There shouldn’t be much that separates one Christian from another, and from an eternal perspective there may not be an iota of difference (only God knows), but there are worlds of difference between one kind of Christian and another.
Take me as a case in point. From the day I was baptised on December 16, 1990 until the day my first marriage collapsed — September 22, 2003 — I had no idea there was this divide between real faith and fake faith. Well, I guess from hindsight perspective, I kind of knew there must be something more, because I looked at some Christians as if to say, “Wow, you’re really taking your faith seriously; I don’t really understand why you’d choose such a boring and hard life, because I want to retain control over mine.”
I preferred my ‘carnal Christian’ life where I routinely consumed alcohol to destress from workplace busyness, where I occasionally smoked cigarettes and cannabis, engaged in swearing and some patterns of abusive behaviour. I was very happy to occasionally attend church, though it really wasn’t a priority. I somehow knew that the Bible and prayer were good to go to when things were tough, but when life was okay, they just didn’t feature. I wanted nothing to do with the deeper fellowship connection that I saw many Christians engaging in. I was very good at holding up a façade. I really didn’t trust real Christians because I didn’t want to go anywhere near that kind of radical surrender.
Oh, how God was about to turn my life upside down.
My house-of-cards life came crumbling down one Monday night without any warning. 8pm and my life changed. I had no idea what I was losing. Within hours though, it was apparent that everything I loved was at risk. More than that, everything I loved I was losing. There is no way of putting it any other way. My wife, my home, access to my children, even my job had to change because I was required to travel extensively, and I just could not do that anymore. The life changes that occurred completely broke me.
It was at this time I was plunged into such a crisis, I absolutely HAD to surrender to God, and not just once, but every day, continually, for month after excruciating month.
I had a Damascus Road experience. The contrast between one form of Christian faith and the next couldn’t have been starker. The tale of two Christians was formed within my own life. I completely understand ‘faith’ that lives a part-obedience. But a part-obedience is really recalcitrant disobedience.
For me, I couldn’t give over my addiction to alcohol. I wouldn’t surrender so many features of that life. Until life forced my hand and all I had left was to reach out in desperation for God — in faith that there was more! And God, of course, did not disappoint.
One form of faith had none of God’s power about it and I did not know what I did not know. When I transferred over to the other form of faith — true dependence on God — suddenly I had access to God’s power to live boldly in my weakness such that I could draw on God’s strength. The first form Christian cannot understand it. They do not get it because they have never experienced it. They may suspect it’s possible, but they have no idea how to access it, and they have no idea why they would even want it.
Whenever we experience Christians who don’t seem to understand their dangerous impact on us or others, for instance, it helps to know that they really do not know what they’re missing out on. They don’t know what they’re doing, because they continue headlong in diabolical behaviours.
Some Christians don’t seem to understand they’re called to LIVE their faith and that it does take a fully surrendered, repentant faith to please and honour God. I know because I was one once.
Some Christians will be harbouring addictions or secret relationships or abusive patterns of behaviour and though they may be aware they’re missing the mark, their lack of allegiance to God means they have no access to God’s power for change in their life. It is very tragic when these kinds of Christians rise to positions of power because they are blind guides. Worst of all, these powerful leaders within the church are doing and have done such reprehensible things Jesus mentions them with regard to millstones and oceans.
The tale of two Christians could not be differentiated any plainer. It’s like night versus day, but we only see it having been fully converted to Christ, where the Holy Spirit really does reside in the converted one and the Spirit transforms that life. Really, there is no other faith.
The real cost to the church is of those who lead people astray, much to the point where people will not darken the door of church ever again.
People are searching for what is referred to as a TOV church. Only one kind of Christian in the above portrait can deliver the church that God and people both want and need.
There is no place for expressions of church that just don’t resemble the authentic character of a wholly (and holy) GOOD God.
Humanity can only tolerate one form of church; one committed to goodness culture.
Reference: (Author), Laura Barringer (Author), Tish Harrison Warren (Foreword) A Church Called Tov: Forming a Goodness Culture That Resists Abuses of Power and Promotes Healing (Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, 2020). Available online: https://www.amazon.com/Church-Called-Tov-Goodness-Promotes/dp/1496446003
Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash
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