Many people think of Christians as white – Europeans or Americans – and link Christianity with Western culture. ‘If you are a white British person, you must be Christian.’ This view seems to be backed up by the results of the 2001 census in England and Wales (the first with a religion category), where 72 per cent identified themselves as ‘Christian’ (regardless of their knowledge or actual practice of the faith).

Most people would extend their view of Christians to include Black people from Africa and the Caribbean. For some, Christians are people from low caste backgrounds in South Asia, who converted in order to improve their social and economic status.

When Rajesh, a psychiatrist, was in his final year at medical school he decided to follow Jesus. When he told his father he was very upset. ‘Have you become a Christian now?’ he asked. ‘I suppose that means you’re going to eat beef, drink whisky and live an immoral life…?’

Many South Asians react in the same way. They associate Christians and Christianity with the permissive behaviour they see in the media and in Western society in general. At best it is a series of traditions practised by well-meaning do-gooders. At worst it is linked with the perceived lack of values in Western society or with an ideology bent on domination. Others point to the behaviour of Christians in the past, like the Crusades, the Inquisition, the political power of the Catholic Church, or apparently ‘forced’ conversions in South America or India.

None of this really represents Jesus’ teachings. It’s not surprising that they conclude that while Jesus may be OK, his followers are not always that great.

That’s why some Christians prefer to call themselves ‘followers of Christ’. They don’t want to identify their faith with one particular culture but want to emphasise the relationship with Christ, rather than cultural and institutional structures, which can be misleading.

They also acknowledge the abuses that have been carried out in the name of Christianity, the religion set up in his name. They are trying to follow Jesus, without carrying some of the baggage that has come with the name Christian.

Interesting article. My daughter spent 5 months working amongst the poor of Bangledesh and lived and dressed appropriately. She was shocked at how men treated her and she felt far less safe than in the “permissive” west. Although she was covered up and wearing appropriate clothing men would try and grope her and touch her. So the problem I have (and I have seen it in Africa) is that we in the west are labelled as permissive and yet what I have seen in Africa (and she experienced in India) seems to tell another story.

Maybe shock works both ways and we all have blind spots as to how we see ourselves and give ourselves more slack than we are prepared to give others.

To me, the most important fact about a follower of Jesus is the fact that he has taken seriously the offer of Jesus, who declares to all who are willing, that if they believe in him, he gives them the gift of eternal life. Jesus repeats this offer, in differing words, several times in the gospel of John, in the early chapters. The decision to trust Jesus fully, and only Jesus who died for us, changes our hearts. We then find it more desirable to obey him, and more disappointing to disobey him. So our behavior changes radically over time. I knew about Jesus when I was a little boy. When I was nine, God impressed this message on my heart: “Don, if you want to, you can give your whole self to me, and I will accept you.” After thinking about it for some days I said “Yes!” That was over 70 years ago. I still have his joy. When I was forty I came to realize what I had done is, I had accepted Jesus’ offer to trust him fully. I explain this more on my website: http://www.prayforup.com... on the “Seekers page.”