Simply admiring Jesus and being a member of a church does not constitute being a Christian. It is obedience in following him that defines a Christian.
Francis Chan told of one leader of a group of underground house churches in China who said that Westerners seem to view sanctification as a life-long process of deciding what and when one will surrender bit by bit to Christ. In the persecuted church surrender of all to Christ is a prerequisite that is fulfilled immediately…….. and may cost one everything, including life itself.
Jesus does not desire martyrs who seek suffering. He desires followers who seek HIM, and suffering often accompanies the choice to follow Christ.
Are we “all in?”