“Are You Christian?” — The Oldest Trap in Modern Clothes

There is a question Catholics still get — sometimes gently, sometimes sharply:

“Are you Christian?”

It sounds innocent.
It rarely is.

This question is older than the Reformation. Older than denominationalism. Older even than most theological systems people now argue from.

It is a question about authority.
About identity.
About who gets to define Christ.

And it’s a question every father must be prepared to answer — not just with words, but with a life.

1. The Question Beneath the Question

When someone asks, “Are you Christian?” they usually mean:

• Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus?

• Do you believe in the Bible?

• Have you accepted Him as Lord and Savior?

But beneath that is another layer:

Are you Christian according to my definition?

That’s the trap.

From the early centuries, heretical movements did not reject Jesus.
They claimed to preserve the “real” Jesus.

St. Augustine of Hippo battled the Donatists who said they were the pure Christians.
St. Irenaeus of Lyons confronted the Gnostics who claimed secret knowledge.
St. Cyprian of Carthage defended unity when schisms arose.

The pattern is ancient:

• Keep the name of Christ.

• Reject the visible Church.

• Redefine Christianity around interpretation instead of communion.

That is not new. It is cyclical.

2. The Lion and the Dragon

In persecution, the enemy roars like a lion.
In division, he whispers like a serpent.

In the early Church, Christians were asked:

“Will you burn incense to Caesar?”

Now they are asked:

“Why do you follow a Church?”

Different century. Same pressure.

The first tried to remove Christ from society.
he second tries to remove Christ from His Body.

It sounds spiritual:

• “I follow Jesus, not religion.”

• “I’m Christian, not Catholic.”

• “The Church is man-made.”

But historically, this idea only appears after the Church already existed.

The martyrs did not die for a loose network of Bible readers.
They died for the Church — visible, sacramental, unified.

3. Living on Faith — Not on Reaction

Here’s where fatherhood enters.

When my son grows up, he will hear:

• “Are you Christian?”

• “Why are you Catholic?”

• “Why do you need confession?”

• “Why the Eucharist?”

If my interior life is built on debate energy, I will raise him defensive.

If my interior life is built on quiet certainty, I will raise him anchored.

The goal is not to win arguments.
The goal is to live so steadily Catholic that the question loses its edge.

Living on faith means:

• We go to Mass because Christ founded a Church.

• We confess because Christ gave authority to forgive sins.

• We receive the Eucharist because Christ said, “This is My Body.”

• We stay when it is hard because truth is not a mood.

That is formation, not reaction.

4. The Century-Old Question

Every century rephrases the same challenge:

1st century: “Are you loyal to Rome?”
4th century: “Are you with the pure church?”
16th century: “Are you biblical?”
21st century: “Are you saved?”

But the Church’s answer has not changed:

Yes. And we belong to the Church Christ founded.

Not because we are better.
Not because we discovered secret knowledge.
Not because we argued well.

Because Christ did not leave us with a book alone.
He left us with a Body.

5. Fatherhood & Interior Stability

The deeper trap is not theological — it is psychological.

The question “Are you Christian?” tries to destabilize identity.

If I feel shaken every time it is asked, my son will feel that shake.

But if I know:

• Baptism marked me.

• The Creed formed me.

• The Church precedes me.

• My faith is not self-invented.

Then I am calm.

And calm fathers build strong sons.

The dragon works through confusion.
The Church works through continuity.

6. The Real Answer

So how do we answer?

Not defensively.
Not aggressively.

Simply:

Yes. I am Christian. I am Catholic.

And then we live it.

• We forgive when wronged.

• We endure misunderstanding.

• We love the Church publicly.

• We keep our interior life ordered.

The martyrs did not argue their Christianity.
They embodied it.

And that is the task of every father — to make the faith visible at the dinner table, at bedtime prayers, at Sunday Mass.

Closing Reflection

The question will never disappear.

But it should never disturb us.

Because Christianity is not a vibe.
It is not a brand.
It is not a reaction.

It is communion with Christ in His Church.

And that is not fragile.

That is centuries deep.