What does it mean to be a fake Christian? I don't want to use the term fake Christian as derogatory or even as judgmental. I want to bring light to how we are living our lives.
When I was younger, I went to Church every week with my parents. I thought that if you went to Church you were a Christian. Sure I prayed at the supper table. I prayed before I went to bed. I even celebrated Jesus at Christmas time as of course it was his birthday. I did what all good Christians do right?
I deceived myself by not understanding what it meant to be a Christian.
As a child, I had a vision in my head of what a Christian looked like. When people didn't fit into that mold, I thought that they were not a Christian. Little did I know that I was actually the one that wasn't a Christian.
See going to church does not make you a Christian. Being a weekly Church goer does not give you a bigger pat on the head when you get to heaven. As a matter of fact, going to Church does not even mean that you will go to heaven. I thought that if I went to Church and listened to the sermon every week, I was doing what was right. When in fact I was actually doing the opposite of what a Christian really should be doing.
Changing our lives to get rid of the fake Christian inside of us.
I didn't actually grow spiritually the entire time I went to Church as a child. It was a routine and I don't remember anything that was in the sermons that I sat through for all of those years. I always liked the illustrations that the preacher used to engage their audience. I would tune out the Bible part of the sermon and tune into the illustrations. I never studied my Bible and I never got involved with anything Church related outside of Sunday service.
Only when did I realize that you need to have a relationship with Jesus did my heart and mind change. Everything that I had been doing up to that point was worthless. I never grew in Christ. I got rid of the fake Christian when I finally developed a relationship with Jesus. Looking for your hope in Church or man will leave you empty spiritually. Being a fake Christian stopped me from seeing what the true meaning of a Christian was.
A Christian is a follower of Christ. I was not following Christ by going to church. I followed the preacher and the sermon, but never the Christ.
Matthew 16:24 says it the best. Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.