Opinion : Pastor's Blog - “The Marks of Authentic Christianity”

In the last article, I posed a question that I think a lot of people are asking:, “What is Christianity?” And the most likely reason they’re asking the question is because they’re confused- confused by the wide diversity of lifestyles, commitments, interests, philosophies, decisions, and ‘religious’ activities of the many ‘Christians’ they know.

So instead of exploring differing opinions and denominational labels and the host of popular ideas, we looked to the Scriptures themselves because, after all, Christianity is an idea that originated with God, not us. I gave five (out of ten) defining characteristics of Christianity. Real Christianity is: 1)...not by works but by faith. 2)... not by a thin intellectual knowledge of Jesus Christ but by daily trust in Him as Savior. 3)...not by religion, but by a relationship with God. 4)...not ‘fire insurance’ but real repentance. 5)...not ceremonial but spiritual.

Here are three more characteristics that biblically define what Christianity is.

Real Christianity is:

6...not coerced but motivated by desire and delight. Some people say the reason they dislike Christians so much is that they’re so pushy- always bugging them to do this or that, or guilting them to give this or that. Real Christianity is energized by the joy that comes from knowing God personally, not by guilt-trips or emotional manipulation. God made us to delight in Him, and His work is accomplished by persons who don’t fulfill their ‘Christian duty’ as mere obligation, but rather out of love for God and the joy they receive when they willingly submit to and obey His Word. King David of Israel said this, “You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever” Psalm 16:11. David didn’t have to be coerced or convinced that God was good; no, his life’s motivation was love for God that was motivated by delight.

Real Christianity is:

7...not self-centered but others oriented. Jesus didn’t just come to make my life rich, easy, or even self-satisfying. It seems that our purpose for our human life revolves not around ourselves, but others. In fact, the two greatest commands God gave us are not self-oriented but other-oriented. The first is, you must “love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind,” and the second is, you must “Love your neighbor as yourself” Matthew 22:37, 39. Don’t let anyone deceive you that Jesus is a means to a better life. God will often suppress our happiness and joy until we realize that the reason we exist is not to consume our time and resources upon ourselves but upon Him and others. So, the best joy-stealer is ‘me’; and the best joy-bringer is ‘others’, and ultimately God Himself.

Real Christianity is:

8...not judgmentalism that looks down on sinners, but shows others mercy. This may be one of the chief objections to Christians these days- that they’re always judging the sins and faults of others. People judge one another, not because it’s a Christian ethic, but because it makes them feel better when they put others down. And there’s two problems with that way of thinking: 1)...we are all equally sinful and wicked in God’s eyes (and therefore have no cause for judging anyone), and 2), it’s steeped in pride- thinking of ourselves as better than we really are. The Christian ethic is not judging the sin of others but showing and demonstrating the mercy of God. This is best showed by how easily we forgive others. If we easily forgive others when they sin against us, it shows that we understand God’s mercy. But if we refuse to forgive others [and judge them instead], it shows we do not understand the mercy of God and that we don’t know Him. Jesus says it best: “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins” Matthew 6:14-15. And He said this too: “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others.* The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged” Matthew 7:1-2. Of course, there is a kind of healthy ‘judging’ or ‘critiquing’ that should exist between Christians and Christians alone, but that’s another topic...

So there’s a few more ‘marks’ or defining characteristics of authentic Christianity. We’ll look at the remaining ones another time, Lord willing.

written by Zach Zajicek pastor of First Baptist Church

all verses quoted from the NLT of the Scriptures