Thom S. Rainer - I Am a Christian: Discovering What It Means to Follow Jesus Together with Fellow Believers

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I Am a Christian: Discovering What It Means to Follow Jesus Together with Fellow Believers

Copyright 2022 by Thom S. Rainer. All rights reserved.

Cover illustration by Eva M. Winters. Copyright Tyndale House Ministries. All rights reserved.

The Author is represented by Alive Literary Agency, www.aliveliterary.com.

Designed by Eva M. Winters

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

ISBN 978-1-4964-4892-7

Build: 2022-11-18 14:16:21 EPUB 3.0

To Amy Jordan and Jana Biesecker.

Two incredible leaders at Church Answers.

Two incredible friends to me.

And always to Nellie Jo.

Your gentle nudge led me to a church when I was a young man.

Your persistent love sustains me and strengthens me as an old man.

I did not expect a business meeting in Franklin, Tennessee, to become one of the most momentous events of my life. When Ron Beers and Jon Farrar of Tyndale House Publishers came to talk to me about writing some books, I thought it would be just another meeting, but it was so much more. It was the beginning of both a professional relationship and an exceptional friendship.

I soon met Jan Long Harris as well, and these three Tyndale leaders have become friends I know I will cherish for life.

Without a doubt, the entire Tyndale team has been a blessing to me. Ron, Jon, and Jan started the relationship, but it has expanded to include many more.

Thank you, Bryan Norman of Alive Literary. Though Ive written more than thirty books, you are my first agent. You have demonstrated your worth, class, and acumen again and again. I am incredibly blessed by you.

The team at Church Answers includes several family members, but even those who arent Rainers are like family to me. I love working with you. I love the joy, laughter, and passion you have for churches and church leaders. I cant imagine serving alongside anyone else.

I absolutely love my family. I love my wife, Nellie Jo. I love our sons, Sam, Art, and Jess. I love Erin, Sarah, and Rachel, our daughters-in-law. And I love our eleven (and counting) grandchildren. If you know anything about me, you know how much my family means to me. My world is first Christ and then my family. Did I mention that I love my family?

This book represents my greatest passion in ministry. Its thesis is simple. We who are Christians should know why we are Christians and why we should live out our faith in the context of a local church. Churches and church leaders often get a bad rap these days. It is now in vogue to criticize both and disparage their importance.

From the first local church in Jerusalem to the millions of churches around the world today, God is still at work in local congregations. In our walk as Christians, we need to remember the importance of the local church for our growth and effectiveness in the faith.

You may be reading this book in a new members or discipleship class, in a small group, or on your own. I have two messages for you. First, thank you for picking up a book with a common but curious title and deciding to take the time to read it. Second, I am praying that God will use this book to help you understand more fully what it means to follow Christ. I am praying that you will clearly see and embrace how God intends for you to live out your faithin the community and context of a local church.

The title of this book, I Am a Christian, is a great statement with deep meaning.

May it be a powerful statement for you as well.

Thom S. Rainer

Franklin, Tennessee

A common icebreaker in new groups is to ask everyone to share something about themselves that nobody else would know. Maybe its something their spouse would know, but sometimes even spouses are surprised by what is revealed.

On one such occasion, I responded, I was a fifth-generation banker. Its possible that a few people in the room knew I started my work life as a banker, but hardly anyone knew I carried on a family legacy spanning five generations. It might be even more surprising to learn that all three of my sons were sixth-generation bankers before they answered the call to vocational ministry.

So, who am I today?

I am the husband of Nellie Jo; the father of Sam, Art, and Jess; and the granddad of Canon, Will, Harper, Collins, Nathaniel, Joshua, James, Maggie, Bren, Joel, and Dominic. (Thats the present tally, at least.) I am the son of Sam and Nan and the brother of Sam and Amy. (Yes, we like the name Sam in my family.)

Who am I? I am the friend of many people who have blessed my life immeasurably. My friends have been there for me in the good times and the tough times. I hope I have been that type of friend to them as well.

Who am I? I am the leader of Church Answers. I am the author of a lot of books. I have been the dean of a seminary and the pastor of four churches.

In short, I identify as a family man, a friend, a sports enthusiast, an author, and a person who has served in vocational ministry for a long time.

But who am I really?

If we were playing the icebreaker game right now and I asked you to identify yourself in one comprehensive sentence, what would you say?

I havent always been as bold and forthcoming as Id like to be, but if you asked me that question today, my response would be, I am a Christian.

What exactly does that mean?

For certain, it means I have confessed that I am a sinner. I have repented of my sins and placed my faith in Jesus Christ. I believe that his death on the cross was on my behalf. He took the punishment I deserve. He is my sacrifice, my Savior, my Lord, and my King.

To say that I am a Christian means I have chosen to center my life in the person of Jesus Christ. He is my hope and my salvation. He is my present. He is my eternity. Simply stated, he is my all. And though I am far from perfect in how I live my life and share my faith, my desire is always to openly proclaim Jesus and identify myself with him.

I am a Christian means I have a new identityindeed a powerful new identityin Christ. In the following pages, I will unpack the meaning of this simple, four-word sentence. Though the statement is brief, the implications are far-reaching, lifesaving, and life-changing.

In todays culture, many false belief systems are vying for our hearts and minds. The conflict can be both confusing and overwhelming. Right now, perhaps more than at any other time in history, we need to understand the urgency of the moment. So many forces in our culture seek to grab our time, attention, and commitment. Whether its politics, sports, leisure, social media, or the latest issue of the day, there is no shortage of opportunities to get involved. To be clear, these opportunities are not all bad. But they can cause us to forget our true purpose in life as followers of Christ: to rescue lost souls and change the world for the better. At this pivotal moment, when our culture seems to teeter between one direction or another, we need to claim our most important identityfollower of Christand act on it.