Editor’s note: this previously ran in the July 21, 2023, edition. 

It was the year 2012 and I was ready to purchase my dream car, a Mini Cooper. Now at that time there were a limited number of these on the lots, and you were better off ordering your car through their website. Now Mini Coopers are manufactured in Britain. Once you know what you want, you had to call the dealership and tell them; they gave the information to the manufacturer and, just like that, a vehicle identification number (VIN #) is produced for that car.

I still have that car, but I wondered quite often, when did my vehicle go from being a piece of paper with an ID number on it to actually becoming a car? I assume that it was when it could do “car-like” things. This is quite a question that can be applied to a myriad of topics. I’ve heard people use this line of thinking when they say, “Well, I was born a Baptist (or Catholic or Methodist or Presbyterian, etc. etc. …) I must be a Christian!” When I hear this it makes me think of the song that was used in a previous church by the youth where the gist of the song is: “Just because you walk into McDonald’s does not make you a burger, just because you sit in a garage that does not make you a car!”

This begs the question “What makes you a Christian?” You see, being a Christian is not like being American. You can be born in America and by virtue of that you are an American. But being a Christian is all about being a follower of Christ. That’s what makes you a Christian.

There is a famous story in the book of John in the Bible where a man named Nicodemus came to Jesus at night to ask him a question. Now Nicodemus was a Pharisee, that is, he was one of the men who were not only a political leader but primarily the spiritual leader for the nation of Israel. He was very learned in spiritual teachings. Yet, despite his deep training on spiritual issues and on heaven, he came to Jesus asking what does man have to do to inherit eternal life and be with God? It was in this discourse, found in the third chapter of the book of John, when Jesus was answering this question for Nicodemus, we find perhaps the most quoted verse in the Bible. Here’s what Jesus said as his answer: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). 

It’s interesting that we have here a man who most likely spent his life studying the Torah, and yet he was still concerned about his relationship with God. You would think he would have his answer firmly in place by now. He could have said to Jesus, “I’ve been a good Jew all my life and attended the Temple every week, so by virtue of this activity I know I belong to God.” Well he would have been wrong – Jesus clearly pointed out to him that to have eternal life the only condition is to be a follower of Jesus, that is, to proclaim that you believe his claim of being the son of God and thus that he himself is God.

What we can see in this interaction is that Jesus was making the point that it’s not what you know but who you know. It’s possible for us to know the Bible inside and out and yet not be right with God; it’s possible to go into any religious building every day from childhood to the day you die and still not belong to God. God has not put a lot of weight on these religious activities, but he does put all of the weight on the question of “who is Jesus?”

We are not a follower of Christ just because we do all the “religious stuff,” just as we are not a car because we occasionally sit in our garage. It’s all about answering one simple question: ”Who is Jesus?”

Well, this has made me want to take my Mini out for a spin! Thanks for reading, and I pray that you have an answer to this question.

The Rev. John Myers is pastor of Temple Baptist Church in Salida.