The series Stepping Stones to the Fullness of Christ with host and author, Patti Brunner, asks the question, “What is a Christian”. This series was first taught to parents of sacramental prep students at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church. The title was inspired by a vision the Lord gave Patti Brunner. Jesus appeared and took her hand and showed which rocks to use as stepping stones to continue her journey. Truth of the Spirit now shares the Stepping Stones with you! For video and audio links or to read the script please continue reading.
What comes to mind when you hear the word “Christian”? How you would define or describe a “Christian”? Write it down on a slip of paper or as a YouTube comment and then compare your answers after this presentation. Do you think that answers would be different if you were younger or older? Do you find a different meaning today vs. days of old? What makes someone a Christian? Do you know a “real Christian”? Do you know someone who is not a Christian?
Welcome to Truth of the Spirit and Stepping Stones to the Fullness of Christ. I’m Patti Brunner. This is the first of a series, an opportunity to discover the truth as we journey toward Christ. This week’s topic, “What is a Christian?” also gives us the question: “Am I a follower of Christ? How do I fit the definition of Christian? What can I change to be more Christian?”
Let’s start with a prayer. We thank our Heavenly Father for gathering us together for a little while. We ask Him to help us to put aside the world for a bit and to open ourselves to his Wisdom and Grace. Where two or three are gathered in the name of Jesus He is their midst, and so we gather in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Lord, we ask that you bless us as we take this journey with You. Show us the stepping stones to use to follow the Way. Send your Holy Spirit to guide us. Amen.
Back to our questions, I imagine that each of you listening have answers that are a little—or a lot—different. It’s easy to find out how the Church defines or describes a Christian by checking a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Do you have a copy in your home? Or a favorite website with the Catechism? We are going to look up some of the paragraphs that will help us to understand what the Church teaches a Christian is. Let’s look at Paragraphs 1694, 1692, and 1695. In the official book the paragraph numbers are given in bold print at the indention for the paragraph. You’ll find these three paragraphs in about the middle of the book. Then we’ll go to Paragraph 2044. Let’s focus on the key thoughts in these four paragraphs.
The key point of Catechism Paragraph # 1694 is that our goal is to attain the mind of Christ. The Catechism makes this point using scripture. It starts by saying:
“Incorporated in Christ by Baptism, Christians are “dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” and so participate in the life of the Risen Lord.””
Did you happen to write down that answer? Christians are “dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus”. The Catechism finds this in Paul’s letters to the Romans[i] and the Colossians.
It then continues with an idea from the Gospel of John, and Paul’s Letters to the Ephesians and Philippians that tells us how to be a follower of Christ—also known as being a Christian.
“Following Christ and united with him[ii], Christians can strive to be “imitators of God as beloved children, and walk in love”[iii] by conforming their thoughts, words and actions to the “mind …which is yours in Christ Jesus,”[iv] and by following his example.[v]”
Moving on to Catechism Paragraph #1692 the key point is thefundamentals of being a Christian.
“The Symbol of the faith confesses the greatness of God’s gifts to man in his work of creation, and even more in redemption and sanctification. What faith confesses, the sacraments communicate: by the sacraments of rebirth, Christians have become “children of God,” [Jn 1:12, 1Jn 3:1] “partakers of the divine nature.”[2Pet 1:4]”
Becoming “children of God” is an idea from John’s Gospel and his letter. Being “partakers of the divine nature” is taken from the 2nd Letter of Peter. The effect is then expanded upon in Paragraph #1692 as it says,
“Coming to see in the faith their new dignity, Christians are called to lead henceforth a life “worth of the gospel of Christ.” [Phil 1:27] They are made capable of doing so by the grace of Christ and the gifts of his Spirit, which they receive through the sacraments and through prayer.”
Our commission to imitate Christis the key point of Catechism Paragraph # 1695:
“Justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God,” [1 Cor 6:11] “sanctified… [and] called to be saints,” [1 Cor 1:2] Christians have become the temple of the Holy Spirit. [Cf. 1 Cor 6:19]”
These ideas come from 1st Corinthians. The paragraph then looks at Galatians and Ephesians as it says:
“This “Spirit of the Son” teaches them to pray to the Father [Cf. Gal 4:6] and, having become their life, prompts them to act so as to bear “the fruit of the Spirit” [Gal 5:22,25] by charity in action. Healing the wounds of sin, the Holy Spirit renews us interiorly through a spiritual transformation. [Cf. Eph. 4:23] He enlightens and strengthens us to live as “children of light” through “all that is good and right and true.” [Eph. 5:8,9]”
So what do we have so far? The goal of a Christian is to have the mind of Christ. The fundamentals of being a Christian is being sanctified a child of God. And our commission is to imitate Christ which is possible by grace from the Holy Spirit.
Catechism paragraph # 2044 points out what comes next in being a faithful Christian ending with a quote from Pope Paul VI on the apostolate of the laity. It says:
“The fidelity of the baptized is a primordial condition for the proclamation of the Gospel and for the Church’s mission in the world. In order that the message of salvation can show the power of truth and radiance before men, it must be authenticated by the witness of the life of Christians.”
The quote from Pope Paul VI says,
“The witness of a Christian life and good works done in a supernatural spirit have great power to draw men to the faith and to God.”[vi]
Now let’s take the bible and see how Sacred Scripture guides us in the question “What is a Christian? Am I a Follower of Christ?” There are so many important scriptures. Which ones should we check out? We’ll start by limiting and only looking at the New Testament and focus on the key points we discovered. We’ll explore a few quotes from the four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The other quotes we’ll explore will come from letters written to the early Church by St. Peter and St. Paul.
First, let’s look for The Mind of Christ.
The Gospel of Matthew Chapter 14 tells us that Jesus had compassion for the people and healed them all, “14 When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick.”
In the Gospel of John Chapter 15:5 Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.”
1 Corinthians Chapter 6:19 asks us, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?”
Paul in Philippians Chapter 1:27 exhorts the Church, “Only, conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear news of you, that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind struggling together for the faith of the gospel”.
He continues in Philippians Chapter 2:5 “Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus”
Let me repeat that, “Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus”. Do you have the attitude of the mind of Christ?
Our second key point was “Christians have become children of God”.
The first Chapter of Gospel of John 1:12 says, “But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God.”
Paul makes it clear in Galatians Chapter 4:6 “As proof that you are children, God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!””
Paul talks about the benefit in Ephesians Chapter 5:8, 9 “8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light, 9 for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.”
In 2Peter Chapter 1:4 we find more benefits, “Through these, he has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature, after escaping from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire.” How many of the people among us need to escape the corruption that is of the world?
In 1John Chapter 3:1 it says, “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”
Our third point was Imitating Christ. To imitate Christ you have to know what he did.
The Gospel of Matthew Chapter 9:35, says Jesus taught, “35 Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness.”
The Gospel of Luke Chapter 23: 34 tells us Jesus forgave. “And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.” RSV
The Gospel of Mark Chapter 1:35 tells us Jesus prayed. “35 And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed.” RSV
The Gospel of John Chapter 11:5 tells us Jesus loved. “5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Laz’arus.” RSV
Luke Chapter 22:41-42, tells us Jesus obeyed “42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done.”
In Ephesians Chapter 5:1-2 Paul wraps it up for us and says, “1 So be imitators of God, as beloved children, 2 and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.”
In the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 5-7 To imitate Christ we get instructions for action from Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount:
To respond to what the Holy Spirit has led the Church to teach us, let us stop and think about what we have talked about on this episode of Stepping Stones. What comes to mind when you hear the word “Christian”? How would you define or describe a “Christian”? Are your answers different from the first time I asked these questions? Are you a follower of Christ? How do we fit the definition? What can you change to be more Christian?
The goal of a Christian is to have the mind of Christ. The fundamentals of being a Christian is being a sanctified child of God. And our commission is to imitate Christ which is possible by grace from the Holy Spirit.
We will close with a petition to be Christians and say a Prayer of Dedication. Please join me:
Lord, we have been called to make a decision to be Christians. This week we reach out to You. Change us to be more like you. Show us this week that You are real and care about us so that we may soon be able to hand our lives over to You.
I promise, with God’s help, to be a faithful servant of the Lord, patterning my life in accordance with the teachings of Christ. I promise to faithfully read and study the Holy Scriptures and to regularly participate in the Holy Eucharist. I promise to work and pray and give for the spread of God’s Kingdom, and to be a loyal and faithful member of His Body, the Church. And I ask for and accept the grace needed to fulfill these promises.
I accept God the Father as my Father, I accept God the Son as my Savior, I accept God the Holy Spirit as my Strength, I accept the Word of God as my Guide, I accept the Will of God as my Will, I accept the People of God as my People, I commit myself, body, soul, and spirit to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and I do this freely, fully, and forever. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
You’ve been listening to Truth of the Spirit and “What is a Christian?” of the series Stepping Stones to the Fullness of Christ[vii] with host and author, Patti Brunner. This series was first taught to parents of sacramental prep students at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church. The title was inspired by a vision the Lord gave me one time. I was in a lush valley standing beside the rushing water of a creek, I needed to get to the other side to continue my journey. Jesus appeared and took my hand and showed me which rocks to use as stepping stones. I now share the stepping stones with you! Please subscribe with notification and watch the rest of this weekly series. Then come back next week for more. With the Holy Spirit there’s always more! Amen.
[i] Roman 6:11 & CF. 6:5; cf. Colossians 2:12
[ii] Cf. John 15:5
[iii] Ephesians 5:1-2
[iv] Philippians 2:5
[v] Cf. John 13:12-16
[vi] AA 6 § 2 [DECREE ON THE APOSTOLATE OF THE LAITY APOSTOLICAM ACTUOSITATEM SOLEMNLY PROMULGATED BY HIS HOLINESS, POPE PAUL VI ON NOVEMBER 18, 1965
[vii] Stepping Stones to the Fullness of Faith by Patti Brunner published by Cornelius House, 1999 Revised 2013. Lesson 1, Leaders Guide
