Spiritual Hiccups - Listen to Him!

I saw a report on one of the cable news outlets today about a Texas church that paid for a billboard that admitted they were a "bunch of jerks."  This mea culpa was this congregation's way of saying that yes, we've often been hypocrites and often failed to live the faith we claim to hold. 

I imagine this billboard will create some interesting conversation.  Whether it will be effective in reconnecting with people who have written off the church is another issue.  But certainly this sign does take on the issue of what it means to be a Christian.  Are we Christian because we believe the right things, or does it require more?

In today's reading of the Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John are witnesses to a fantastic vision of Jesus chatting with Moses and Elijah.  Peter feels the need to do something "religious," and suggests erecting some booths or shrines for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah.  But the narrator weighs in on Peter's suggestion with the tag, "not knowing what he said."

Then God shows up and makes clear that shrines are not what is needed.  The only instructions offered to Jesus' followers are, "Listen to him!"  Not "Believe in him," not "Worship him," but "Listen to him!"  And presumably this includes doing what he says.

Because churches are such well established institutions, and because there are also well established norms about what it means to be a Christian, it is relatively easy to claim Christian faith and somehow missing this explicit command from God to listen to Jesus.  (No doubt the fact that Jesus says some pretty uncomfortable things about money, peacemaking, pacifism, and so on contribute to this.)

So what would you say lies at the core of your notion of being a Christian, a follower of Jesus?

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