Cultural Christians

"To put it bluntly, they are self-deceived. They think they are following Jesus when they are really just following a nominally religious crowd." by Wes 2022

One of the reasons I am convinced we are living in the last days is the flippant and disrespectful way in which the churches handle the word of God, as though it is just good literature that can be enjoyed but no need to obey.

Some leaders joke and play and work at getting people to like them making the word they speak as foolishness.

The Christians I meet today are more interested in their cultural traditions and family practices that the Bible gets in the way of those treasured memories and safe feelings.

The knowledge of the Bible for most believers today is based more on culture and tolerance of whatever they want to do or believe. Very little reverence is paid to Christ Himself. In fact, we almost never hear the name of Jesus Christ roll off their tongues. They use the word "God" or other nondescript titles like; "The man upstairs", to avoid embarrassing themselves.

I hear more about politics and country pride than I do about Christ, in fact, Christ is almost never mentioned but just take away a freedom and watch their faces turn angry and hard.

Matthew 10:32-34 "Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven. 34 Do not assume that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.…"

God said that we would be separated from our families because very few people are authentically born-again, most are on that wide road to hell believing they will make it to heaven.

Matthew 15:7-9 "…7 You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you: 8 These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. 9 They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’ ”…"

Do not be one of those who play at Christianity to make yourself feel safe, if you are one of these, repent and become born again, and be saved for eternity.

Cultural Christianity Reigns Now

Before I was born again some family members who didn't approve of me, claimed to be Christian and attended church faithfully.

After I became born again my life changed completely and my family members still didn't approve of me. It was strange because I thought that when they found out I was a believer they would be excited and we would have something in common and perhaps be able to build a relationship. I was very naive in those days thinking that if someone was a Christian they would be kind and loving.

I believed God gave all believers "the fruit of the Spirit", but found out that very few people I knew had this fruit.

Galatians 5:22-23 - "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things, there is no law."

I thought they were unkind to me because I wasn't a Christian. I found out that they were unkind and unloving because they wanted to dislike me no matter what I did. As the scapegoat of the family it seemed as though they chose to see me the way they wanted to see me, that is unworthy of love.

What I discovered was that when I began to read the Bible and believe God when He spoke, it made them angry. I came against divorce and remarriage because God was against it. I didn't watch certain things on television because I was sensitive to what God thought of what I did. I didn't preach at them, I just addressed things as they came up to me.

I didn't believe all the psychology everyone was teaching in the churches and I began to notice my Christian family violated more scripture than they obeyed but lived lives that were not horrendous but not all that much different from the unsaved friends I moved on from. In fact, they seemed to enjoy the unsaved family members more than they did those who were deeply Scriptural.

Then one day as I was praying, the light bulb went on in my mind. I realized that it was possible that my "Christian" family may never have been born again. They were so proud of how good they were and how well they fit into the modern church that they elevated themselves to a special status, intensely convinced they never needed to repent, or at least acted as though they didn't. They treated the Bible like it was a book of suggestions that they could ignore, or edit in and out whatever they pleased.

The things in life that I moved away from they still loved. The ways from God's Word that I wanted to obey Him, they mocked. I began to ask; "what part of the Bible do they actually obey?" Yes, they didn't commit crimes but they were mean and rude to those they wanted to dominate. They were superficial and phony to those they wished to impress.

Never at any time when I have been with them did I see the fruit of God's Spirit. All I saw were rude comments, joking, prideful boasting, and worldliness. They never brought up the name of Christ and when I did they acted embarrassed.

Galatians 5:22-23 - "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things, there is no law."

I asked myself; "wouldn't it make sense that when one believer meets another believer that the Spirit of God in one would leap for joy at the presence of the Spirit of God in the other? I confess that I feel nothing when in their presence except the sense of wanting to flee. We seem to have nothing in common not even Biblical principles that should dominate our lives.

I remember the account of John the Baptist in his mother's womb leaping for joy at the presence of Jesus in the womb of Mary. The Spirit of God can be sensed in believers, it brings great joy and connection to all who have the Spirit of God in them.

Sadly too many people who think they are saved have never been born again and yet God said; "you shall know them by their fruit. " You know, all those lovely character qualities of Christ Who lives in us. Love, Joy, peace, gentleness, kindness, and self-control, seem to be absent from so many people who attend church gatherings every single week.

I fear more are lost than are saved in our day. And, so many believe they are going to heaven but will hear terrifying words on judgment day.

Matthew 7:21-23 "21 “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.’"

They do not break the laws and commit crimes of this world, but they hate the commands and principles of God every day as they walk in their pride about how good they think they are and ignore the principles and commands of God they don't like.

Little do they realize Jesus Christ is the very essence of His Own Word, to deny His Word is to deny Him.

Matthew 10":32-34 "32 Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven. 34 Do not assume that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.…"

I thank the Lord I found Christ in spite of my cultural Christian family experience. I know if I had thought their brand of Christianity was the real thing I would never have trusted Christ.

Praise God for His Word!!!!

Coming Out From Among Them Might Leave You a Little Lonely

Come out from among them. Also, remember when we have our noses continually in the filth of this world just to have information from the news we are engaging in unholy alliances.

Ephesians 5:11-14

"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light."

2 Corinthians 616-18 "…16 What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.” 17 “Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” 18 And: “I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”…"

When we are walking down the street and we observe evil we do what we can to help. However, we do not look in all the corners for evil just to know it. When we do this it is entertainment for us. One has to ask "why would I be entertained by the knowledge of evil?"

Where in the Bible does it say I will set no evil thing before my eyes?

Psalm 101:1-3 "I will sing of mercy and [a]justice;

To You, Lord, I will sing praises.

2 I will carefully attend to the blameless way.

When will You come to me?

I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart.

3 I will set no worthless thing before my eyes;

I hate the work of those who fall away;

It shall not cling to me."

When we love Christ we are not afraid to face evil when it comes down our path but we do not go looking for it either. The more we think of Christ the stronger we become. The more we look at evil the weaker we become.

Glory Goes to God Alone

No person including the apostles deserves more honor than any other born-again believer. We can learn from the apostles and appreciate them, but they are merely men who brought a message. The same message that we bring to those in our modern age.

The day we stop focusing on one person more than any other person is when we are developing an idol. Only the Holy Spirit is our guide, He deserves the credit for anything we hear that comes out of a person's mouth that was from the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 3:3-15 "3 for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like ordinary people?

4 For when one person says, “I am with Paul,” and another, “I am with Apollos,” are you not ordinary people?

5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one.

6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.

7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.

8 Now the one who plants and the one who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each person must be careful how he builds on it.

11 For no one can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw,

13 each one’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each one’s work.

14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward.

15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet only so as through fire."

Confession of Sin is Strength

Confession of sin for Spiritual growth is so important, no one can grow spiritually and emotionally without it. Many people remain weak and easily offended because they have so much unconfessed sin baggage that they are burdened constantly with the fear of it being exposed.

When we are humble enough to say; "that thing I did was wrong, " we are strong. It strengthens us in two ways. It helps us avoid that same sin again and gives us confidence that nothing needs to be hidden from others. There is no one so vulnerable as those who have unconfessed sin.

Those who walk in pride and offend others regularly fear constantly being discovered. However, those who walk openly and honestly do not worry about someone finding out their forgiven flaws and sins.

Weak people are fearful, they rage and defend sin because they think the appearance of confidence is strength, but it is superficial and easily demolished when exposed.

If you are a strong person you can boldly admit your flaws and your sins to be cleansed by God. When this happens you are free to carry on without guilt and without messes that are hidden.

1 John 1:9 "

"9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

God's way is always the best for us and for others around us. Narcissists will use against us our forgiven sins, but even that does not have to intimidate us when we realize they are wicked and God has already buried our sins in the deepest sea. The sin of the narcissist using our past forgiven sins against us remains until they repent from their need to ruin the lives of others to elevate themselves.

As born-again believers we are free, not to sin, not to act badly, but to admit our flaws to be cleansed and spend a lifetime of Spiritual growth and emotional maturity.

Narcissists are emotional infants with much sin baggage, we do not want to become like this through denial of sin. Nor do we want the narcissist to goad us into sin through rage responses. Their goal is to cause us to sin so they can say; "see you are no different from me." This is the devil's ploy always, to get us to sin diminishing our witness to others.

The devil hates us and he hates Christ, if he can make us look no different from the world then he might be able to cause people to resist Christ.

Do not envy the narcissist and his perceived power, it is an illusion. Desire the pure love of Christ to dwell in you, this will make some wonder what we have that is so special.

1 John 2:15-17

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever."

Romans 12:2

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

At Peace With All Men

Romans 12:18
"18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people."

Some people take this verse to mean that we should do whatever possible for people to be at peace with us. If someone is not at peace with us then we are doing something to cause it.

A missionary once told me that we should compromise the word of God for the sake of peace. Of course, I was astounded by such a statement coming from someone who had been on the mission field for many years.

The truth is that we are always at peace with others because we treat them with the respect that they do not give us.

When one person is fighting and the other is not, onlookers will say those two were having a fight. The truth is only one person was fighting and the other was calm and not engaging with the contentious one.

Often we are judged as causing trouble for stating a fact or telling the truth when the person hearing becomes angry because they have a problem with the ability to discuss something when there is a disagreement. We are even judged as rude when we state an opinion

Others watching judge that we did something wrong because someone else became angry at us. After all, the one who gets angry must have had a good reason. This is the perverted culture we live in during these last days. The one coddled is the one who angers easily and the one who desires to resolve a problem with the truth is the one who is accused of rudeness.

The truth is hated by most people in our day. They only like the truth if it flatters them or makes them feel special.

2 Timothy 4:2-4 "…2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4 So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.…"

Mankind is hardwired to receive flattery and praise easily and without thinking, and to hate the truth that exposes their character.

Proverbs 29:5-6 "5 A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet. 6 An evil man is caught by his own sin, but a righteous one sings and rejoices."

The only way to escape the flattery of the devil and those who walk with him is to be born again. When the Holy Spirit dwells in us He makes us uncomfortable with flattery.

Psalm 36:2
"For his eyes are too full of conceit to detect or hate his own sin."

We can be at peace with all men even if they are not at peace with us.

Being at peace does not mean we give them what they want or go along with their ideas, it merely means we do not act disrespectfully toward them while we hold our ground.

There is no Balance when we follow Christ, there is only Truth!!!

Balance is when two sides are equal, even the distribution of things.

There cannot be even distribution between truth and lie or partial lie mixed with truth. If there is some lie with the truth then the whole thing is a lie.

There is no balance between following Christ and being in the world.

We either follow Christ all the way or the world all the way. If any world is in our walk, then we must expel it to follow Christ fully.

Romans 12:2

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

1 John 2:15

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

The Bible is the Word of God, Christ is called the Word, He is the very essence of His Own Word, disregarding it to follow the world is to negate Christ Himself.