From a past that comes back in my darkest of dreams
Been apprehended by a spiritual force
And a grace that replaced all the me Ive divorced"
- Jesus Freak by dcTalk
Dictionary.com:
Chris⋅tian/ˈkrɪstʃən/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [kris-chuhn] Show IPA
–adjective
1. of, pertaining to, or derived from Jesus Christ or His teachings: a Christian faith.
2. of, pertaining to, believing in, or belonging to the religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ: Spain is a Christian country.
3. of or pertaining to Christians: many Christian deaths in the Crusades.
4. exhibiting a spirit proper to a follower of Jesus Christ; Christlike: She displayed true Christian charity.
5. decent; respectable: They gave him a good Christian burial.
6. human; not brutal; humane: Such behavior isn't Christian.
–noun
7. a person who believes in Jesus Christ; adherent of Christianity.
8. a person who exemplifies in his or her life the teachings of Christ: He died like a true Christian.
9. a member of any of certain Protestant churches, as the Disciples of Christ and the Plymouth Brethren.
10. the hero of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.
11. a male given name.
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UrbanDictionary.com:
1. Jesus freak 369 up, 93 down
n. Someone who displays an unusual or embarrasing amount of enthusiasm for Jesus.
This term was first used in the 1960's in reference to the growing movement of radical, unconventional Christians who often displayed hippie leanings.
Hey, David, if you dance around like that, people are going to start thinking you're some kind of Jesus freak.
by Bad Grammar Must Die Apr 2, 2003 share this
2. jesus freak 236 up, 91 down
Someone who persists in talking about the importance of Jesus in their life and the world to the point of being rude.
Oh no, the Jesus Freak is spouting off again.
by Observer52 Aug 5, 2005 share this
3. Jesus freak 302 up, 178 down
Someone who:
Has a bracelet,bumper sticker,t-shirt, etc with Christian phrases on it.
Is a born again Christian.
Goes to church.
Talks freely to many people about their beliefs.
Has the fire of Jesus in their heart.
That person is such a Jesus Freak!
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So there you have it.
By definition, a Mormon or Jehovah's Witness is considered a Christian. Along with them include people Christians would prefer to call Christians, like Saint Augustine, Martin Luther, John Wesley, and Billy Graham. Then there's the iffies, the shakies. These include most of the presidents of the United States of America, Joel Osteen, and the dude who preaches at your local Pentecostal about Jesus helping you to feel better about yourself, because you're just that amazing! And then there's spiritual teachers who acknowledge Jesus in person and teaching, like Gandhi and Deepak Chopra, who, technically, are therefore Christians.
Then there's over 70% of the United States, most of central America, the dying threads of the Catholic church in France or the Anglican church in England, who, when interviewed by telemarketer, would say "Sure, I'm a Christian."
That's a pretty large blanket label. To accept judgment for being a Christian, you might as well give me a Republican robe and rip on me for hatred against homosexuals and senseless killing in the Middle-East.
Just because I am one doesn't mean I'm responsible for the rest of them.
And frick, I'm Canadian!
They're called the Conservative Party here, and I didn't even vote for them.
No, I find myself with no real appetite to label myself to the world Christian. While you're at it, might want to axe words like Christianity and religion, too. Can't stand for it anymore than I can a spinach leaf salad after a long day of work.
So let's take that other word up there, or rather, phrase. Jesus Freak.
Even that word's corrupted already (wearing bracelets and bumper stickers? really? was it that necessary?), but we can work with it.
See, the word "Christian" is historically defined circa Acts to mean "Little Christ," and was actually quite pejorative. Used by Jewish fundamentalists, known as Pharisees, and other persecutors of a relatively small demographic focussing their lives whole-heartedly on who such attackers considered a blasphemer and heretic, these early "Christians" were blaspheming the same way Jesus had before them; referring to their eponymous leader as God, for example.
Who would've guessed that, nearly two thousand years later, this same derogatory slang would now be a popular tagline for political power in North America? Heck, even Obama's a Christian, right? (God Damn America, Jeremiah White).
So when a word that used to be meaningful has now become stale and ineffective, we who adhere to it's earliest precepts adopt a new term.
I'm afraid it's almost too late to banner Jesus Freak, but for now, that's the one.
As the above definition can attest, a Jesus Freak is not really much of a good thing. A social and political outcast based around religious zeal. They've been made fun of by everyone from Ozzy Osbourne to Denzel Washington in Training Day, and by roots, sounds a little bit like the origin of the term "Christian."
So let's work with this, shall we?
In 1994, a revolutionary, yet less-than-popular rock/hip-hop group named dcTalk released a cd that would redefine the purpose of the word. Their songs epitomized their love for God and intolerance towards racism, but the title track, Jesus Freak, did exactly what early Christians did, it turned another cheek.
So that's what they're calling us, is it? But is it really so bad to be judged over a worldview, over a relationship that can change a person's life, over the saviour of the freakin' whole world?
The Apostle Paul wrote about this to the Corinthian church, that he delights in trial and hardship and even persecution, because when he is weak, then he is strong. And why else should be be strong, when God spoke from the very heights of Heaven to tell him "My grace is sufficient for you."
And Jesus himself even went as far as to cast a blessing on the persecuted, anyone who lies victim to the hatred and evil of others, and this for His sake.
So what's wrong with being a social outcast, except for the fact that you are, in fact, a social outcast? According to Jesus, it's actually a good thing. According to the Apostle Peter, it means you're doing something right, you're living a godly life.
So dcTalk embraced the term.
"What will people think when they hear that I'm a Jesus freak?
What will people do when they find that it's true?
I don't really care if they label me a Jesus freak,
'cause there's no denying the truth."
And I think that's what the world's first Christians did, after Jesus came and went, and promised to come again. They walked forward with a namesake that would spell their death once Nero took power in Rome, but they lost concern over their own safety and survival, because Jesus already promised that He'd conquered the world, and they were his friends. He's atoned for them. He laid himself down as a sacrifice for them. He went through unspeakable pain and evil for them. And why, so they could walk through unspeakable evil themselves? (Nero liked to stick Christians inside giant candles and use them for light). No, Jesus did these things for them, that, though they may face persecution (and, apparently, would actually be doing something wrong if they weren't), justice would be poured out after their time on Earth had passed.
And now, the title that used to sift the faithful from the doubtful literally through death, has become a politically attractive blanket that covers both, and considering human volume, considerably more doubters than faithfuls.
If Obama pulled a Nero and decided that anyone who called themselves a Christian would face execution in his country (and I doubt he would... Obama only hates the unborn babies, really), that stat, that 70% of the country calling themselves Christians, would drop instantly to what some can approximate to, at most, 34%, or, by a more realistic perspective, probably less than 10%.
And this is a country built on the foundations of the gospel.
Now "everyone" has become a minority.
We'll have more Bloq seats in Canadian parliament than Christians in North America.
Think about that next time you call yourself a Christian.
