My 7-Year Old Asked Me What "Christ" Means

Friend.

The other day Jordan made the connection that the word “Christ” is in “Christmas” and it was like a lightbulb went off in her head.

She was having trouble remembering how to spell her favorite day of the year and realized that if you break down the word it comes to “CHRIST MAS”.

Christ.

Mas.

And then she remembered that she’s heard the word “Christ” in reference to Jesus in various Christmas songs. And then she realized that Christmas is about the birth of Jesus. And then she was REALLY curious about why we call Jesus, “Christ”.

Huge realizations for a 7-year old, right?

And hard for me (as a 42-year old with 3 Bible degrees!) to explain.

Back when I was a full-blown-fundamentalist-evangelical, I had the answer, of course.

“Christ means ‘Messiah’ or ‘Anointed One’ and that’s Jesus - he came to save us from our sins, he came to take our punishment. God ‘anointed him’ for this task - and he did it perfectly, and so we worship him.”

Easy peasy.

Now, though?

Eh.

That feels heavy and too “systematic” and too “figured out”.

Like, that’s it?

I’m a sinner?

Jesus isn’t?

I’m seprated from God?

I believe these things about Jesus?

Believe he’s the ‘anointed one’ and the gap between me and God is bridged, and I go to heaven when I die?

These days I think “Jesus Christ” is so much more than that and so I ventured into her question, “what does Jesus Christ mean?” like this …

—

“That’s a really good question. And I’m not sure I have the best answer, to be honest. My ideas about Jesus and God have changed over time.

… A lot, actually.

Which, I should say is important to know - you can always change your mind. It’s OK if you think one way about something today, but then when you’re 8 or 9 or 10 (or even tomorrow!) - it’s OK to think differently about it. You’re allowed to change your mind about anything and anyone, whenever you feel you need to or want to.

Anyways.

The word ‘Christ’ comes from a Greek word ‘Christos’ and ‘Christos’ means ‘anointed’ and ‘anointed’ means ‘soaked’.

So …

Jesus The Christ.

Jesus The Anointed One.

Jesus The Soaked One.

Think of it like this: if we filled up the bathtub with warm, soapy water and dunked a towel into it … what would happen? The towel would be SOAKED or ANOINTED in warm, soapy water, right? It would be DRIPPING warm, soapy water all over the floor!

Jesus?

He was born into the world after having a fresh bath in God and so when he was born, he came into the world dripping with the warm love, kindness, patience, compassion, grace … of God - and he dripped it everywhere he went.

Jesus is The Soaked One because he’s soaked in the love of God.

BUT.

He’s not the only one, right? And this is really interesting. Because I believe we are all soaked in the love of God. I believe that “we’re all made in the image of God” - God made all of us in God’s image, we all came from God.

You came into the world soaked in God.

I came into the world soaked in God.

Your teachers came into the world soaked in God.

Mommy.

Grandma.

Your friends.

We all did - we are all God-Soaked people who were born into a God-Soaked world.

The difference between us and Jesus? Jesus never forgot who he was whereas we forget who we are everyday. Jesus lived every moment of his life as his God-Soaked self.

But me?

Sometimes I forget that I’m made in the loving image of God and instead of being loving and kind …

I hate.

I judge.

I shame.

I yell at people who cut me off on the road!

Etc.

I forget who I am, but Jesus doesn’t forget who he is - and so Jesus The Soaked-One is the one we look to in order to remember who we are and how to live.

He is The Christ.

He is The Anointed One.

He is The Soaked One.

He is the Savior - the one who saves us from our forgetfulness!

In fact, I once read that early followers of Jesus were called “Little Christs” because they were followers of “The Christ” - they were forgetful followers of the One who never forgot.

You are A Christ.

I am A Christ.

Mommy is A Christ.

Jesus is THE Christ.

And on Christmas? We celebrate his birth, the moment when he was born into the world dripping with the love of God so that he could spend the rest of eternity dripping that love onto everyone around him through his words, his actions, and the stories told about him - forever reminding us of who we are, whose image we are made in, and how we are meant to live in this crazy world.”

—

I’m not sure that’s the best explanation, but it’s the best I can give at this moment in my life.

And, it’s incomplete … of course. There are books and books and books written on these ideas and I barely scratched the surface in my short 2 minute moment with Jordan.

And, no - I didn’t make this up.

This idea of Jesus being “The Christ” or “The Soaked One” and the “Savior” who has come to save us from our forgetfulness is a Christian tradition dating back to the early centuries of the Christian faith … one that was lost and disregarded as “Orthodoxy” became prominent and Christianity was Westernized.

Like I said, there are books and books and books and (yes) even ancient Scriptures (including the ones in our Bibles!) that are filled with these (and many more!) kinds of ideas.

You see, the reality is that the Christian tradition is rich and wide and full of a mosaic of ideas about Jesus … and I want Jordan to know that. I tell her all the time that lots of people believe lots of different things about Jesus and God.

She knows about heaven/hell.

She knows about “The Rapture”.

She knows about “God’s judgement”.

She knows about “Biblical inerrency”.

She knows about “Creationism”.

She knows that I used to teach all of those things.

BUT.

She also knows that there are very valid and very different ways to think about those things - and that’s what I want her to know, so that one day when someone says to her “there’s only one way to think about these things!”, she can have the courage to say, “actually - that is one way, but there are many other ways as well.”

Anyways, my friends.

We are God-Soaked people. Do we dare to believe that? Could it be? WHAT IF it’s true? Do we dare to believe it? And do we dare to remember who we are and whose we are?

Lots to consider, lots to process.

Much love,

Glenn Siepert