I don’t usually carry cash. But
on this day, I used a crisp $100 bill to pay for some new shoes. As I handed
the bill to the cashier, she grabbed a pen. I was somewhat intrigued. Then, she
ran the pen across the bill. Now I was puzzled. So, I asked her the purpose of
marking up my crisp bills. Come to find out, this is standard procedure for
$100 bills. The marker is designed to spot counterfeit bills.
Why would the cashier be
concerned about this? The answer is obvious, right? Counterfeit money has no
value. Maybe it can pose as authentic for a period of time, but eventually
someone is going to buy one of those markers and expose the lie.
And whether you intentionally
use a counterfeit bill is irrelevant. If the marker reveals that you tried to
pay with fake money, you will lose a $100, at best, and lose a day of freedom
in jail, at worst.
During his ministry, Jesus
encountered fakes often. And what the market does to money, Jesus does to
counterfeit followers. He exposes them.
Whether it was the Pharisees,
who posed as righteous men of God or large crowds, who posed as committed
followers, Jesus constantly exposed counterfeits.
So, what are qualities of a
counterfeit Christian? This question is important. Much like fake money, fake
Christians have no value. They flaunt a self-righteous attitude or selfless
behavior. But, if you exposed their heart, you would find something different.
Most importantly, as Jesus says in Matthew 7:24, eventually counterfeit
Christians will be exposed.
To be fair, I don’t believe most
Christians intentionally pose as fakes. They have either been handed a counterfeit
Jesus or drifted away from the radical life Jesus calls his followers to
imitate. With that said, I think every Christian can use this post to work on
their heart.
Here are seven signs you
are a counterfeit Christian:
1.) You feel more
guilty for missing church than hurting your neighbor.
I grew up in a culture
where church attendance was the ultimate mark of righteousness. Under no
circumstances did you miss worship on Sunday or class on Wednesday. A Christian
who had “gone astray” was someone who hadn’t been to the church building in a
month.
Intentionally or not, I was led
to believe my presence at a building was more important than my actions toward
other people. So most weeks I would walk into my church building, worship God,
interact in class discussion, then go home. In the meantime, I disrespected
teachers at school, gossipped about friends and classmates, and used women for
my selfish desires.
If you value church attendance
more than loving people, you don’t understand Jesus. The two greatest commands,
love God and love your neighbor, are relational. Jesus even says the entire law
is summed up by these two commands.
Here’s the deal. It’s entirely
possible to be a perfect church attendee and a long ways from God. On the flip
side, it’s also entirely possible to be a sporadic church attendee and have an
intimate relationship with God.
It’s time to drop this false
idea that God values attendance more than people.
2.) You believe the
Bible is more important than Jesus.
For much of my life, I placed more
trust in the Bible than in Jesus for eternal life. It was more important that I
knew the five steps to salvation than the source of salvation. I could sing the
66 books of the Bible. I knew the VBS stories.
If you’re like me and know more
about Scripture than living like Jesus, here’s a strong word for you courtesy
of the son of God himself.
You search the Scriptures because you think
they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to
come to me to receive this life. John 5:39-40
The Bible is NOT more important
than Jesus. Oh, you can recite the books of the Bible using an annoying song?
You memorized the book of James? That’s great. The Pharisees memorized the
first five books of the Old Testament and Jesus told them their knowledge
was useless.
Why?
They memorized Scripture,
thinking their knowledge made them righteous. Instead, their knowledge inflated
their egos and blinded them from the Savior.
The whole point of the Bible is
Jesus. Go ahead, have your morning meditations. That’s great. Memorize
Scripture. Good for you. But those things don’t give you brownie points with
God.
Instead, answer these questions.
Does the Bible increase your
love of God and intimacy with Jesus?
Are you confident in your
salvation because you know Scripture or because you know the one Scripture
points to?
Remember, the first-century
Christians, especially Gentile Christians, had no Bible. They had no background
about Jesus. They just heard a message of redemption, believed that message and
lived in community with others who accepted it.
3.) You wonder how
close you can get to sin without actually sinning.
Few questions upset and sadden
me more than this one. “Frank, is _______ a sin?” Just fill in the blank.
Spending the night with your boyfriend/girlfriend. Getting a buzz. Watching a
movie glorifying sex and worldliness. As a church leader, I am asked these
questions quite often.
I refuse to answer them.
Here’s why. I can’t, in good
conscience, answer a question that feeds your desire to flirt with sin. Most
likely, if you’re asking this question, you need to check your heart. I know
because I used to ask those questions.
Why would you flirt with sin
when you can fall in love with God?
Why would you see how close you
can get to sin rather than how close you can get to God? How crazy does that
sound?
4.) You believe it’s
OK to hold a grudge against someone if he or she hurts you bad enough.
I’m not sure where the line is
drawn, but at some point, counterfeit Christians believe it’s acceptable to
refuse forgiveness. Maybe that line is murder, rape or your best friend
sleeping with your spouse. I’m not real sure, but there are certain
unforgivable sins.
I’m not trying to minimize the
pain you experienced. I’m trying to elevate the example Christ provided. On the
cross, after mere men nailed the son of God to wooden beams and mocked him,
Jesus looked up and said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they
are doing” (Luke 23:34).
If God can forgive men for
mocking him, you can forgive anyone for the pain they caused you. Is this easy?
No. But you can’t claim to follow Jesus and refuse to forgive.
5.) You believe real
Christians would never engage real sinners.
Several years ago, I was talking
with a minister about a church in Nashville that was meeting in a bar.
This church was baptizing former alcoholics and drug addicts. God was really
working.
But not according to this church
leader. His response? “Frank, do you really think God is OK with people
worshipping him in a bar with alcohol and drunks? Surely you don’t think
that?!”
You see, counterfeit Christians
don’t think it’s acceptable to associate with real sinners and remain a real
Christian.
Jesus, however, would have a
thing or two to say about this. Repeatedly, Jesus associated with tax
collectors, talked to prostitutes and touched sick people. In Jewish culture,
touching sick people made you ceremonially unclean. That was bad. But Jesus
didn’t seem to care.
Why is this? Jesus was more
concerned with healing people, both physically and spiritually, than
maintaining a solid reputation with church folks. Call me crazy, but I think if
Jesus were here today, he would spend more time in bars with the homeless and
drunks than in church buildings.
This whole point centers around
your understanding of holiness. In the Old Testament, holiness equated to
separation. The Israelites couldn’t marry people from other nations. They
couldn’t form alliances with them. They were called to be separate.
When Jesus came, he changed the
idea of holiness. It no longer meant separation from, but engage with.
The holiest, most godly
Christians are the ones who engage others with the goal of healing and
restoring them.
6.) You believe God
rests in a building, not in a group of people.
Until the death of Jesus, the
temple was the place where the Israelites encountered God. The temple was
everything. No one dared to speak a word against the temple. And only a handful
of appointed people could enter it.
God’s presence isn’t found in a
building. It’s found in his people.
After Jesus’s death, God’s
presence left the temple and entered his people. But don’t tell this to
counterfeit Christians. Like the Israelites, they view their church building as
a sacred place. Actions change. A certain type of behavior is expected.
Counterfeit Christians use their
Sunday commute to talk with their homeboys or girlfriends about the hot guy or
girl they slept with the night before. But as soon as they turn into the church
parking lot, those conversations cease, and it’s all about God.
Counterfeit Christians spend the
entire week sacrificing their family on the altar of work. But as soon as they
enter the church building, they grab their spouse’s hand, put their arm around
their children and wear a smile as big as their bank account.
Counterfeit Christians might
serve as a deacon at church, but they spend Saturday nights getting thrown out
of their kid’s t-ball game, trash talking every umpire and fan who thought
little Tommy was out at first. Who cares if little Tommy is still learning not
to pee in his underwear? He was safe at first.
It’s time for Christians to stop
saying the church is not a building and actually start living that way.
Physical locations aren’t sacred. When you arrive at work, you are
a temple for the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19-20). Treat your employees like
Christ. Handle conflict with your peers like Christ. When you travel to the
ballfield, you’re a temple for the Holy Spirit. Treat the umpires, coaches and
fans with the love of Christ.
You’re a mobile temple. Allow
God’s power to work in you, regardless of where you go.
7.) You think
Christian maturity is more about how much you know than what you do.
The night before Jesus was
crucified, he gathered with his 12 disciples to enjoy one final meal. Not
long after dinner, Jesus grabbed a basin, a towel and started washing his
disciples’ feet. Unless you understand Jewish culture, you miss the scandalous
nature of what’s going on here. Footwashing was a dirty job reserved for
slaves. Jesus, in essence, made himself lower than the lowest person in
society.
Now, catch this.
Jesus didn’t get out a
chalkboard and summarize his teachings. He didn’t quiz his disciples. He didn’t
say anything. Instead, he humbled himself. In this moment, you see the
summation of Jesus’ ministry. Every sermon. Every healing. Every conversation.
Everything is summed up with this … wash one another’s feet. Become a servant.
If you want to point the world
to Jesus, stop talking about your theology. Stop telling the world how much you
know. Get on your knees and start serving.
There’s a trendy message, even
in Christian circles, that challenges people to “Rise up!” If you’re a follower
of Jesus, that’s a faulty message. Christianity isn’t about rising up. It’s
about falling down. In God’s kingdom, the more power you have, the more feet
you wash.
Be very careful about people who
love to talk but hate to serve. The most spiritually mature Christians aren’t
always the most eloquent or wise. Those most like Jesus are the ones who grab a
towel and place the needs of others above their own.
_______________
Everything goes back to this:
Love God and love your neighbor. The question Christians must wrestle with is,
“Do I actually believe it’s that simple?” In a culture where denominations
argue over the correct way to baptize someone, grasping the Jesus life can seem
like an impossible task.
But it’s not.
The Jesus life is about loving
God with all of your heart, mind and strength, and it’s about transferring
God’s love onto every person you encounter. Counterfeit Christians don’t get
this. Don’t get caught up in the endless interpretations about doctrines. Get
caught up in the love of Jesus.
It’s your turn. What
are some signs of a counterfeit Christian? Leave a comment below.
I love you all. To God be the
glory forever. Amen!
Frank Powell serves in the Campbell Street Church of Christ in Jackson, Tenn., ministering to college-age and young adults. More from Frank Powell or visit Frank at http://frankpowell.me
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