PROPER IDENTIFICATION
Christ liveth in me.
Galatians 2:20
We are always intrigued and haunted by the simplicity of first-century Christianity. What would happen if a man started out today to be just a Christian? The idea has inspired books like In His Steps. Well, if a man started out to be “just a Christian” he would probably gather a band of “just Christians” around him, and soon there would be another denomination! Through the centuries believers hungry to recapture the simplicity of the early faith have started out to be just friends or disciples or brethren or some other group. But one always has to watch lest devotion to a group or movement supersede devotion to Christ Himself.
In every Christian Christ lives again. Every true believer is a return to first-century Christianity. The problem is how to maintain the simplicity of being just a Christ-ian, an en-Christed one amid the complexity of the modern religious set-up.
What ought to be most evident in us is that Christ lives in us. If our church or group is more evident than our identification with Christ it is too evident. We are here to advertise Him, not “it” or “us” or “them.”