Welcome back to Wilderness to Wisdom.
A while back,
I wrote a blog post and titled it,
I am not a Christian,
But don't get it twisted.
In it,
I explained that I am a follower of Christ.
That distinction is not about semantics,
Nor is it about being difficult or trying to be unique.
It is about what Jesus actually established versus what we ended up with.
Many of us have spent years trying to make Christianity into something it was never designed to be.
This must be addressed plainly.
As we continue to question everything,
None of it will land correctly if we're still standing inside the frame of Christianity.
Kept us from the truth of what he actually taught.
Romans 13 verses 11 through 14 says to wake up out of sleep because our salvation is nearer than when we first believed and then to cast off the works of darkness and put on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul wrote that to the believers who were already in the faith.
Look at what's happening in the world right now.
If there was ever a time to take that seriously,
It is now.
In John 14,
12,
Jesus said,
Truly,
Truly,
I say to you,
Whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do,
And greater works than these will he do,
Because I am going to the Father.
I've referred to that verse before and it will come up again because it's part of what we're working toward.
Jesus said,
Whoever believes.
In Acts chapter 3,
Peter told a man who had been lame from birth to rise and walk,
And he did.
In Acts chapter 5,
People carried the sick into the streets believing that Peter's shadow would heal them as he passed by.
That chapter says many signs and wonders were regularly done and that people came from the surrounding towns and were all healed.
Those were not isolated incidents.
What Jesus said was not hypothetical or reserved for pastors or leaders.
In Acts chapter 6,
Seven men were chosen to serve tables so that the apostles could focus on the word.
Philip was one of them.
Not an apostle,
Not one of the twelve,
Then in Acts chapter 8,
After baptizing the Ethiopian,
Philip was taken from that road and showed up in another city.
We would call that teleportation,
And I know how that sounds.
Some people may hear me say this and think I've lost it,
But it is in Acts chapter 8 and either we believe the Bible or we don't.
It's worth noticing what we already accept without blinking,
A God we can't see,
A virgin birth,
Jesus being raised from the dead after three days.
We don't call those things crazy,
We call them faith,
But teleportation is where we draw the line.
We are spiritual beings,
But we have been pulled so far from the reality of the spiritual realm that some of the things recorded in scripture sound impossible to us.
If we believe the Bible,
We cannot dismiss what is actually recorded in it.
Those things happened,
And that same power is available for us.
We will not get there while holding on to any system that works against it.
I called myself a Christian for much of my life.
What changed was not that someone told me to stop.
It was that I looked at what the Word is actually attached to and what it was keeping me from.
That is all I'm asking anyone to do.
Here.
Let's start with definitions.
The following are from Merriam-Webster as of August 23,
2026.
Christian.
As a noun,
The primary definition is one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ.
As an adjective,
The primary definition is of or relating to Christianity.
Of religious attitudes,
Beliefs,
And practices.
So Christianity is,
By definition,
A religion derived from Jesus Christ and based on the Bible.
It is an organized system of beliefs and practices that developed around him.
That is the part worth examining,
Because Jesus did not establish the religious system now called Christianity.
He never told his followers to build an institution around him or create religious practices in his name.
He said,
Follow me.
So the system we know today came from somewhere,
And that is where the contradiction starts.
Many pastors will say that Jesus didn't give us a religion,
He gave us a relationship.
Some will even acknowledge that Jesus never called us Christians and then keep operating under Christianity.
If Jesus didn't give us a religion,
Never called us Christians,
And Christianity is by definition a religion,
Why do we find it acceptable to keep calling ourselves Christians?
Why do we want anything to do with a system defined as a religion when we say we believe Jesus didn't give us one?
We say the words and then we keep participating in the thing the words contradict.
There are many reasons we stay,
But one part of what keeps us there is that we were created for relationship and the label tells us where we belong.
It says we're part of something and that we're not out here with strange ideas about God on our own.
But there's also the rhythm of it.
Knowing there is a set time and place to gather with others each week gives a sense of structure,
Especially when other areas of life feel chaotic or lonely.
That's real,
And it's not wrong to want the connection.
So we hold on,
Not because we examined it and concluded it was right,
But because letting go feels like losing something critical.
Most people never question it at all.
Is what they have always known and the routine is comfortable,
So they stay.
Others notice something is off and decide the good outweighs the bad,
So they stay too.
Then there are those who leave,
And here's what plays out over and over.
Someone recognizes that something is off in their church.
Maybe it's the focus on money or the way leadership operates.
Maybe it's a sermon that doesn't line up with what they've read for themselves,
So they leave and find another church.
This one is different.
Better preaching,
A pastor who seems more genuine,
A culture that feels authentic.
For a while,
There's relief,
And that relief gets mistaken for following Christ.
Then time passes and the same patterns show up,
The same dependence on a pastor,
The same emphasis on attendance and giving,
The same sermons on repeat,
And the same encouragement that makes you feel good for a few days and keeps you coming back.
This is how denominations were formed.
Someone saw a problem,
Broke off,
And built something they were convinced would be different,
Even biblical.
Over time,
It became another version of what they left.
That cycle has repeated for centuries,
And now we have countless denominations,
Each one certain it has it closer to right than the others,
And all calling themselves Christians.
That alone should make us question Christianity.
In the Bible,
Before the word Christian existed,
Followers of Jesus were called the Way.
Acts 9-2 speaks of those who were of the Way.
Acts 19-9 and 19-23 use the same language.
In Acts 24-14 Paul says,
But this I confess to you,
That according to the Way,
Which they call a sect,
I worship the God of our fathers,
Believing everything laid down by the law and written in the prophets,
The way,
Not a religion or an institution.
In John 14,
6,
Jesus said,
I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the father except through me.
The same word Jesus used for himself is the word they were known by.
The word Christian appears only three times in scripture,
Acts 11,
26,
Acts 26,
28 and first Peter.
In Acts 11.
26 it says the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.
They were called that.
They described themselves as of the way.
Christian was a name that came to be applied to them and Acts 11.
26 does not tell us who applied it.
And yes,
1 Peter 4.
16 uses it.
But let him glorify God in that name.
Peter is telling people how to carry a name others put on them.
He is not telling them to take it up.
Three times in all of scripture against a movement Acts repeatedly calls the way.
That difference matters and we'll come back to it.
Throughout the Gospels.
He never said,
Start a religion.
He never said,
Build denominations.
He never said,
Call yourselves Christians and create systems or symbols around me.
He said,
Follow me.
And following is active.
It requires movement,
Direction,
And a relationship with the one being followed.
We can learn from other people,
But no one can follow him on our behalf.
Which word we prefer.
So let me be clear about what I'm saying and what I'm not saying.
I am not saying everyone who calls themselves a Christian is knowingly walking in deception.
Many people who use that word love God deeply and are walking sincerely.
Some have simply never thought to question it or never considered that they can believe the Bible and follow Christ without being attached to that label.
What I am saying is that Christianity,
The religion built around Jesus,
Is not the same as following Jesus according to the Bible,
And we have to be able to tell the difference.
Because if we can't,
We will keep defending the system while thinking we are following Christ.
We have to consider this honestly and without sentiment.
Letting go of Christianity is not letting go of God.
It is the opposite.
It removes what was standing between us and God.
And this is not a preference.
Scripture tells us plainly that we are to be separate.
Separate.
Romans 12 2 says do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
In Matthew 7 verses 13 and 14,
Jesus said,
We've been taught to read separation as separation from what is secular.
The music,
The movies,
The people who don't believe.
Anything labeled as Christian gets a pass.
The name of Jesus and still keeps us from what he said would be normal for those who believe,
That system is part of what we are being called out of.
Everything we look at from here forward requires this break because it will challenge much of what Christianity told us to believe.
If Christianity is the frame,
Then every question sounds like an attack on God when it's really about walking according to God's will.
If following Christ is the frame,
The questions are just questions.
I said earlier that the believers described themselves as of the way and that Christian was a name applied to them.
So somewhere between that name being applied and a religion existing under it,
Something was built.
There is a documented history of how that happened after the apostles,
Of who shaped it,
When,
And what got mixed in along the way.
That history is not hidden.
If you want a place to start,
Look at what happened in the first few centuries after the apostles and at the point when the faith became legal and then official under the Roman Empire.
Councils were held,
Doctrine was settled by vote,
Practices were adopted that are not in scripture.
Jesus spoke about a kingdom.
Men built something else and put his name on it.
I can't tell you what to conclude about any of this.
I am saying it is there and it is worth your time.
I will say this over and over.
Go to God for yourself.
Study the word.
Ask the Holy Spirit for understanding.
If what I am saying doesn't hold up against scripture,
Don't accept it.
But don't dismiss it if it is uncomfortable.
I spoke about that in the last episode.
Discomfort is information about what is rooted in us.
It is not evidence that what we are hearing is wrong.
So here is where this lands.
Christianity is a religion derived from Jesus Christ and based on the Bible.
Jesus did not establish it.
It is a system that was built around him and named after him.
Jesus never called us Christians.
He said,
Follow me.
The believers in scripture were of the way and the way was a walk,
Not an institution.
We have spent generations trying to reform something that was never ours to reform.
Breaking off,
Starting over,
Convinced this time it will be different and landing in the same place.
From what Jesus established.
I open by saying,
I am not a Christian,
But don't get it twisted.
I am a follower of Christ.
The invitation is not to take my position.
It is to look at yours and measure it against the Word.
This is a continual walk of course correction where we grow into walking according to the Word of God that we say we believe.
We were called to be set apart,
And that includes the system that carries his name.
And the point of separation is not the separation itself,
It is putting on the nature of Christ and walking as he walked.
Thank you for joining me for this episode of Wilderness to Wisdom.
