I was working at a water filtration site in a disaster zone. During the day, there is a certain ebb and flow to the demands of the equipment. That leaves availability gaps, handy for engaging people who stop for safe drinking water.
I was particularly intrigued by one new friend. He told me he was not yet a Christian, but “Christian-minded.” If he had been familiar with a trend in modern parlance, he might have said “Christian-adjacent,” meaning closeness or similarity. Turns out, he does believe the historical tenets of Christianity, i.e. Jesus’ identity and the purpose of His death and resurrection. He felt incomplete because he had yet to join a church and receive baptism.
“Christian-adjacent” could be good or bad. Women’s rights activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali was Christian-adjacent until she realized the whole gospel is true. That’s good. Thinkers like Richard Dawkins and Tom Holland celebrate Christian-influenced culture but have yet to accept the metaphysical truth claims which underpin it. That’s too bad.
There is a specific form of Christian-adjacent belief about the resurrection of Jesus. It is the notion that the Biblical record needs deconstructing into a less miraculous account more acceptable to the naturalistic mind. But the historical Christian faith is settled on the physical, bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead as recorded in the Bible. So, anything else is Christian-adjacent. Hopefully, any such alternate view is faith in development rather than a full stop refusal to believe something supernatural actually happened.
There is a reason Peter said God “caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus” (1 Pet. 1:3). For the same reason, Paul said, “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain” (1 Cor. 15:14). The reason? The resurrection is literally true. The evidence exists, not least of which is the changed lives of His first followers. They would not have endured persecution and death in defense of some Christian-adjacent story they invented.
The resurrection of Jesus matters. If this life is all there is, Jesus’ call to personal sacrifice, love of enemies, and endurance of persecution is pointless. We might as well “eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (1 Cor. 15:32). Jesus offered something better. He claimed to forgive sins and promised to rise from the dead. The power He demonstrated by the latter authenticates the former. Since life beyond the grave is accessible through faith, life in the here and now has meaning.
Those who adopt a Christian-adjacent view of Jesus’ resurrection are missing something personal and vital. Since my new friend does believe the Bible, I encouraged him to find a church family and follow the Lord in baptism. This coming Sunday is a great day for you to do the same.