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Not a Christian

By Sam Harvey

I want to announce to the world that I am not a Christian, I don’t think I fit the Christian mould. Whenever I talk to mates that don’t go to church, my “normal” mates, the word “Christian” just means so much stuff that I would like to think that I am not. Off the top of my head, they list (and probably quite rightly) homophobic, religious, judgemental, crazy wacko, old-fashioned, boring, pious, kill-joy, distant, strange, the list goes on. If it is these traits that describe a Christian, then I am not one, I don’t want to be associated with one, would prefer not to be seen with one, and definitely don’t want to date one! And if I am a walking example of my friends’ list, then someone kick me up the butt hard till I go blue, or green, or the colour of a rainbow, because sadly, in the minds of much of the world, this is what the word “Christian” has come to mean.

Random GuyFundamentally, Christian is a title, and I’m still trying to work on a title that doesn’t carry so much of what I (hopefully) am not.  I’ve being trying to work out a better word that sums up how I see the relationship. The closest description, the one I am most likely to use in conversation, is that I am a “follower of Jesus”. It probably doesn’t completely nail it, but it fits for me just fine at the moment.

I want to be a revolutionary like Jesus was. I want to love people like He loved them. I want to see the world the way He saw it. I want to shock and challenge people the way He did. I want to party like Jesus partied. I want to have a set of mates like Jesus had. I want to have the joy that Jesus had. I want to feel the pain that Jesus felt.

Above all I want to be a part of the world changing movement that Jesus began, and that is not about being some rock-star up the front, but about serving a world that is hurting all around us. It is a movement that means I loose my life, but in that process I find the only true life. It is a movement that invites me out of my familiar ground of guilt and fear, and carries me into a reckless journey of grace and freedom.

Maybe sometime in the future, when a generation of crazy kids madly in love with Jesus, joining in this amazing movement of love and serving the world around them start getting some attention, maybe when that happens, maybe then the word “Christian” can be redeemed. Flip I hope so, but until then you can call me a follower of Jesus.

Let’s continue the revolution.

Sam Harvey

After graduating from Bible College, Sam youth pastored for three years before making the move to help launch Soul Survivor in Aotearoa. Having recently moved back home, Sam is a single 25-year-old who earns less than a trolley boy at Pak n Save, but mysteriously still thinks he is cool. You can catch his virtual dribble online at mrharvey.blogspot.com.