"Strong Christian"-- what does that mean??

I'm kind of thinking out loud (or typing out loud??) here so bear with me, as it might be a bit scattered.

I had a conversation this weekend with Josh and a couple friends. We talked about a friend of theirs, who we'll just call "Bob" for the purpose of this story, that recently got into some trouble. Bob owns his own business and it was discovered recently that he was doing some illegal, jail-worthy, things within his business. We discussed how it was so surprising to them because Bob is a "strong Christian". He goes to church every Sunday, he's involved in his congregation, etc etc. The perplexing question is how could a 'strong Christian' commit these crimes? I shared my opinion that just because someone is active in their church, it doesn't mean they're a 'strong Christian'.

Then...Sunday night... I was at a concert with my mom, Brad, and Josh at Excel. It was Casting Crowns, Caleb Chapman, and Tenth Avenue North. It was AWESOME. It was my 4th time seeing Casting Crowns and, once again, I was not disappointed! Anyways, the lead singer for Tenth Avenue North has a gift of sharing the gospel in a way that is just real to people. He was engaging and inspirational. He explained how the gospel is not about us or about what we do for Him. The gospel is about what God did for us. God's perfection is made whole in our weakness. The weak, the lame, and the strong, are all one in Christ, because it's about Him being glorified in our weakness.

This really, really resonated with me. It brought me back to the earlier conversation about Bob and his being a 'strong Christian' who committed bad crimes. It made me think... what does that phrase even mean?? A strong Christian? I hear it all the time, and I admit to using it myself as well. What a strange, strange way to describe someone.

If a believer is someone who believes in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior..

Then...

Is a STRONG believer someone that believes even more in Jesus Christ?

How does that work exactly??

Yes, faith is a journey. I do not have the same faith as I had when I was 16 and truly accepted Jesus as my Savior. I have grown immensely. But would I label myself a "weak Christian" or simply a "Christian" back then and a "strong Christian" now? Absolutely not. I still fail every single day. I sin every day.

When we label ourselves or others as 'strong' Christians or Believers, we unfortunately turn the focus onto ourselves and what we are doing for Him. But the problem is that He doesn't need us. He could survive just fine without us. But he wants us. He chose to create and reside in us, for His ultimate glory. So we (and by we, I mean I) should work diligently to direct our focus onto what He has down for us, and how He can be glorified through our weakness.

And stop labeling others (or ourselves!!) as "strong" Christians, because that's just silly!!!!