work that He came to do on the cross that was annoying.
I want to take up that same thing. I don’t want to be a stumbling block to people. If the cross is a stumbling block, and I talk about the cross a lot, then let the cross be a stumbling block. Paul said that in First Corinthians. He said, «The cross is going to be a stumbling block to a lot of people, both Jews and non-Jews.» It’s going to cause people to stop and go, «Oh, wait a minute, I’ve got to navigate this moment where God gave His Son for the sins of the world and created the grace way.»
But I want the cross to be the stumbling block, not me. I don’t want people to stumble over the fact that I’m annoying as a Christian or that I’m weird. Now, there are going to be some weird things. Jesus walked on water—that’s weird. But it’s a good kind of weird. He fed 5,000 from a kid’s lunch, and that’s a little bit weird because we’re in life with a supernatural God.
There are going to be some crazy things that happen in our story, amen? But that’s different than being that one weird person who attributes everything weird about them to the fact that they are a Christian or that one annoying Christian who people are not annoyed by Christ or even the cross; they’re just annoyed by you.
Amen? So to be Christ-like is to try to get out of the way so that Christ can be in the way so that people can see that there is a way. The first thing that it means to live as a Christian is to wake up in the morning with a desire to be like Christ and to understand that it is a process and a lifestyle.
I put faith in Christ; I entrust my world and my life to Christ, but then I begin to become like Christ. That process is the one that all of us are in and on. You’ve never seen a baby run out of the maternity ward at the hospital, open the door, and jump in the back seat of the car, snap their seatbelt, and say to Dad, «Let’s go.» Never seen it. That would go viral! But every child is born with phenomenal capacity in the same way that you were born with amazing capacity to grow up, mature, become like, and live like Christ.
To wake up in the morning and not think, «I want to be more like Christ today,» is not to be Christian. To be Christian and to live Christian is to wake up in the morning and say, «I want to be more Christ-like today.»
The second thing—and this is not an official list and it’s only half the list—the second thing is to be in love with God. I know that sounds elementary, but to be Christian is not, again, to pray a prayer to get a ticket to heaven, to sign up and join a church. To be Christian is to entrust my life to God, to entrust my life to Christ.
When I look at Christ, what I learn about Christ is that Christ was constantly in a loving relationship with His Father. They were intimate, and they were partners in life. They lived together, walked together, moved together, and did kingdom things together. So when they said to Jesus, «What is the greatest commandment?» in Luke 10, He said, «Oh, that’s simple: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and yes, love your neighbor as yourself.»
We’re going to talk about that, but first, just love God with everything inside of you. For someone to say, «I’m a Christian» and not be in love with God would be weird. That would be weird to say, «I’m a Christian,» but I don’t spend time with God. I’m not doing the very obvious thing Jesus said: «When you pray, this is how you pray.» I’m assuming you’re going to pray because you’re in a relationship with God— that kind of relationship of a son or daughter.
When Jesus was baptized, Yahweh said, «This is My Son, whom I love; in Him, I’m well pleased.» That’s the kind of relationship Jesus was modeling to the people around Him. If we take on the identity of Christ and entrust our lives to Christ, then we become known as people who are pursuing God in a relationship where we are in love with God.
The third thing I think it means to live as a Christian is to extend grace. John 1:14 says, «The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son of God, who came from the Father full of grace and truth.»
So, we’re definitely in the grace and truth camp, okay? Just to be clear, we’re not going into the abyss here. You know that abyss? The straw man abyss? As soon as you preach grace, you’re always going to get a pushback from somebody saying, «So, are you saying then that because you’re telling us we’re all saved, and we’re all holy in Christ, and we’re all saints now, and we’re all free from the law, that we can just go and live however we want?»
I’m like, how many times is somebody going to ask that question? I have never in my life personally ever heard a sermon where someone said, «Jesus has come and given us all grace; now everybody just go live however you want to live this week.» I’ve never heard that talk. I’m sure there’s one out there, but I’ve never heard it. But man, if you dive into the deep end of grace, you’re going to get the blowback instantly.
«Are you saying that people can do whatever they want to do?» No! Jesus isn’t saying that; Paul’s not saying that; Peter’s not saying that; God Almighty isn’t saying that; nobody’s saying that. What we are saying is the thing that distinguishes Jesus is, yes, He’s full of truth; He is truth, but He’s full of grace, and nobody had seen grace before.
That’s why when the prodigal son wrote his speech to his dad, he didn’t say, «Dad, I’ve really blown it this time. I’m hoping there’s a chance that you will have mercy on me, that you will forgive me, that you will let me back into the family.» No, his speech was, «I’ve sinned against heaven and against you. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son. Just make me a hired servant.» Why? Because he grew up under the law and had no concept of grace. So he knew he was going to get law, and he didn’t even try to get grace.
That’s why when the father ran, everybody threw their hands in the air and said, «What kind of madman is this dude?» Because he’s introducing the grace way. He’s introducing a way that the psalmist talks about, where God does not give us what we deserve; He gives Jesus what we deserve and gives us what Jesus deserves. It’s called grace, and you’re not going to find it anywhere else in any other story that you dive into except in the story of Jesus. He’s the grace way; therefore, a Christian should lead with grace.
«Oh, so you’re saying it’s okay; you can just do whatever you want, live however you want?» No, that’s not what we’re saying. We remember where we came from, and we know we have a long way to go until God is finished with us. Therefore, we lead with the grace way, and if you don’t remember where you came from, you’re probably not saved.
If you don’t think you have a pretty good ways to go to get to where God wants you to be, you’re probably not saved because you think that you were pretty good to start with, and that you’re doing pretty good right now. You don’t realize—you don’t realize if I have that mindset, hello—that you don’t get grace.
The day that you put your faith in Jesus and entrusted everything to Him, you got grace. Today, when you woke up, God gave you grace. Today, God is giving you grace. God is being gracious. Now, He may have told you the truth, but He met you with grace. He may be telling you the truth right now, but He met you with grace. Therefore, if you remember where you came from and know you still have a long way to go, then you extend grace to people.
You speak truth, yes, in love, as the Scripture says. We should be the most gracious people in the city because we are the beneficiaries of the most amazing grace.
Fourth, I’ll try to squeeze these last two in. To live as a Christian is to shine light. Light only matters if there’s darkness. So right away, as a Christian, I know the world isn’t as it should be. I know that. Jesus said that in the same conversation where He said, «God so loved the world.» He said, «The light has come into the world, and the world loved the darkness more than the light,» and they still do.
At times, some of us do. So we’re not looking out at the world going, «Yeah, some of them still love the dark more than the light.» Some of us still love the dark more than the light. Why did they love the dark more than the light? Because their deeds were evil.
Yes, there’s a dilemma—a light and dark pandemic—and in it, Jesus said a Christian shines light. But you can shine light a couple of different ways. One of them is to pull the cover back. «I have a huge searchlight.» Another way is to walk with God in such a way that the light of God shines on me and through me.
My light shines as I reflect Christ. Jesus said that. He said, «You are the light of the world.» He said He was the light of the world, but now He turns the tables and says, «You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.»
In the same way, let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. So we learn one thing about what it means to live as a Christian—it’s definitely not a private thing because we’re supposed to let our light shine before other people.
Paul picks this up in Philippians 2:12. This is after that beautiful section where he talks about Christ humbling Himself to the point of death and being raised by the power of God, given a name above every name. He comes to this statement: «Therefore, writing to this church in Philippi, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed not only in my presence but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.»
Wait a minute. I thought it’s the grace way, not the works way. It is the grace way, but by grace, God put stuff in. Now we work it out. We may not have run out of the maternity ward, but we’re going to run at some point. You say, «Well, that feels like I’m kind of on my own now trying to work something out.» No, God’s going to help you!
«For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purposes.» That verse, by the way, is one of the greatest invitations on planet Earth because it means that God will actually give you the want-to to become what He wants you to be. Then He’ll give you the do. He’ll perform it in you to become what He wants you to be—to will and to do the things that fulfill His good purpose.
So do everything without grumbling or arguing. There’s a miracle right there! Then you know God is at work in you so that you may become blameless and pure children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.
Here it comes: «Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.» There is a time to speak truth in love for sure—to a friend, to a family member, to a neighbor. There’s a time to speak truth in love.
But what Jesus is really saying more is, «I want you just to be in such a relationship with God that you are constantly a moon in a dark night. You are reflecting the light and love and grace of God, and that light and love is emanating from you because Christ now is in you.»
I just want you to be a light in your neighborhood so that if people are in darkness, they know, «Okay, I can see one light.» I can see light in the dark. «It’s that family down there. I can see light at work, and it’s her.» «I can see light in this difficult season of my life, and the light is him. He’s shining right now in the dark, and I can see it.»
That’s different than saying, «It’s my business to get in everybody’s world and make all their business my business so I can shine a big, powerful light in there.» It’s just saying, «No, I just want to be a light.» As the world gets darker and darker around me, I will shine more and more and more because the light that is shining on me and in me is brighter than a sun that’s 94 million miles away but still makes the moon look like you can pluck it out of the sky.
God says, «This is a Christian. A Christian is bright in the dark.» Does the world want light? No, until it’s so dark that they stumble and fall, and they can’t find anything, and then they want light. Then they say, «Where’s light?»
«Oh, I remember light! Thomas is light! I’m going to call Thomas—he’s light.» «Janet! Janet’s light!» From the text, «Janet, I need light.» They’re not going to say, «Oh, I need a Christian.» They’re saying, «I need light.»
Lastly, for today, to live as a Christian means to generously care—in other words, to champion those in need. In fact, a whole movement of benevolence is rooted in this idea of the Good Samaritan.
In fact, the roadside assistance organization, the Good Samaritan, is well-known. Now we all know what it means to be a Good Samaritan. Jesus taught us that to be Christian is to stop, to be Christian is to see, to be Christian is to get involved, to be Christian is to care.
To be Christian is to kneel down, to be Christian is to pick somebody up, to be Christian is to put them on your donkey, to be Christian is to make sure they get help. To be Christian is to pay for it even if you can’t get paid back. To be Christian is to check in, to be Christian is to check back in. To be Christian is to generously care.
It’s not about a giving season. We just happen to be here going into an above-and-beyond season at our church. These are not planned to be this way, but a Christian doesn’t have to be told, «You should tithe.» A Christian doesn’t have to be told, «You should give above and beyond.» A Christian is like Christ, and Christ stops, Christ cares, Christ sees, Christ kneels down, Christ picks up, Christ puts on His donkey, Christ gets help, Christ pays for the help, and Christ checks in and stays with it.
Christ generously cares. People who are little Christ are the most generous, caring people in the city. I love this distinction, and I’m not trying to make a point here, but there are so many opinions on platforms. I’m talking about everybody’s got the microphone, and I wish there was a way you could just see and say, «Are you doing anything personally? Giving anything personally?»
«Oh, I know you started a GoFundMe campaign, or you’re getting other people to give, but are you giving generously of what you have to affect the life of one person? Where are you serving? Where are you giving? Where are you saying, 'You know what? We’re not taking that trip because we see a need, and we’re going to meet the need, and we’re going to sacrificially give into that.' You know why? Because we are little Christ. We’re Christ-like.»
And you know what Christ-like people do? They generously care. They don’t need to get paid back. They’re not looking for a return on their care. They just want people to know God sees you and God cares about you. God has a purpose and a plan for you. Just because you don’t have what you need doesn’t mean God doesn’t have what you need.
I know He could rain money out of the sky or just put a bag in the mailbox, but He put me in your path, and He put money in my pocket, and I’m going to use His money to help you know that God has a plan and a purpose for your future, and I’m going to be the conduit of that.
I don’t need to get credit or a certificate or get recognized; I just want to be like Him. They say millennials who follow Christ give three times more to charity than their non-religious counterparts. Why? I don’t know. Did somebody tell them to do that, or is that the overflow of truly being Christian?
We’ve got it down to this idea where you start out Christian, and then if you really want to be extra Christian, you give. Aren’t you glad God didn’t do that? God extra gave so that I could have something to entrust my life to, which I did. And then, when I did, I was born again into a brand new lifestyle of reflecting Him, His ways, His teachings, and His purposes. Why? So that other people could see and know Him.
Jesus said it this way, that verse we read: «Let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.» Why does it matter that we get this right? It matters that we get this right because most people will find Jesus through you. Most people are going to decide on Jesus based on Christians. And a lot of people have written Him off because they met too many Christians.
«Oh, He’s appearing to people in dreams all over the world.» That’s awesome— a little weird, but cool weird. He can reveal Himself to someone in any way at any time, but the vast majority of people who are going to find the grace way are going to find the grace way because of a Christian who showed them the way. That’s why it’s imperative that we get it right.
What does it mean to be a Christian, and what does it mean to live as a Christian in the world? Next week, we’re going to look at some amazing thoughts on being and living as a Christian. For those of you who are going to be gone next week, this is the cliff notes of the cliff notes: To carry good news. We’re going to break down what it means to be an evangelical; I can’t wait!
Seventh, to live as a Christian means I’m making disciples, and eighth, it means that I’m committed to a community called church—God’s plan that it would be the most beautiful community of love on Earth and be irresistible in any city or town.