To be sure, not all Christians believe. But many do.

What is the difference between a christian for whom Christ is a person of little practical importance (a largely cultural christian) and a Christian for whom Christ is the meaning and purpose that motivates every aspect of their life.

What makes Christ all important to one and a person of little importance to another?

The Christian (who is rooted in relationship with Christ) encounters the living Christ in his daily life. He encounters the risen Jesus on the roads and in the rooms of his life (Mark 16:12-14). He therefore does not look for Christ in the tomb, because he knows that He is not there and that He has risen (Mathew 28:6).

The cultural christian – rather than encountering Christ in his daily life, assumes (mostly subconsciously) that Christ is in the tomb (Mark 16:1-2, Luke 24:5). To him Christ is purely a historical figure, because he has heard of Christ as existing 2000 years ago but has not encountered Him in the present. Therefore – to him – Christ is a historical figure who died and is in the tomb and is of little practical importance in his life.

It is thus one’s lived experience of encounter with the living Christ that takes one from being a largely cultural christian to being a Christian rooted in relationship with Christ.

Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction. (Pope Benedict in Deus Caritas Est, 1)

The difference between a largely cultural christian and the Christian is thus their personal experience of Easter. It is the reason a Christian believes.