Believer is a popular word these days.
Any time I meet someone who is a believer in anything, I am happy, because that is a good starting point. However, believer is not the word that describes the Christian life. Believer is not our word. What is that word? I will tell you in a moment, but first a look at why believer not enough.
In Acts 8, Phillip, one of the most trusted teachers in the early church, went to the city of Samaria and preached the word of God. Many of the people responded, including a well-known sorcerer named Simon. He became a believer and was baptized in the name of Christ (verse 13).
Later, when he saw Peter and others healing people, he offered them money in an attempt to purchase that ability. What follows is one of the most harsh and stinging replies in the entire New Testament.
Peter said, “May your money perish with you, because you thought that you could buy the gift of God… you have no share or part in this ministry… for I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin” (verses 20-23).
Did you catch the problem? Simon was a believer, but his belief had not changed him. He was still the same person that he was before. Belief is not enough.
The word that should describe us is “disciple” (Matthew 28:18-20). A disciple is a follower, a learner or one who is fully engaged. There is a huge difference between a believer and a follower.
For example, it is one thing to believe that the International Space Station exists, but it would be a completely different thing to follow an astronaut and live up there. Believing changes nothing. Following would change everything including how you ate, slept, moved, communicated with your family and saw the world. Nothing would be left untouched.
In short, a believer is an observer, but a disciple is a participant.
God is not asking us just to believe something, he wants us to help us become something. He is not after new thoughts, but rather new lives. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
The adventure really begins when we obey this invitation: “Come follow me!” (Matthew 4:19).
