I remember when I was a brand new Christian. I was on fire and had a deep desire to know everything about Jesus! I was completely naive and scripturally ignorant to the concept of false conversion or lukewarm Christianity. Then as I began to walk with the Lord and He began to open my eyes to the truth, I started to encounter so many people who said they loved Jesus but they looked exactly like the rest of the world. They acted and pursued the same things, and much of their philosophy wasn’t from Scripture, but from the world and from their personal experiences. I remember talking to people who had been Christians for decades who thought the concept of evangelism was so radical.
I was deeply troubled by this, and deeply discouraged. How could people who claimed to love Jesus act this way? As I read through the pages of scripture, I saw over and over again the people of God suffering for His namesake, and rejoicing that they were counted worthy to do so. Like a knife to my heart, I realized before I was born again I absolutely did this. I wore Christianity like an accessory. Taking it on and off when the weather changed. I had no fear of the Lord. No real understanding of His holiness and my total depravity. It wasn’t until the Lord gave me a new heart that I was able to see this. Praise Him for His mercy and grace.
If we claim to be a Christian, but Christ hasn’t radically changed us, and we find ourselves pursuing the things of the world and bucking up against the truth of God’s Word, we need to heed the advice from the Apostle Paul and examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. Lord forgive me of the times that I have done this. Help me to be completely sold out to you Jesus.
The call of the gospel is to die and be resurrected with Christ. If you’re not a new creation, something’s wrong.
2 Corinthians 13:5
“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves..”
-Desi