Warning: I am by no means an expert on this topic. I am solely writing from personal experience and knowledge that I have obtained at this point in my life. Read this with a grain of salt.

The term “Christian” has found its way into everyday language. It is a term that is used to describe a person’s religious beliefs, morals, and values. I was raised in a “Christian” home. I went to a “Christian” school. I try to live a “Christian” lifestyle. The list goes on and on.

Something that I have had to learn over the years is that the term “Christian” no longer means Christian. Being Christian use to mean following Jesus. Christian use to mean that you were once broken beyond repair but are now fixed by the grace of God. Christian use to mean that you were in a constant battle between what was right and what felt good.

But that isn’t what the word “Christian” means anymore.

Being “Christian” now means that you try to live a good life. You do service projects every once in a while. You go to church on Christmas and Easter. You go on a one-week mission trip to an exotic country and “they impacted you more than you impacted them” (I am 100 percent guilty of this. You try not to cuss as much as you use to. You don’t drink or smoke like all of your friends. You live a morally “ok” life compared to everyone else.

This was a huge learning curve for me. It was a shock to me, when I entered high school, to see my friends who said they were “Christian” go out and party every weekend and disobey their parents and sleep with various people. Possibly the worst part about the entire situation was that they knew nothing of their own brokenness and the grace that they had received through Jesus (Grant it, I need a reminder of that on a minute by minute basis).

They were “Christian” because our culture told them they were.

While I can’t say who is or isn’t Christian (I’ll leave that to God), I can say this. Be wary of titles. There are “Christians” who are not Christians in the same way that there are “liberals” who aren’t actually liberals. That boy that you are dating that swears he is a “Christian” but wants you to do things that you aren’t comfortable with, might not be Christian. Your friends from church that show up to conferences or trips but never show up to regular church but say they are “Christian”, might not be.

As a Christian, this is something to keep in mind. Everyone needs Jesus, not just Non-Christians. Even the people who say that they have him. Christians, “Christians”, and Non-Christians.