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The word “believer” is a telling word many conservative Christians use as an adjective that identifies a person as a Christian, in contrast to people who are not “believers.” What these “believers” probably don’t know is that the word “believer” stands in contradistinction to how the early Christians understood what it meant to be “Christian,” and also reflects a rather serious misunderstanding of the message of Jesus as the New Testament tells it.

What Jesus said is actually rather unambiguous. He told us to love God with a singular devotion and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Nowhere in his words is a command to believe in him. He also defined the content of calling him “Lord” as “doing the will of my father” (Matthew 7:21). Again, nowhere did he suggest it meant “believing” in him. So far as we know, to believe in Jesus meant showing love for God by showing love to others, which, based on Jewish tradition, meant doing justice (Micah 6:8). Indeed, according to the prophetic voices in Israel, worshipping God meant nothing if the worshipper didn’t help the poor and welcome the stranger in their midst (Isaiah 58:5-9). This was so clear to the first Christians that they referred to themselves as followers of the Way. We have no record of them ever referring to themselves as “believers.”

Then came church councils, and by the end of the 5th century the church no longer identified Christians as followers of the way. They were believers, which meant they accepted the beliefs the church said they had to accept to be so recognized. Thus, it wasn’t enough to believe in Jesus. You had to believe certain things about Jesus. It comes as no surprise, then, that Christians today who identify themselves as “believers” may not realize that they have learned a way of understanding the meaning of being Christian that does not represent the core teachings of Jesus, but is, instead, a product of creedal Christianity that turned Christianity into a religion of particular beliefs.

Many of them do, of course, affirm the need to live a good life, to treat people right, and to help others, but in the end what determines who is and is not a real Christian in their eyes is based on believing the right things about Jesus. You can do all the things Jesus said to do, you can love kindness, do justice, and walk before God, but if you don’t believe in Jesus (that is, believing certain things about him), you are not a Christian. Belief is what matters. Not just any belief, though. It has to be beliefs those who think this way hold themselves.

I think this is why so many conservative Christians can be difficult to be around, why you have to watch what you say, or feel like you have to walk on eggshells when you are with them. If you believe something different from them, it represents more than a different perspective. It is a threat to their world. The possibility of something else being true threatens the way they see reality by forcing them to question what they have been so sure of all their lives. They cannot take that risk. They would rather hold on to what they believe, how they think, and how they understand what it means to be a Christian, even if it is not based in scripture, church history, or makes sense in the real world.

It is curious to me that when it comes to religion and politics, the focus on belief creates many parallels. “Believer” Christians are like political ideologists (did I just invent a word???). According to both groups, believing the right things is all that counts. No tax increases is what makes you a true believer politically, for example, the same way believing Jesus is God makes you one religiously. Veer from the core beliefs of either group and you are out the door. No wonder their numbers are dwindling.

I realize that what I am saying about “believer” Christians is a rather brief analysis of the way they think. Nor does it give you a way to deal with them, but it might help you understand why they are the way they are. Beyond that I guess you’re on your own. Good luck.