The word Christian is a noun. A Christian is a person who follows Jesus. Follow is a verb. And I’ve learned over the years that nouns need verbs.
Jesus loved verbs. Verbs like love, come, rest, learn, hear, die, give and go. So wouldn’t it make sense that the people who claim to follow Jesus would love the same verbs Jesus loved?
Somewhere along the way someone tried to make the word Christian an adjective. So now people speak of Christian (adj.) books and Christian (adj.) music and Christian (adj.) T-shirts and Christian (adj.) schools. When people use the word Christian as an adjective, instead of a noun that loves verbs, it loses its meaning. Maybe this explains why so many churches have lost their meaning too.
If a Christian is a person (singular) who follows Jesus, then the church is made of people (plural) who follow Jesus. And like a Christian, the church is a noun too – a noun designed to love verbs. Specifically, it is a noun that should love the same verbs Jesus loved because the church is a picture of Jesus.
I don’t mean this as an indictment, but it seems as though some of us have lost our verbs.
When we lose our verbs, we become what the world claims we are: hypocrites. A hypocrite is nothing more than a noun without a verb. Lovers who don’t love…Givers who don’t give…Followers who don’t follow…
We need fewer adjectives and more verbs. Have you noticed the adjectives we put in front of the noun Christian?
“She’s such a loving Christian”
“He’s such a giving Christian”
Loving. Giving.
Is there any other kind of Christian? Can a Christian be a Christian without loving and giving? If a Christian doesn’t love or give, is that person really a Christian? Maybe a better way to ask the question is: Can a Christian be unloving or not a giving person?
When we follow Jesus, we will love the way Jesus loves. When we follow Jesus, we will give the way Jesus gives. It’s not the adjective before the noun that matters. It’s the verb after the noun we need to pay attention to.
If we love the verbs Jesus loved, I’m convinced we will love the people He loves. That’s when life gets fun!
excerpt from Jesus Prom by Jon Weece
Keith, Lifeline’s Laborlink Work Team Director, has had the opportunity to speak at various churches over the last few weeks on behalf of Lifeline. In every church, doors have been opened to discuss the possibility of these churches coming on a work team trip with Lifeline. All of them would be first time groups to be part of a Lifeline trip. There have been many follow up conversations and emails with these churches. We are praising God for the increased interest in trips, and for doors that continue to open to present this life-changing opportunity to new churches and individuals. 
