90. What Does It Mean to Be a Christian?

What does it mean to be a Christian?  Unfortunately, Christian culture can put stipulations and standards on the title that aren't exactly biblical. In some circles, there are standards to pass: do you go to church every Sunday? Are your parents divorced or married? Do you struggle with addiction?

In this episode of Christian Curious, we speak with Asia Nichol­son to explore what it really means to be a Christian in the 21st century. Asia is a woman of many tal­ents, gift­ed­ness, and an in­cred­i­ble life sto­ry. She is the leader of “The Bridge” min­istry of First Bap­tist Church of Gle­nar­den.

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Transcript

What does it mean to be a Chris­t­ian? My moth­er taught me it meant that Je­sus was “King of my Heart.” But in the small east Texas town I was raised in, it meant some­thing very dif­fer­ent. There were stan­dards to pass: 

- Were your par­ents Chris­t­ian? 

- Did you go to church every Sun­day?

 - Were your par­ents mar­ried? 

As it hap­pened, that fi­nal ques­tion was the death knell of my involve­ment in church as a young ado­les­cent. I’ve spo­ken about this else­where, but I often felt like I was on the out­side look­ing in on the Chris­t­ian world. I loved Je­sus, but the peo­ple of Je­sus didn’t love me. So, I be­came an athe­ist and then, ag­nos­tic. And you know what? The real is­sue is that I thought God had aban­doned me. 

There is a dis­tinct dif­fer­ence be­tween those who grew up in a tra­di­tion­al Chris­t­ian home and those who did not. To­day, I would like to in­tro­duce you to an in­cred­i­bly gifted Chris­t­ian woman who, like me, did not find a tra­di­tion­al path to Je­sus. Asia Nichol­son is a woman of many tal­ents, gift­ed­ness, and an in­cred­i­ble life sto­ry. She is the leader of “The Bridge” min­istry of First Bap­tist Church of Gle­nar­den in Washington, D.C.

Halee: Asia, could you tell us a little about yourself and your background?

Asia: In theory, my family was Christian. My parents talked about God, and I knew who Jesus was, but they didn’t explicitly raise my brother and I in the faith. We went to church some holidays—it really felt like a family outing when we went to church. Though, as I got older and would see people living out their different faiths, whether they were Muslim or Jewish, I kind of felt like that was something I wanted to partake in. I didn’t have a community I was able to interact with faith wise. A Jewish girl and a Muslim girl, two of my closest friends in undergrad, helped me really understand where I stood in Christianity—what God I served and what that looked like for me. I appreciated how you could see their faith more. Literally. Jewish women wore certain garb to indicate whether they were married or not, and some Muslim women like my friend wore hijabs. I wanted to be a part of something where you could tell I serve I God outwardly. 

Because my family didn’t force me into any type of religion (plus the fact that my dad was a Muslim for a bit while I was a teenager) I was always encouraged to allow God to speak to me for myself. I really think my parents did a good job in surrendering me to God. You don’t really hear a lot of stories about people’s parents literally allowing God to be a father and a mother to them. My parents did a great job of making sure I was taken care of earth wise, but spirit wise they really did surrender me over to God. It wasn’t like, “Well, I’m gonna let God take care of you,” it was more like “Let God tell you.” I feel like Jesus is approachable now because that was how I was introduced to Him--as a really approachable God who cares about me enough to let me mess up, figure it out, and not be forced into anything. I’ve had a really positive experience of coming to salvation and I always tell people I feel like I’ve experienced the revelation of who God is as it should have been—gentle, calm, and available in a moment of need. I have had what I consider to be a pure experience of how God revealed himself to me and I am really thankful for that. 

Halee: When you were talking to your friends—the Muslim and the Jew—what was it about the figure of Christ that drew you to him?

Asia: I think that ultimately, I knew the concept of God, but Jesus required a little bit more attention to detail. Jesus was more relevant. I feel like for me, it was something that I could connect to my today. There weren’t any legalistic practices that would distance me from Jesus. I can talk to Jesus when I’m walking or when I’m sitting down. In the Jewish or Muslim faith, there are certain things and actions that are special and make them feel closer to God. I understand why, and it makes sense when you read the doctrine, but for me, I was like, “Jesus feels accessible anywhere. I don’t feel like I have to be in a particular place to feel close to Jesus.” Also--the fact that Jesus did everything for me! When I realized He died on the cross for my sins I was like “Sweet, I don’t have to do that,” and when I read that He shed His blood, that’s another thing I don’t have to do. In a very practical and selfishly human way, I was like, I don’t really have to do anything. I just have to believe in what Jesus did, and I’m totally cool with that. As a 19-year-old undergrad, you love it when people do things for you! You’re broke and you don’t have much to your name, so when you hear about Jesus, you’re like “so this is free?” It felt like a gain—something that I would enjoy as I learned about an actual freedom through security felt really exciting to someone who was away from home and dealing with anxiety. It’s like, “Oh, okay, this is one aspect of security that is free, that I don’t have to pay for, and that my family will ultimately be really happy that I invested in.” 

Halee: What about the things that you had to give up when you became a Christian? I know for me, it required deep lifestyle changes. What about you?

Asia: I don’t know that I was so on an opposite side of how I should have been living that it required a deep lifestyle change. I think that the most intense lifestyle change for me was giving grace to myself first, because that then affected how I would treat other people. I was always in the arts, and so I was taught to perform for people. That’s how you get applause. In the Body of Christ, you don’t have to perform. So, when other people wanted to perform, I became super judgmental. I think my attitude and my character would be the hardest thing. There wasn’t an action or habit leading me into deep sin. It was my heart posture, and God really softened my heart toward myself. That allowed me to have a soft heart toward other people who weren’t navigating life how I would have. That’s still something I work on today; I can be so legalistic sometimes. Since I experienced God in such a different way, I can be like, “Don’t you know what Jesus did for you? Why are you acting like this?” Then I have to tell myself to hold on because Jesus doesn’t reveal himself to everyone in the exact same way. He reveals himself in Spirit and in Truth as they are, which shows the glory of God. Having my heart softened to different expressions of God’s revelation has helped bring the biggest change for me.

Halee: You mentioned that you’ve been involved in the arts. One of the criticisms of Christianity is that there’s not a lot of beautiful Christian art anymore. If you look at the past, you’ll see beautiful art inspired by Christianity today. So, I’m interested to hear how your faith impacted your creativity and your performance. 

Asia: I think the art in antiquity was so specific to what was going on. A lot of it is similar and looks the same just because I think there was always some famine, there was always some war, there was always some king thinking they were God. So, I think that’s why the art seemed so huge and flamboyant because there seemed to always be some historic event happening. However, now that we’ve experienced the pandemic, I believe there will be and that there are artists from 2020-2023/4 who will express art in a new way. Eventually, I think there will be apocalyptic type art that comes from believers and nonbelievers alike expressing what feels like abandonment from God. I think there will be more artistic expression like that with people quitting their jobs and such. 

Halee: Can you expand a little bit on that? That’s really interesting. So, you think there will be a resurgence in apocalyptic art based on what we’ve experienced in our culture?

Asia: Yeah, even myself! I started painting for fun just because nobody in my family was using this paint set that we had. After I painted so many beaches—I was done painting the sunset—I just started doing whatever, drawing lines, and letting faces emerge from there. It became super apocalyptic, and I hadn’t realized how much I gravitated toward that theme because of what was going on around us. You see so much death on social media--we are so desensitized and normalized to seeing literal death on our television screens. We see it in our films—it’s masked as a superhero movie, and I’m the first one to go see it—but it’s violence and it’s apocalyptic in nature. After this time period is over, I think we will become a little nostalgic for it because we’re so used to chaos now that peace will seem almost boring. Anyone has the ability to call themselves an artist and make their struggle into something type of medium in which they can express how they feel. 

Halee: I know you have a passion for creative people, and by creative people you mean people in the arts, people in drama, people on stage and film, people who are painters—creatives are a large group of people with diverse talents. They’re processing various things. If you think about your own struggle to find Christ as creative, what is your advice for other creative people who might be struggling with the concept of accepting Jesus. 

Asia: Let God reveal himself to you as you are. There’s no need to make “Christian art” or make “Christian films.” Just let God influence how you film or create. Sometimes we think we have to use the same tools as nonbelievers do, because then the world will see that Jesus reigns. Well, that’s going to happen either way. We’re not Jesus’ defender. He is our defender. The truth is the truth is the truth, whether we believe it or not.

Halee: That’s something that might need to be learned. Right now the counternarrative for that is that your truth is your truth and my truth is my truth, and really you can’t do that. Truth is truth. It doesn’t belong to anybody. There’s no proprietary ownership over the truth. 

Asia: God is. That’s the truth. There is no human language to describe the truthfulness of God other than what we have already tried to do. But, when creatives get into this habit of thinking that we have to create an antithesis to non-Christian media, I think that’s where we fall into the trap. Then it almost feels like we’re trying to evangelize the whole world all at once. The question becomes, “What are you doing in your local community? What are you doing with the neighbors that the Lord has placed you beside to expand the Kingdom? Why are you looking across the country when there’s someone in front of you that needs bread?” 

I used to never understand when married people would say, “My first ministry is the home.” Now, I think that the reason that is so emphasized is because a lot of people will feel like even though you have people at home who need to be saved, you need to look beyond that. We can’t always expect for Christian things to happen in Christian bubbles. You have to be around nonbelievers.

Halee: We do. There’s that tension between the world and Christianity. When I came back to the Christian faith, I did have to give up my Christian friends for a degree of time so that I could situate a life that was based on my relationship with Jesus. But at the same time, it doesn’t mean that we have to create everything in a bubble. In my research with young adults, one of my questions to churches is “What good are you doing in the community? If you closed your church doors today, would your community notice? If so, why? If not, why not?” The church isn’t just meant for people to go inside and get filled, it’s meant to go out and be a transforming impact in the world. That’s one of the questions that’s important to young adults when they’re selecting a church—is it making a difference?

Asia: I personally think churches should function like community centers. There is so much criticism around megachurches. One thing I’ll say about them—and I attend one—is that megachurches have so many programs. 

Halee: First Baptist Church of Glenarden in Washington D.C.—you have to go there. My 13-year-old daughter loved it and is now watching livestreamed services on the internet. 

Asia: That’s what I’m saying! When people think of megachurches, they often think of exploitation. There has been some of that in past megachurches and abusive leadership. For the megachurches that have borne the fruit of the spirit and walk with Jesus like the First Baptist Church of Glenarden, for example, there is so much that community pours into the church because of all it pours out. We recently had an interfaith conference, which is so wonderful, but also super unheard of. Baptist churches tend to be super conservative, so the fact that the pastor opened his doors to that and has relationships with these multifaith leaders is so inspiring and is something that I think communities need. We need Muslim people to feel comfortable walking into a church. Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, whatever the case, you are still a child of God to me. I fully expect you to feel safe and taken care of when you walk into the presence of a church building. The fact that I am part of a church that is doing that makes me wonder why it’s not happening more frequently and how I can be a part of something that helps it spread more easily. Which is why, as being the director of a young adult ministry, I think I have a really exciting position. I get to be a peer and a mentor to a lot of people my age. That is what we want to see. More spaces where it is inclusive to the core of what it means to be inclusive. 

This includes not just representing Jesus as some type of free-for-all hippie, which is cool because He was one of those I guess. But He was also righteous, sinless, and holy, and that is done through literally acknowledging and striving to have the fruits of the spirit through repentance and through sanctification. I think that young adults have the perfect opportunity to join the hippie Jesus and the holy Jesus together. As a young adult leader, I have an exciting opportunity to walk alongside my peers and help that happen.

Halee: That’s such a great point. Whenever I was an atheist in college and people would ask, “Do you know Jesus?” to me, I would sarcastically blow cigarette smoke in their face. I was a total heathen pagan. But yeah, it annoyed me. Because I thought, “What do these people know about my life? What do these people know about why I’m an atheist?” I would always imagine all the ways their life was easier than mine. Ultimately, it was a young woman who demonstrated the fruits of the spirit. I saw Jesus in this person, and I wanted that too. I wanted that joy, and that peace, and that tranquility, and that radiance. I wanted that for myself; I saw the fruits of the spirit. I think that’s why it’s so important to teach young adults about the fruits of the spirit and help them understand that what sounds like legalism is actually teaching you how to live well.

Asia: I saw something on TikTok where these Christians did some artsy video. Basically, they communicated that unbelievers don’t know the Bible, so they don’t know who Jesus is. We literally have to be the Bible and live in such a way that they see the Word of God lived out in our lives. I thought that was such a good way to put it. They don’t want to read the Bible, and they have no reason to. We have to stop getting so mad at unbelievers for doing what unbelievers do. We have to stop being surprised—it’s okay. When we focus on walking in the Spirit, we aren’t offended so easily. Christians become offended so easily! I’m like guys, relax!  

I used to have a youth pastor—my spiritual father—who said, “Preach the gospel and talk about it later.” He meant that you should live your life in a way that reflects the gospel, and if someone asks, you should be ready to talk about it. But you shouldn’t lead with words. A lot of my generation has the ability to do that. We are very close to some of our passions about justice and racism—all of them are definitely at the heart of God—but they can seem misplaced when that passion leads to anger, and that anger leads to sin. They Bible doesn’t say “don’t be angry.” It says “Be angry, and do not sin.” We are allowed to feel all the feelings that God felt. God felt jealousy for us. God felt anger toward sin. He’s felt love and joy, so when we surrender those emotions to Him he will direct them in such a way that they bear Kingdom fruit. A lot of my peers and I fall into the trap of being angry and then sinning.