Jammindude, I offer this refutation of your example using your own example. The National Electrical Code is an agreed upon set of definitions and standards. Other people can make their own standards higher or lower, but there is a standard definition of what an electrician is. The only standard definition of a Christian is someone who believes Jesus is the son of God, and he is worshipped. You're definition of a Christian is a higher standard, but not the accepted standard - just as you may have a personal standard that exceeds the National Electrical Code standards.
According to the Bible...the demons believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he is worshiped...So I could not disagree more.
It's not a matter of following Jesus *perfectly*...but it is a matter of following Jesus *pattern*... When you were a kid, did you ever try to trace your father's footsteps through the snow? You couldn't do it perfectly...but you tried. There's a big difference between that, and just stomping around at random.
My father once told me something that I think fits here:
If you were on trial...and the charge against you was "being a Christian"...would they have enough evidence to convict you? NO PERSONAL OPINION is the yardstick by which a Christian is measured. The example that Jesus set is the yardstick. If someone follows the pattern Christ set (following in his footsteps) then that is a "footstep follower of Christ"... Those who hate, go to war, and kill...do not follow the pattern Christ set. The Crusades and the Inquisition were both perfect examples of "The Betty White Society for Animal Torture" illustration I pointed out earlier. Anyone can read the pattern Christ set, and see that those two periods in history did not follow the pattern.
Even Jesus himself claimed that people would be doing really wonderful things *IN HIS NAME*...and yet he would deny them because they weren't following his pattern. If Jesus Christ denies anything to do with someone...are they still Christian? I would say absolutely not. *I* don't set the pattern...the pattern is written. Jesus sets the pattern.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matt 7:21-23 ESV)