NEW TREND AMONG CHRISTIANS [AHEM] FOLLOWERS OF JESUS

My church’s Sunday School class is discussing the new trend among the brethren to abandon the label of “Christian” for a new term, one with less baggage attached. “Follower of Jesus” have taken off on social sites like Facebook and in foreign countries where strained relations between religious groups can end up violent.

It has happened before:

• Born-again
• Evangelical
• Fundamentalist

What does it all mean? Who knows. Maybe it means nothing substantial except for the ones who use the label. One look at the Religion page of my local newspaper (they insist on calling it the Opinions page) demonstrates that there is a wide swath of persons who fall into the category of "Christian". So much so, that the term defines nothing but a belief that Christ is the Messiah. Other than that, "Christian" can no more label a religious belief system than "doctor" define a person's chosen profession.

Newsweek carries the story with explanations.