by Don Hooton
In an article by Everett Piper in the Washington Times (July 25, 2021) called America’s new religion: Fake Christianity, he wrote, “The faith that motivates Americans today is not the “singular” faith proclaimed by John Wesley… or the confident faith of Saint Paul… nor is it the creedal conviction of the early Church…. No. The contemporary church’s faith isn’t even anchored in the bold exclusivity of Jesus himself, who said, “I am The Way, The Truth and The Life and no one comes to the Father but through me!” Instead, he writes, it has been replaced with a pseudo-message or Fake Christianity. As proof, he offers:
- Rachel Bratton of Western Journal who said this: “American Christianity has fallen. Thanks to cultural corrosion and a lack of biblical literacy, a new ‘fake Christianity’ is now being preached within the American church.” “This counterfeit religion is Moralistic Therapeutic Deism,” stated Ms. Bratton, “a worldview that has quickly gained prominence and given many Americans a theology that looks nothing like historical Christianity, despite what they may claim.” She then goes on to cite the recent work of George Barna, whose February survey showed that Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD), or — watered-down, feel-good, fake Christianity — is the most popular worldview in the United States today. Ms. Bratton concludes: “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism distorts the God of the Bible in an attempt to make him bless all the dissipations and vanities of the modern world.”
- George Barna, Director of Research and cofounder of the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University and The Barna group, answers: “The moralistic perspective is we’re here to be good people and to try to do good…The therapeutic aspect is everything is supposed to be geared to making me feel good about myself, ultimately to make me happy. Deism is the idea that God created the world but has no direct involvement in it. Basically, according to MTD, there is a distant God who just wants everyone to be nice, and the purpose of life is to be happy. American ‘Christians’ who have adopted this philosophy have… elevate[d] personal definitions of right and wrong above any objective standard of Truth — like the Bible.” “MTD is essentially what I would call fake Christianity. Because it has some Christian elements in it, but it’s not really biblical, it’s not really Christian.”
And there you have it. America’s religion is no longer that of the Apostles: “the faith that was once and for all entrusted to the saints” (Jude 3). And whether it has always been of the Apostles is a matter for discussion elsewhere. Still, Ms. Bratton wrote, “Please stop calling yourself a Christian if you don’t believe in Christianity!”
So if the vast prominence of what the public sees as Christianity is indeed fake, how will we ever find what is true?
True Christianity is formed from what Jesus really taught. “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). He told the Apostles that “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:18-20).
True Christianity is formed from what the Apostles, guided by the Holy Spirit, commanded us to do. In Jesus’ day, He told people to His disciples that “You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved” (Matthew 10:22). In fact, he said, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me” (5:11). While He did say the world should see us love like Him (John 13:34), we won’t always be liked or even appear “nice” by the world’s view since loving also means rebuking those who are not walking in love (Romans 14:15) or “not acting in line with the truth of the gospel.” Walking according to the desire of the flesh is not walking according to the Way (c.f. Romans 8:1-4; Galatians 5:16).
True Christianity is following The Way, The Truth and the Life. Just as He told the Apostles in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” And to his disciples He said, “Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:38). Jesus is one of confession, not counseling and comfort, and today’s “Christians” would do well to remember that he‘s the one who said those ignoring this would be “cast out and trampled underfoot.”
The message and life for followers of Jesus, as He has said, is one that will confess Him, sacrifice for Him and live like Him is their lives – and no seek self, self-centered pursuits and self-centered religion. “These are matters which do have the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion… but are of no value” (Colossians 2:23).
Fake Christianity will always feel easy because it makes what we already believe to be true to be our truth. But real Christianity will follow one Way; one Truth; with one Life – the way Jesus has called for all of His disciples. It’s easy when we follow Him. It’s hard when we follow people – or worse, “our heart.”