When I say "counterfeit Christianity" I mean a propagated type of Christianity divorced from the authority of Scripture and church history. I speak of people more enamored by cultural morality than holy living. A people who do not seek the Truth, but rather the approval of the world. Here is why they will fail...
1. They tried to blitz the true church. It was a rush job on the fundamental truth of the Gospel (i.e. atonement, human sexuality, etc) They attempted to change too many of the fundamentals too quickly. You cannot reject sexual morality, advocate for a new type of racism, and reject the basic principles of the Gospel and expect to get no push back from faithful followers of Jesus. Ultimately they just came off pushy.
2. It is basically a fad among disenfranchised people who have grown up in the church. Sometimes lacking their own personal experience of being born-again, they remain in the church for its social connections, but not for its spiritual discipleship. They do not really care about being holy or the sacred doctrines of the church, but they do want to find a way for their church life to be compatible with a life in the world. These chase new fads (remember the "emergent church"?) when they should be chasing Jesus. What started as worldly affections has turned into a full love affair with the world.
3. No one cares! No one was changed for the better. No one experienced transformation. It was rebottled philosophy from the prince of darkness. They didn't seek transformation, they sought to coddle people in their sin. Churches with leaders who embraced counterfeit Christianity were fruitless and unfaithful to the Great Commission and Christ's church. Schools who catered to counterfeit Christianity struggled and some were even shuttered. Death and decline followed their ideology.
4. They didn't start their own church, they tried to change the church. Because they are by and large unfruitful in every conceivable way they become parasites in denominational infrastructure. Their ideologies are not only antithetical to Scripture, but pragmatic failures as well. In love with the Spirit of the Age, they cannot contemplate why they are unsuccessful in the local church context. But they consistently demand denominational position to propagate their dead methods and philosophies.
5. Too much conversation. "Conversation" is one of their buzz words. The problem is that a bunch of talk doesn't change reality. Playing sophisticated games of semantics only gives the rest of us a headache and often heartburn. So, while they are 'conversing,' the rest of the world moves on without them. And the church has always been more interested in being the church than simply talking about it. Like the tower of Babel there were many words and opinions thrown about, but no progress made in glorifying God. They seem to be experts on theology, but unable to translate to a spiritual harvest.
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6. They were just re-wrapped liberals. Same song, second verse. The early Church of the Nazarene spoke clearly about the problem of the "modernists". Early leaders called the Church to stand against the compromise of biblical truth and a watered down faith. A cheap grace has always been offered by those who do not believe in God's power to transform and cleanse the heart. Modernists. Liberals. Progressives. Emergent church. Leftists. It has changed labels, but the emphasis is always the same (see the main line denominations' history). They question the same things liberals did: authenticity/authority of Scripture, atonement, hell, the literal resurrection of Jesus, & even, in some cases, the character and nature of God. They also push the same things liberals did: lower standards (they call having standards legalism), universalism, and 'conversation' with other religions.
7. They didn't stand for anything. I guess if you believe there are no absolute truths then you will not stand for anything definitively. In the name of "conversation," "tolerance," and "ecumenical" they refused to boldly proclaim the powerful truths & standards of God's Word and His Gospel. Unity was to be bought at the lowest common denominator... and they were willing to go very low. The only moral issues they would stand for were ones that the world has adopted and promotes. "Any dead fish can swim downstream, but it takes a live one to swim upstream."
8. They were blown about by the winds of secular culture (worldliness). They believed that friendship with the world is friendship with Christ. They believed that Christianity is an adoption of a higher way of philosophizing rather than a holy way of living. Their theology is rooted in man and not God. They live in ambiguous and clouded religious terminology rather than Biblical clarity. They chose to be set apart to culture rather than Christ (but would claim they are one and the same). They cannot understand why the things of this world are inherently fallen and sinful and thus they are tossed to and fro by the philosophies and distractions of this sinful world. They talk about the imago dei, but deny the fallen nature of man.
9. They have, in essence, ignored God's Word. Its use is good only for a few of the 'stories' in it and various verses that, taken out of context of the whole Gospel, seem to support their heresies and justify their worldliness. Repentance, sin, hell, & Christ as the only way, to name a few, are verses and passages of God's Word they ignore because they don't like. If truth made them uncomfortable, they would simply ignore it. Truths that have been taken for granted by the church for 2000 years are now disregarded and stripped of all influence in counterfeit Christianity.
10. God is not in it. Case and point: Acts 5:33-40. Gamaliel stands up before the Sanhedrin and says: "...if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God you will not be able to overthrow them." If God is for them, who can be against them? Instead the Spirit is stirring in the hearts of the faithful followers of Jesus to resist the false teachings and false prophets of our hour.
While the death of counterfeit Christianity has already begun, it has not yet occurred. It takes a whole generation for this insidious fad to fade away. But in the meantime, you won't catch me mourning for that movement!
But be aware: while counterfeit Christianity may die under its current label, it will return under a new label. No doubt the label will sound positive and encouraging, but it will be the same counterfeit bringing death to any who have itching ears to hear.
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