When Christians Don’t Act Like It (Part 12 of ”Are Christians’ Hypocrites?’)
Encountering a professing Christian who doesn’t come remotely close to “walking the walk” is disconcerting. Such encounters turn unbelievers off from Christianity, and besmirch the name of Christ.
You’ll recall that we’ve been arguing that Christian conversion is a supernatural event and results in God Himself (the Holy Spirit) indwelling new believers. Consequently, they are saved forever and protected from returning to unbelief and rebellion against God. (Ephesians 1:13-14)
The rub, of course, is that not all professing Christians are “truly converted.” Scripture warns that faith without works is dead, and Christ admonishes that a tree is known by its fruit. Consistently good or bad fruit are a few indicators of real conversion or merely presumption. Jesus will devastatingly say to many: “Depart from me, I never knew you.” (Matthew 7: 22-24) Assuredly, such folks were never truly converted, and thus never produced fruit in keeping with genuine repentance and faith.
As discussed previously, Christians are people who have been changed and who are changing. Though the changes in converts are rooted inwardly, they cannot help but be manifested outwardly in observable ways.
Of course, for unbelievers, this may all sound like theoretical gibberish. Apart from the hard evidence of a changed life, it’s too abstract. Unbelievers often need to see transformation in believers first-hand before Christianity seems credible and real.
Seeing the effects of faith firsthand may arouse curiosity among unbelievers. The presence of joy in a new Christian, for instance, despite any improvement in his or her her outward circumstances, is captivating. Another sign of transformation that skeptics can’t help but notice is the love expressed between fellow believers who share little else in common beyond faith. Indeed, the Apostle John writes: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35)
Apart from the invention of a spiritual x-ray machine, it will be hard for anyone (believers and unbelievers) to be absolutely sure if someone is a real or fake Christian, because – again – conversion happens inside and is invisible. Merely professing belief isn’t a trustworthy sign of true conversion.
Beyond evidence of good or bad fruit, there are other outward signs and hints of both real and inauthentic faith. We’ll get to those soon.
Before that, though, we’ll make the juicy admission you’ve been waiting for – that Christian hypocrites really do exist!
Titillating stuff, I know. Hang in there. You’ve stuck with us this long, and now the truth is lurking right around the corner. Think of this series as one of those internet hooks like, “celebrities you can hardly recognize these days,” that keeps you clicking on the “next” link. Sad what we’ve stooped to.
SpoofsandProofs.com is written and produced by David Culver Brenner. For a free subscription to SpoofsandProofs.com, enter your email in the “Subscribe” box on the right sidebar. To learn more about his novella illuminating the dangers of socialism, go here.