What We Should Talk about When We Talk about What It Means to Be a Christian

I came across this 9-minute video by N. T. Wright where he attempted to explain what it means to be a Christian. I listened to it carefully more than three times, and I was stunned. I was bewildered by his sheer ability to describe what it means to be a Christian without mentioning the word “sin” a single time.

In the video, Wright claims that he can explain what it means to be a Christ-follower in “three simple but profound statements.” To him, being a Christian is all about (1) belonging to a family (a new way of life); (2) believing in the God revealed in Jesus; and (3) behaving in the way that he taught and demonstrated (reflecting the wisdom of God into the world).

But being a Christian means, more than anything else, being forgiven of all our sins and getting right with God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Wright, however, seems to sweep the sin problem under the rug. To him, the concept of Jesus Christ coming into the world to save sinners makes God “petty” who only cares about personal sin issues. His problem is that he is avoiding mentioning or thinking about the scandalous and embarrassing state of human misery caused by our sinfulness.

His tactic is understandable, as it were, because sin is a painfully uncomfortable topic. We human beings would thus tend to avoid facing it at all costs. We hurriedly gloss over individual sin issues and want to talk about other “positive” things such as God’s kingdom (coming down into the world) or victory of God. While I never deny that they too are an important aspect of being a believer, I suspect Wright has failed to give an appropriate picture of what it means to be a Christian by deliberately avoiding the most besetting problem that human beings face: sin. Wright simply does not want to think and talk about sin. That is why his teaching is teeming with the so-called victory language.

However, the Bible cannot be clearer about Jesus’ primary mandate, which is to save us from our sins. That was the first thing spoken to Joseph by the angel of the Lord (Matthew 1:21): “for he will save his people from their sins.” Jesus’ victory is over the power of sin and death, without which we can never begin to talk about all other beautiful things that the gospel of Christ brings.

So, we should talk about sin and death from which we have been set free by the atoning death of Christ when we talk about what it means to be a Christian.

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(Some will know that I’ve titled this post after Murakami’s memoir What I Talk about When I Talk about Running)

My Theological Research Seminar presentation (Feb 10, 2025) @McMaster Divinity College, Hamilton, ON