Test yourselvesto seeif you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognizethis aboutyourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test? 2ndCorinthians 13:5 NASB
The deep thinkers in Church World have all sorts of opinions and theories as to what are the biggest and most vexing problems plaguing the modern-day Church. Weak preaching, scandals, bad doctrine, biblical illiteracy, legalism, lax sexual ethics, the acceptance of hom*osexuality, divorce, lack of strategy, division and Christian nationalism have all been bandied about as the cause of the Churches high attrition rates and inability to reach the lost and redeem the culture.
With all due respect to the deep thinkers, all the above-mentioned problems are (for the most part) real and genuine. However, they are just symptoms of a much bigger and more complex problem:
Unsaved Christians.
For those screaming “oxymoron” at the ceiling right now, you are correct. There is no such thing as an unsaved Christian.It’s an impossibility. One is either saved or unsaved, Christian or heathen. No one can be all those things all at the same time. Nonetheless, there is an increasingly large number of people who profess to be Christians, look like Christians and act like Christians (at least when people are watching) who have never actually made the journey from spiritual death to spiritual life (John 3:1-18 1stPeter 1:3-5).
They don’t know Jesus.
This sad state of affairs should come as no surprise. Jesus advised His people this day would come (Matthew 13:24-36). The apostle Paul warned the Ephesian elders there would be false teachers (unsaved Christians) who would infiltrate the church, preach a false gospel and create all manner of chaos for genuine believers (Acts 20:29-31). In 2ndTimothy 3:1-5 Paul describes in graphic detail what unsaved Christians look and act like (2ndTimothy 3:1-5). Jude and Peter both strongly warned of the problems unsaved Christians would introduce into the church.
Most unsaved Christians have no clue they are not the real deal. Jesus hinted this would be the case when He taught on the wide and narrow gates (Matthew 7:13-14).He stated it in the clearest possible terms when He taught about true and false disciples (Matthew 7:21-23).Jesus said these things because He knew the conduct of unsaved Christians would create doubt concerning the goodness of God in the hearts of those wounded by unsaved Christians. Many Christians (including some who are the real deal) have abandoned church because of something terrible a (likely) unsaved Christian or Christian leader did. Jesus also knew one bad apple really can spoil a whole barrel. Therefore, it’s essential Christians take their cues on what’s right and wrong from the Bible—not the behavior of other Christians. Christians are commanded to follow Jesus—not people. People inevitably disappoint—Jesus never does.
Furthermore:
Christians ought to be very careful about making judgments based entirely on one or even three or four interactions. Even a genuine believer can have a bad day, week or season. The judgement of “unsaved Christian” should be applied sparingly. There should be zero gossiping or wild speculation concerning the spiritual state of others. That’s icky.
Seriously.
Nonetheless. It is wise to be on the lookout for behavior patterns in ourselves and others that indicate a lack of real relationship with Jesus. The following five behavior patterns indicate a serious spiritual problem that requires immediate attention:
A less than cozy relationship with truth-
Anyone who routinely lies or who has no guilt about lying (even occasionally) is probably not saved. Jesus is clear: knee-jerk deceit is an indicator someone has a tighter relationship with the devil than they do with God (John 8:43-45).
Do what I say—not what I do-
There are two ways this works itself out. One way is through acts of classic hypocrisy: saying something is right and demanding others obey, then doing the exact opposite. There is also a form of hypocrisy that is more nuanced and tougher to spot. Sometimes Christians (especially Christian leaders) will urge or demand others to work and serve while they sit. This is a spiritual problem. All Christians are called to DO good works, not just talk about the importance of doing them (Matthew 23:23-28, 3rdJohn 1:11)
Lots of foliage—zero fruit-
False teachers and unsaved Christians are like the fig tree cursed by Jesus (Matthew 21:18-19). They look awesome from a distance, but up close they are missing all the hallmarks of authentic Christianity: faith, obedience, life transformation, love for others, good works, thankfulness and compassion. (Hebrews 11:6, Ephesians 2:10, Romans 12:2, 2ndCorinthians 3:18, Luke 6:36, Matthew 5:7, Matthew 23:3, Colossians 4:2, Hebrews 12:28, Galatians 5:22-23)
Faultfinding and nitpicking-
We all nitpick and fault-find on occasion. It’s a part of our fallen nature. However, unsaved Christians tend to have a chronically harsh and legalistic spirit that sees the worst and always assumes bad intent. Many unsaved Christians believe in their heart messy people are irredeemable, rather than works in progress. Christian love believes the best and always hopes for heart change (Jude 1:16, 1stCorinthians 13).
It’s all cool-
Like it or not, God places some firm boundaries around the behavior of His people (Exodus 20:1-17, Galatians 5:19-21, Colossians 3:8-10). If an unsaved Christian is not a legalistic faultfinder there’s a pretty decent chance they will be a raging libertine. In other words, they will show contempt for God’s boundaries and encourage others to do the same (Romans 1:32).
Christians are called to examine themselves to see if they are walking in and living out the teachings of the Bible (2ndCorinthians 13:5). If after a self-evaluation, you find you are lacking in Christian virtues, ask God for forgiveness and course correct ASAP (1stJohn 1:9-10).
It’s critical Christians understand we are not called to judge the worthiness of others. However, we are commanded to be discerning about who we follow and spend time with (1stCorinthians 15:33). Sometimes that means separating from those who refuse to repent and show numerous signs of not being the real deal (1stCorinthians 5:11), although, we should never fail to pray for them.
