We live in a day and age and culture where it is easier to be a fake Christian than it is to be a genuine Christian. Those days are ending. Growing up, one of my favorite Christian musical artists was David Meece. In one of his albums, he takes a moment to step aside and tell a story of his childhood. He and his older brother had one of those southern mothers who you did not dare cross if you wanted to live to adulthood. In his home, only classic music was allowed – no rock, rap, or even contemporary Gospel music, only classic. His other brother sneaked a Beatles record into the house, but they only played it when their mom was out. Fortunately for them, they always knew when she was out because her car has such a bad muffler that you could hear her going and coming miles away. So, when she was leaving, they’d play their classic music on the piano, but the moment she was out of range, they blasted the Beatles. And when they heard her coming back, it was back to classic. David then went on to talk about how so many people live one life when around certain people, and then with another crowd they become someone else. He even went as far as calling it Schizophrenic Christianity. He concludes by saying that people who do this could fool every person around them or even themselves, but they aren’t fooling God.
Jesus had a scathing report to a church who lived this way. Of all the seven churches Jesus wrote to in Revelation 2-3, the one to Laodicea was the most scathing. There was nothing Jesus found pleasing in that church. There were two churches who had no sin marked against them, and four of the others had positive reports and one particular sin that was soon to break them. Laodicea didn’t have a single positive aspect they were doing right. They were lukewarm. Even the good they were doing was tainted by sin. They weren’t hot for Christ, and they weren’t cold against Him either.
I see this play out heavily in the origins debate, but I have seen this issue all over the academic world. In the documentary “Patterns of Evidence: Exodus” (the other three Patterns of Evidence films are good, but this was the best and this issue stands out here the most), Tim Mahoney interviews numerous scholars about evidence for the Exodus and surrounding events. Two scholars stood out to me in regard to this topic, and both were Jewish by religion and ethnicity. They celebrated Passover every year as though it were real, but then academically, they said they cannot accept that the Passover and the Exodus actually happened in history. How could they say that? The answer is simple: they have compartmentalized their academia and their religion to the point where they see no connection; as a result, they cannot see when there is a conflict. For these guys, it was their religion and their history that were separated. If the history is not accurate, then the ritual it is based on is meaningless. People don’t see it.
For origins, in Old Earth Creation ideals, there is a separation of science and theology to the point where when I bring up how the science they support and the theology they proclaim are conflicting, they don’t know what to do. They adamantly believe both are possible, yet they are in direct contradiction. Some Old Earth Creationists will admit that it was Adam’s sin who brings death to all men according to Romans 5:12. So I bring up the dating methods that put human fossils and human DNA long before Adam ever could have existed in their model, and I have received all sorts of dancing and ignoring, questioning everything from the definition of a human and life/death. But not once have they let their theology force them to question a dating method that violates their doctrine. And they expect us to believe that they believe in Adam or the doctrine of original sin, the very reason that Jesus had to come to begin with, when they do that.
What you believe is not found in your creed; it’s found by what you stand on, what you don’t let be questioned, and what you will die for. That’s what you believe. Anyone can cite a creed, but it has no weight until it costs you something. Last week I wrote about what it costs to be a Christian. The Christian faith will require you to go against mainstream academia, both historically and scientifically because both industries have bene hijacked by secularists and re-written to intentionally defy the Bible. You cannot walk two opposing sides with any sort of consistency.
What we are seeing here is the desire to serve two masters. You cannot serve both Christ and the experts of the world. You will not please both Christ and the world’s “experts” at the same time. Paul warned Timothy against such experts, against any teacher who does not adhere to sound doctrines, especially the words of Jesus, because they do not know ANYTHING and teach that living for self is justifiable for the Christian. Paul was the most learned man there was, and he had no respect for any academic scholar or institution that taught anything apart from the knowledge of Christ. I am a physics teacher. I teach science for a living. There have been a lot of great benefits we have from understanding physics. All our technology, transportation, weapons, etc. are a result of studying physics and the sciences. But if that knowledge is not rooted in God’s word and reveals God, it is useless knowledge. There is so much wrong with the scientific community these days that 50%+ of science papers today are totally false. Why? Because the scientific community as a whole has rejected God and are trying to come up with something to explain everything without Him. It’s foolishness and they don’t know God, nor reality, nor anything that has any validity or truth. I’m not saying it; Paul did, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Take it up with Him.
What happened to being consistent? Christianity is not a religious lifestyle that applies only on Sundays. It is a lifestyle that is to guide and direct every aspect of our lives: family, job, science, history, religion, theology, entertainment, sports, reading, everything. Does this faith we claim influence any of these areas of our lives, or just the theological side of things? Is Jesus truly the Lord of our life where we submit to His rule, or is Jesus just an accessory we wear? Is He just a toy we put on a shelf to play with when we want to and put Him back on the shelf when we want to focus on other things? Jesus is not a toy, not a casual acquaintance, but the Lord of all glory.
Jesus will work with those who long for Him and desire Him but constantly fail, but He will not tolerate those who say “great things” about Him and then completely disregard Him in other areas of their lives. The lukewarm person, the schizophrenic Christian, is going to end up in the same place as the total unbeliever. Why? Because they refuse to commit and go the distance. When the ship goes sailing, the person who has one foot on the boat and one foot on the dock will only get wet and end up in the same place as those who never tried to get on the boat. In this country, the ship for Christianity has raised the sails. It’s about to depart. The day of the casual Christian, the schizophrenic Christian, is ending, because soon no one will want to be one because we’ll be marked as enemies of the state. You can’t please both. As far as I’m concerned, those who try to please both will be marked as one with the world. I’ll leave their status to God, but for the sake of the health of the church, those who live double lives will only bring reproach to the church. There are times where removal is necessary; Paul did it. Let us deal with our hypocrisy and our double mindedness before God deals with it by publicly exposing it.
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