Its just a title.

Titles should be earned. And for those that cannot be earned, then titles should be upheld, lived up to.

So what is your title? Are you that scholar who’s scaled the heights of your specialization to be called a professor? What is your title? Are you called princess, and I do not mean the sweet nothings lovers call each other nowadays or that you were named so by your mother, but that you were born in royalty… Or do you merely feed off the the titles of passerbys and ambitious conductors, you know, the likes of “madam” or “mrembo“.. Titles.

Now all of these are titles. Some come easy like birthrights and some are like those that it can be said, in the sweat of thy face, shalt thou earn this title. Some are but flattery while some have been hard earned. Either way, the good titles should be upheld.

With that being said, probably one of the most common titles is Christian. It holds the majority in the ranks of religious organizations, it is held by the small and big, tall and short, poor or rich. Sadly, it has fallen prey to the unspoken law of prevalence, where if something is too common or monotonous it loses its initial appealing magnitude or the ability to serve its purpose. People in the long run forget the initial and intended mission of something common and there is a mirage or rather lack of clarity of the whole substance of the thing. Consequently there arises a division since everyone is scavenging to find the right course, at least to them. This has caused impalpable turmoil in Christendom and widespread disintegration into small groups. I have no intention today to delve into who is right and who isn’t. I simply want to appeal to reason and understanding, has Christianity become merely a title?

So what comes with being called a Christian? I stand in my ground to believe no one is born a Christian nor an atheist. The reason is simple that an infant has no capacity to have beliefs…but of course, the environment they are born in plays a large role in them deciding what they choose to consent to. Therefore assuming you chose to be a Christian, did you understand the terms and conditions?

Alluding to the famous phrase based on Acts11, the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. But what led to the name, or title? Well, it is very basic and found in the very positioning of its syllables, Christ-ian…the same way that if you’re from Egypt, we will call you an Egypt-ian… So Christian is from the name Christ…in other words, if Jesus had a nation called Christ, then members of that nation would be called Christians… And basically they would comply to the laws of the nation, in this I mean, Christians are of Christ, thus they follow the way of Christ. I might have confused you, so let this inspired writer place it pointblank!..

To be a Christian is to be Christlike. CS 54.1

But how do you get this title in the first place? It is an arbitrary choice to believe in the One by whom you will be called. You choose to believe in Christ and in the Father who sent Him, for it is written the just shall live by faith. And faith comes by hearing the word of God.

But Christian has become just a title, flaunted in the halls of sin with the excuse of “grace”. From the very top leadership to the merest of congregant….we are the ones grabbing our neighbour’s land, we are the worst triflers of hearts, we are among the harshest of bosses, laziest of students and when the heathen see us and are puzzled, they are forced to conclude, ah Christianity is just a title!..

Now thus saith the Lord, My name is blasphemed among the unbelievers because of you. We are not Christlike anymore. Have we not heard the word of God? Is our faith so dead considering how it has not wrought good works?

Paul says, that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation (I.e. justification, sanctification, glorification). I agree. I believe in the power of the gospel. The gospel should bring out the best in man. It should produce the noblest of men, the meekest of ladies, the chastised of youths, the competent of employees. It is in the church that we should find those husbands who would open car doors for their wives, those children that would be quiet in reverence to God during worship, ladies who only know to speak good of others and leaders who rebuke in love. It should be a communion of sinners not saved in their sin but from their sin. How then should our light shine forth before men?

In this journey, our path has been lighted by the flame of the burnt martyrs as we track the footprints of Christ. We have not like them been called to physically die for our faith,..yet.. Unfortunately, time is no longer on our side. A time is coming when you will not only have to prove by your works, but by your blood, of the faith you profess. I do not know if your faith will endure, beheading, being skinned alive, or being stoned. But this is the time to prove that you are worthy of the acclaimed title, Christian. It is not just a title, its a lifestyle.