Christian?

“Not long after my friend’s conversion, I told a group of ministers gathered for prayer at our church about his decision to follow Jesus. By coincidence, about ten minutes later, my friend showed up at the church. Realizing who he was, one of the pastors jumped out of his chair and shook his hand, welcoming him to the Kingdom of God. He cried jubilantly, “I’m so glad to hear that you’re now a Christian.’

“My friend stepped back. “I ain’t no Christian!’ he exclaimed.

“The pastors were stunned. They all looked at me as though to say, ‘Why did you tell us he was a Christian and he isn’t?’

“I kept silent.

“Finally one of them spoke up. ‘Randy told us you had recently begun following Jesus.’

“’Oh, I see what you mean now,’ he said. ‘Yeah, I’m following Jesus Christ—He’s Grandfather’s Son—but I ain’t no Christian. Don’t call me that.’”

- exerpt from Randy Woodley's book: Living in Color. Embracing God’s Passion for Ethnic Diversity, p. 52

NOTE: The word Grandfather is a respectful term some traditional Native Americans use for God.