Why Counterfeit Christianity Will Fail

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.

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.

Check out these other articles:

Yes, God Can

5 Theological Warning Signs

Be Happy For Church Discipline

Some Cautions for the Church of the Nazarene (Part 1)

A Way Forward for the Church of the Nazarene (Part 1)

Some Things I'm Watching this Election Year

It is another "political season" with all that it entails. To even talk politics in casual settings is to risk friendships sometimes. Are we past the point of no return when it comes to the ability to discuss hard issues without permanent relational damage? I do not know, but I do know that we must risk it for the sake of issues at hand.

Here are a few observations/opinions about what is going on in the political realm that I am keeping an eye on:

1. Abortion. I believe this is the most significant moral issue of our time. According to a NPR article, over one million abortions were performed in 2023. For perspective, around 6 million Jewish people were killed during the Holocaust spanning 1939-1945. Abortion is the holocaust of our time.

Do not buy the rhetoric. This is not a mass of tissue. This is not about a woman's right to choose (no one gets to choose to murder another person). This is not about reproductive rights. This is about the indiscriminate murder of a baby in the womb. The vast, overwhelming majority of abortions have nothing to do with rape, incest, or the life of the mother. However, let me address these three issues.

Rape. There are obviously laws against rape, sexual assault, etc. It is recognized as a moral wrong by nearly every person in our culture. It is a tragedy and an evil. If a child is conceived due to a rape, that child should not be killed. If the mother does not want the child, she should be provided for and an adoption should take place. Murder does not erase rape it compounds it. Emotional manipulation on this issue ceases when we recognize that the baby is a human being created by God even though the circumstances are horrific. Abortions due to rape rank in single percentages among the total abortion numbers.

Incest. Again, there are laws against incest. This too is illegal and immoral. What is consistent is that, if a child comes from an incestuous sexual relationship, it is still a human being created in the image of God. It is life and should be protected rather than killed. Abortions due to incest are less than 1% of the total number of abortions.

Rape and incest account for few abortions, so why all the attention? (usatoday.com)

The life of the mother. In the extremely rare circumstances that the life of the mother and/or child is in danger there can be a difficult ethical dilemma to be made. In these unusual cases families, doctors, and others involved directly have to make hard decisions quickly about who has the greatest chance for survival. These kinds of decisions are not made with the desire to end a pregnancy, but to save a life. No state in the US has laws that prohibit saving the life of the mother (or child) in these kinds of situations. 

My concern over this issue is the single most significant issue for me. Not because I am worried about my life being aborted, but because I am a Christian and must stand up for the innocent who cannot defend themselves. Abortion = murder.

The Democrat party platform in recent years has moved from wanting "safe, legal, and rare" abortions to making abortion the focus of their platform at the party's convention in 2024. Prolife Democrats are extremely rare in federal politics and most state level politics. Some refuse to answer the questions of whether medical care should be given in the case of a failed abortion attempt that results in a live birth. 

Republicans are getting soft on their pro-life stance. With the fall of Roe v Wade, Trump has assessed the political climate and backed up from abolition of abortion in order to appease pro-choice (death) voters. The most significant moral issue of our time cannot pander to death dealers.

Many abortion related amendments and issues will be at the state level. Every Christian should always be prolife in their voting on these issues.

2. Parental Authority & Transgender Issues. The most significant form of child abuse in our culture right now (besides abortion) is the physical alteration and sterilization of children. Pushing an agenda to physically alter children dealing with gender dysphoria is an evil that has far reaching consequences which ultimately impact the tension between parental authority, growing confusion on gender identity, and broken lives decades into the future. 

God created the biological family as the primary agent for nurturing children into adulthood. Government interference is sometimes necessary, but should be avoided if at all possible. The government cannot raise children better than a mother and father in the home. Nor should the government be given authority to interfere in the God-given and biological authority that parents have over their children. There are now states (like California) that have made it illegal for school employees to discuss with parents their child's gender dysphoria or desire to be recognized as a different sex than their biological one.

If a young teenage girl came to me who was dealing with anorexia and insisted that she was fat while her body weight was actually at an unhealthy and dangerous level, it would be abusive to encourage her in her erroneous self perception instead of directing her toward the truth about her body and self. Society's continued affirmation of false gender identities (that do not match biological sex) is not loving, it is abusive.

As a Christian, I believe parental authority should never be usurped by government, schools, or even the church. These different spheres of culture and society are important, but must remain within their respective biblical boundaries.

3. Religious liberty issues. The United States has long been a safe haven and even a promoter of Christian values in the world. This issue was a major player in the American revolution and the reason why so many people fled Europe to come to the Americas in the beginning. Honoring the sincere religious convictions of individuals is paramount to religious liberty (as it has for over two centuries in the US). 

4. Immigration. There is simply no reason that someone cannot be compassionate toward immigrants and expect immigration law to be upheld. In some research I found that no other country in the world receives more legal immigrants than the United States of America. I hope we keep it up! To expect people to go through the process legally is not lacking compassion, but operating from a just and fair place. To be dismissive of illegal immigration is allowing some to circumvent the legal process and "cut in line" those who are taking appropriate steps.

Rhetoric is high and common sense is an ever-increasing commodity. Democrats argue for open boarders and Republicans advocate for walls and throwing everyone out. None of these are feasible. There have been laws in place for decades that are being ignored by some politicians to create a crisis. Politicians need to stop using people in need as political fodder.

5. Marijuana. Libertarians do not understand (or maybe some of them just do not care) about the extent of the danger and harm marijuana brings to our culture. It is a gateway drug. It is harmful; physically, mentally, and spiritually. 

Yes. You can make money off of tax revenue when you legalize it. You can also make money off taxes from prostitution if you legalize that. Revenue off the backs of addicts and broken families is equivalent to blood money. We do not need more vices in our culture that lead to the breakdown of the family, addiction related deaths, or destroyed lives.

6. Profanity. I have previously written on cursing, profanity, and the tongue. In recent years it has become fashionable and acceptable for politicians (of every stripe) to use profane language. This should not be accepted. Please have more dignity for those who are listening and the office you might be elected to when you speak.

I am not suggesting that a candidate not be able to say hard things. We need strong leadership who will be willing to address hard and difficult issues head on. I am tired of wondering what a politician is really saying or where they really stand on an issue. "Niceness" has come to be defined as "never saying anything that offends anyone." That is silly.

But you can be strong, direct, assertive, and never curse. May it be so.

7. 24-Hour News Networks. In order to keep the attention of viewers 24 hours a day they have resorted to click bait, sensationalism, manipulation, and extremely biased journalism (if you can even call it journalism anymore). The last two debates have been fraught with moderators who's biased was so blatant and arrogant that not even Democrats insisted that it was fair. This is unacceptable from professionals who are supposed to moderate and report, not manipulate and distort.

What are some of the things you are watching for this election cycle?

Check out these other articles:

Some Things to Remember After a Political Election

The Demise of the Church Has Been Overstated

I Went to an Abortion Clinic

Signs of a Good Church