Upon meeting each other, the brothers in my esteemed fraternity, Omega Psi Phi, have a unique way of greeting and engaging that establishes and proves membership. We’ve learned interrogating to establish membership is crucial because there are a lot of Omega Perps — people who pretend to be members to reap the social benefits but simply aren’t.
While Omegas are college graduates and/or proud serving members of the U.S. military, all men of distinction united in our desire to uplift our communities through service, gangs sit on the other end of the social spectrum. Despite their nefarious activities, gangs also establish commonality and belonging among each other to prevent false-flagging — that is, pretending to be a gang member when they are not.
Interestingly, although fraternities that serve the community differ vastly from gangs that often harm their communities, they share some crucial aspects. Both fraternities and gangs represent ways of being in the world. They aren’t just affiliations; they are hallmarks of identity declarations and life decisions.
In this way, they are much like the ecclesia or church. However, these organizations have retained a part of communal living the church has abandoned and urgently needs to regain — neither group allows people adverse to their cause to claim membership! (1 Corinthians 5:11-13)
We live in a time when people participate in practices, create policies and spew rhetoric that is consistently inconsistent with the values, teachings/commands and character of Jesus Christ. I cannot fathom how these people continue to assume the high distinguished label of Christian and the benefits of an assumed moral compass. The time has come for Christians to reclaim our titles and hold fast to the commandment of not taking the Lord’s name in vain! (Exodus 20:7)
As Christians, we must assert ourselves in the public square and demand those masquerading as believers also demonstrate behaviors consistent with true belief — the fruit of repentance. (Matthew 3:8)
Being a Christian is about behaving rightly — and for the right reasons.
For too long, we’ve limited confession to a one-time vocal performance, when in reality, Christian profession is a way of being in the world. It is so much more than subscribing to the right belief system on a few political talking points, more than feigning outrage at social media trends.
Napoleon Harris
Being a Christian is about behaving rightly — and for the right reasons. This is the heart of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and his inaugural Kingdom address — the unpacking and fulfillment of the Law. (Matthew 5-7)
Being a Christian means more than the external trappings of carrying the right Bible, memorizing Scriptures or wearing/genuflecting to a cross. It’s about living according to the Ultimate Truth the Scriptures point to and rejecting behaviors that oppose dignity and human flourishing. (James 1:22-27)
To be a Christian means embracing and practicing the Beatitudes as our own attitudes, maintaining practices of communal and personal piety, and devotion to God. Being a Christian is a commitment to performing justice and loving mercy. (Micah 6:8) It is profusely and loyally loving God with all we are and have and loving others with the same relentless acceptance, love, understanding and forgiveness we should extend to ourselves. (Matthew 22:37-39)
Being Christian is peace-mongering. It necessitates we, as a nation, repent and reject our ongoing sin of militarism and obsession with violence and guns. (Matthew 5:9) It means repenting and abstaining from greed, which may call us to reconsider and rethink capitalism. (Matthew 6:24, Luke 12:15)
Being a Christian is hard work.
Being a Christian is hard work. That’s all the more reason we must not allow outsiders — those unwilling to behave as Christians — to take our Lord’s name in vain or to falsify themselves and our faith any longer! (James 2:14-26)
Before Christianity became an imperial religion, believers interrogated each other upon meeting to ensure safety. Back then, Christianity was a countercultural movement, a risky enterprise that could jeopardize a person’s way of being. Christians couldn’t assume everyone posing as a believer was safe.
Today, Christians need this same scrutiny for safety. While we may not need protection from the American empire, we need to protect our way of being from perpetrators and defrauders. So, I say no more easy passes, no more allowing people to reap the social benefits of being a believer without genuine commitment. (Romans 12:2)
If people want to be considered Christians and enjoy the benefits of belonging to God, fine. Let them earn it by converting and truly belonging to God, living out their faith for the world to observe. (Acts 26:20)
Napoleon Harris serves as pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. He is a graduate of Tennessee State University and Vanderbilt University Divinity School, an avid reader, writer, Omega Man, and devoted husband and father.
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