Q. What makes Christians different from other
people?
Actually, Christians aren't all that different. True Christianity is
radically different from religion. Religion basically teaches
that a person makes themselves acceptable to God through their
obedience. That results in a division between the righteous who have
justified themselves and the rest of the world that was unable to pull itself
up by its bootstraps.
Christianity, however, teaches something totally different. The Bible
teaches that all of humankind have failed in the ultimate sense because of our
sin of valuing things above God. Unlike religion, Christianity removes any
basis for judgmentality and self-righteousness.
What then makes Christians different? They're
forgiven. They've trusted Jesus to save them and
repented of trusting in themselves. They've trusted Jesus to satisfy
them, and repented of trusting other things. A Christian still sins -
often - but that sin is now accompanied by repentance.
A Christian is given new desires. God is no longer boring but glorious,
no longer someone to run from and disobey but someone to run
to and trust and find satisfaction in. Christians are
given new love for God and the things of God - they love to hear about him and
what he has done and how he has worked in the lives of other people.
They love to see God's power and beauty. And they love people, and love
it when other people meet and experience God in the same ways they have.
They love to serve people, like Jesus did, treating others as better than
themselves.