In the blog I posted yesterday entitled, “Fake Christianity”, I wasn’t near clear enough on exactly who/what I was referring to. I apologize for the vagueness of my post, because as we all know that if we don’t clearly define the subject we are talking about, all sorts of things can be taken from it and the message can be perceived as something totally opposite of what the writer intended. This is my fault, and I hope that you will continue reading this post in order to get a sharper view of what I was getting at.
When I targeted this branch of “fake Christianity” in my writing, I was not trying to insinuate that the majority of churches conduct themselves in such an anti-Christian way. I do believe we can all, agreeably and peaceably, be on the same page in saying that the many American Christian Churches may be a little too “seeker-friendly” (in the sense they aren’t delivering the full truth of Scripture), or a little off their rocker in their theology; but in most of these places, you will find love, warmth and a sincere welcoming. Sure, they might be a little off…. we’re all a little off. But in most cases within the majority of Churches and among most Church staffs, there is a genuine, real love for God and for people.
My thought process was more along the lines of the “everyday” type of Christianity. We live in a place where it is culturally popular to claim that you are a Christian, and many label themselves as such. Unfortunately, this labeling is the extent of their Christian life. They don’t really and deeply understand the gravity of who Jesus Christ is, who they are in light of a holy God, or the problem of their sinfulness. Bottom line is that they don’t feel the weight of the reality the Bible portrays, and therefore there’s no real impact on their lives by the enormous truth they profess to believe. They claim Christ, even hold to biblical morality as being the “right way”, but because there has been no transformation in their hearts they live a life of selfish ambitions, using other people and manipulation to get themselves further in life and often times express their “moral beliefs” in a derogatory, hateful and Christ-less way toward those who do not claim Christianity… such as gays, muslims, etc.
I wanted to address the issue of this hypocrisy for the sake of those who do not believe in Christ or claim to be Christian…. yet. I want to urge you, the unbeliever, to look past the imperfections and even possibly the bitter hatred of the supposed Christians around you and lift your eyes higher…. to Christ. Go to His Word to see what He’s like, not just to those who claim Him. Because the truth is, even the most sincere, born-again believer will at some point let you down. We all fall short of the glory of God. Christians are not the ultimate representatives of who Christ is….Christ is the ultimate representative of Himself. He has gracefully revealed everything He wants to about Himself to us in His perfect, inspired and preserved written Word.
I hope this brings more light to where my mind was yesterday, and again, I apologize for the ambiguity of the post. Maybe one day I’ll learn to slow down and re-read before I post. 
Matt, I love the second to the last paragraph. It spoke to me so much as a Christian that I am going to repost on my Facebook page. Thank you.
According to Matt, Christ ultimately will guide you on your spiritual path all by Himself without the need for external “Churchs” to assist in the walk. Indeed ‘some’ churches may serve some measure of complimentary spiritual assistance but don’t put your full trust in any church community. Be assured that God’s Grace will guide you in all understanding by studying the Bible all by yourself. And any conclusions or understanding that you may come to learn from the Bible WILL BE Grace-inspired because afterall, you are reading from the Bible (sound Scripture) and guided by Grace (Christ Himself).
All of this sounds appealing but it begs a curious question:
“Umm, didn’t all those ‘other’ christians that Matt just decribed in detail in his recent blog also follow and continue to follow Matt’s prescription for pursuing a life in Christ? That is, reading and understanding the Bible on their own yet it still has resulted in these christians becoming “fake christians” as Matt put it so eloquently.
(I’m not being argumentative but as a gay man looking into the christian community from the outside, it seems so blatantly apparent the brokeness of this logic.)
Mike, In my OPINION I don’t think you logic is unreasonable nor has anything to do with your sexual orientation.Us Catholics have been asking these same questions since Pentecost.
Awesome post. I had been figuring a reply when I read the first part yesterday, but that last paragraph spoke above and beyond what I could have hoped to write.
Matt, thanks for another well done post. I would be hard press not to say: the new moral ‘norms’ and the feminization of Western Culture has many Christians scratching their heads and thinking:.’WTF?!’
@Davide, this is the type of language I was referring to “WTF”. I hate to even write it, because we know what that statement is saying……so you think this type of language is appropriate for a true Christian to be speaking? I don’t thinks so, the Bible says: “Col_4:6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.
Tit_2:8 Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.
In your religion they are pretty free to do whatever they want, ranging from sexual abuse, witchcraft, many practice Buddhism, voodoo, criminal activity (Mafia) and they all still go to church, confession, worship the god they teach, and then go and repeat it all over again. Do you really believe that is pleasing unto a Holy and Righteous God?
Matt, I think you are very close to treading on a fine line of compromise. Your first post upon this subject was right on, this is now going into another direction. I will strongly disagree from a Biblical standing, with your statement as follows:
“I was not trying to insinuate that the majority of churches conduct themselves in such an anti-Christian way. I do believe we can all, agreeably and peaceably, be on the same page in saying that the many American Christian Churches may be a little too “seeker-friendly” (in the sense they aren’t delivering the full truth of Scripture), or a little off their rocker in their theology; but in most of these places, you will find love, warmth and a sincere welcoming. Sure, they might be a little off…. we’re all a little off. But in most cases within the majority of Churches and among most Church staffs, there is a genuine, real love for God and for people.”
This is far from the truth. I’ve been in the Lord for over 30 years, and Matt most of the Churches you are talking about have compromised the truth and are becoming one in the most putrefying fake “unity” that has ever existed within the so-called Christian community. I’ve been involved with every denomination that call themselves Christian, and they are ALL compromising the truth. You must be more specific in stating “WHO” are the groups that are NOT Christian. You may not be realizing that you are taking a “safe” approach to this subject. Truth will offend those not walking in the ways of the Lord, especially when they “think” they are. Most churches that you are talking about do not have the Love of God dwelling within them, and the so-called “love” and “warmth” you are talking about is phony and fleshly.
Most true believers are in fact leaving the established organized systematic churches by the droves…why? They are not being feed through the Spirit of the Lord. Most churches function in an unbiblical manner of tradition, and business like manner. Southern Baptist Convention churches are out of the Lord set pattern, Pentecostal, all charismatic groups, Vineyard, Harvest, All who adhere to the teachings of the “Emerging Church” satanic teachings are not following nor do they know the Lord. ANY converging into a Ecumenical mindset flies in the face of rebellion against the Lord and what His true Body should be standing for! Any Church that becomes one with the ungodly religions of the world, such as the Roman Catholic Church, Presbyterian, Anglican, Episcopalian, Jehovah Witness, Mormons, Seventh Day Adventist, and all that belong to the World Council of Churches are of the Anti-Christ system.
Were you aware that all Bible schools, Colleges, Universities are NOT founded from a Biblical foundation? Anything that is not built upon the Rock, the Doctrine of Jesus Christ is not acceptable to God nor should it be acceptable to the true Born-Again Christian. And all who are truly born or God’s spirit will eventually come to know “HOW” God views all things pertaining to His Perfect Will…….. not mans.
I don’t know who got to you, but it saddens me that you have almost rescinded your last posting.
Cal claims the throne as Jesus leaves the building…to be continued…after the rapture..stay tuned.
cal, don’t play the Jesus card. Shaming me ain’t going to work. Enlightened me Cal from your wealth of anti-Catholic hatred exactly how do us Catholics engage in buddhism, voodoo, and witchcraft? If you want to discuss the homosexual priests abuse scandal we can do so in a open and honest dialog. Myself and others here have listened to your endless rants of self-rightness and acrimoniousness. If your Christ is any thing like you claim He is then I want nothing to do with this Christ. You are offened because I used WTF yet your tongue has been used as a sword of vice, misrepesentations, and just plain nescience. I can’t even visit this blog without first hearing your abhorrence agaist me just because I’m Catholic. News flash I have heard such malice since first coming to America when I was 14. When your head gets crowned with thorns then I will take your hargange with intelligent reason. Every post on this blog you start with your anti-Catholic propaganda…yet not once, not one time have I ever talk down to your faith. But whatever dude
Davide, I’m not shaming you, you informed me you never use foul language, so I pointed it out, that’s not shaming, I only did what you asked. The blame goes to you. Secondly, I don’t hate you because you are a Catholic, I don’t accept you as a brother in Christ, because you are not. That’s not hate, that’s truth. You believe what you want to believe, that is your choice, just don’t try and accuse me of something like hating you, because that is not true. I have not started every post with anti-Catholic propaganda, again you’re not being truthful, that’s dishonest.
Now I have known Catholics who practice Buddhism, and witchcraft, personal experience speaks for itself. I only speak the truth.
You are so keen on presenting everything in proper context, I think you should be practicing it. Don’t you?
cal-wtf is not cursing at best its PG. Yes i know you don’t believe i am a Christian. Like i even care. Your not that important to me. Okay your friends who were Catholic who practice those things what exactly what were they doing? First you said it was the Church that did these thing then you claimed it was Catholic friends. What next? Confused much. OK I get you and some others here are anti-Catholic bigots but you don’t have to be so obivious. Whatever going to bed..later dude
Matt, I got what you were saying with your first post and I think your second is a very good followup. You just keep on listening to the heart of God. You’re doing fine!
Matt, I agree with, sappi60.
You just keep on listening to your own reasoning, your own thoughts, your own perception of sound judgment; you keep on trusting in your own understanding of the Bible, your own approach to scripture, your own mind and logic for your reason IS governed by GRACE., Therefore you are NOT suceptible to delusion.. Afterall, YOU could NEVER be like ALL the hundreds of thousands of deluded christians that you committed an entire blog writting about. No! Not you! YOU are the vessel of the Holy Spirit. YOU are SAVED not those “fake Christians”. May you and I continue to be the embodiment of God’s GRACE and may YOU and I continue to expose how so many thousands of “fake” christians around us are not as BLESSED as us. Delusion? No, not us, for we ARE right because we ARE special enough to know the key to unlocking the wisdom of ancient scriptures. Thousands of people and thousands of christian denominations around the world spanning over a multitude of generations have been getting it wrong all along but a southern boy from the United States in the year 2012 miraculously knows that HE is NOT wrong. A new modern day John the Baptist! Praise God
Now, let’s get back to wagging our heads at them “fake christians” shall we?….
@Mike
I think you have raised many legitimate questions. I can only speak from a Catholic perspective and I am sure some of the commentators will object to my words.
However, my intentions are not to offend the blogger I am here as a guest. But Matthew does seems to allow open and free dialog so I will write my Catholic perspective.
From my Catholic perspective I see the world is facing a profound crises of faith and Christianity is in grave danger and risks oblivion.
So what can I do?
One thing I can do is reflect why I am Catholic. By God’s grace I was born into a large (eleven siblings) devoutly Catholic family… was baptized, received my first Holy Communion, and was Confirmed..I have been Catholic educated my entire life… sent out to the world as a young 18 year-old man.
In the world I found self-indulgence, escape, materialism, greed, thrill seeking, lust, rebellion, relativism and chaos. Needless to say I have not fully immerse myself into “contemporary” culture.
As a university student I saw secularism stretched out before me as far as I could see. My mind was wide open to new ways of looking at things and the world around me, even though I was attended Mass every Sunday but only occasionally went to confession…simply going through the Catholic motions….
I then started looking into “Eastern thought” but found them too speculative and intelligently immature regardless of my initial fascination.
I then looked into Protestantism some of these writers had a impact on me and am grateful to them. Yet there was no firm footing….something was missing.
Where were the sacraments? Where was the Eucharist?
That’s when I started again reading books by Catholics…and they blew my mind! It was elegant and tight reasoning. It offered profound explanations of human experience and compelling forceful reasons for Christian faith.
I also found reading Holy Scripture enjoyable and only hastened my Catholic faith. After all, the New Testament writers were of one faith and writing for the early Church.
When Our good and loving Savior asked the Apostles if they also wanted to leave Him, blessed Saint Peter responded, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” -John 6:68. Saint Peter’s response has great meaning for me today because it represents one the chief reasons why I am Catholic.
Where am I to go?
I am Catholic because I believe truth is genuine and that the fullness of truth, especially as it relates to the human person is only found in the Catholic Church the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ-the Bride of Christ.
I see these absolute truths reaching beyond space and time. It is reaching toward an infinite perfection of order, unity, goodness, and beauty. In it’s fullest and absolute sense, truth is the Triune God; our beginning, and our ultimate end.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is not returning to the world for a harem of “churches.” There is only One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church and it was founded by Christ Himself and charged by Him to St. Peter-the Rock, and the other blessed Apostles.
However, there are now and always has been those groups that attempt to rend Christ from His Church – this intention is to recreate that which God gave us, the Universal Church, founded upon the faith of the holy Apostles and the early Church fathers.
There are simply certain questions that are never asked concerning the Christian faith, because those questions are outside the deeply rooted assumptions that support protestantism.
Amongst those questions are ones concerning Christ and His true Church.
Protestants may wonder how does one discern whether they are called to start a church? but rarely ask by what biblical AUTHORITY does one start a church?
Again, a distinction can be seen in asking what kind of church should we start?…
…and in the Catholic mind of what type of Church did Christ intend to start? To Catholics the answer is obvious-clear as crystal.
Asking biblical questions regarding Christ and His intention for His Spouse, the Church is the beginning of wisdom in discerning how God intended His charity and His salvation to be communicated to the world.
Western culture is collapsing because Christianity is weakening because many profess with their lips but live opposite of what they claim to believe.
It’s easy to claim to be a Christian much harder to live it in a secularized and pagan society where everything goes.
Us Christians keep looking for the anti-Christ to appear but it’s been here for sometime promoting sin: vulgar movies, pornography, abortion, moronic television shows, modern war, mass secularized media, LGBT pressure groups, many public schools, secular governments, obsessions, same-sex “marriages”, materialism, contraceptions, high divorce rates and break-up of families, the feminization of western culture, etc.
As Christians it’s up to us to look deeper into our faith; what we believe and why..then judge OURSELVES to measure where we’re at in our relationship to God and then do something about it–if we measure up poorly.
We could start with penance and prayer…then forgiving others, charity, sacrifice and self-denial.
Believing “Jesus is Lord” (even Satan knows Jesus is Lord God) is NEVER enough to be saved this is a mistake of ‘fundamental’ Protestantism…a dangerous one that has lead much of Christianity into lukewarmness and the acceptance of sin as appropriate.
If we are called to suffer because of self-denial then we shall suffer. Suffering can be redemptive and for some reason many of us Christians seem to have forgotten this.
Matthew Moore is trying to live a life of self-denial so how about going a little easy on him, ay?
Everyday Mike I try to thank God for two things: 1. My strong family. 2. Most importantly I thank the Holy Spirit for my Catholic faith.
Yikes!!! I type way too much…sorry about that Matt.
Thanks Mike!
See you,
Francesco Davide
I love Matt even though his logic is a little tipsy. I like Davide cuz he is a bit of an arrogant ass (sometimes). And I think Matt would agree with me on the following: Davide! Your picture is sooooo cute. Gha! If only you were gay (*sigh*) That’s my gayness coming out; back to reality…
Anyway, God bless us all!
@ Mike…ah ewww…sorry that is my homophobic side coming out…okay amico see you-be well. Ciao
@Davide
‘Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it!’ :p
You are correct Matt, we all do fall short. If we are able to be real and open with all those around us, especially the unbeliever, I feel that it will be a great instrument in leading others to Jesus Christ.
sorry mike wasn’t ‘born gay’ how about you dropping the dude and find yousrelf a nice pretty lady.
@Davide: Jackass!
(hmf!….but then again, that’s why I like you so much)
Wow Matt, your post totally went over some peoples head! SMH. Some people just don’t WANT to hear what your’e sayin’! Don’t let it discourage you bro’. God is pleased with you, and He’s proud.
I think another way to speak what your saying is that MANY (majority?) who claim christianity in our country – are not surrendered. they are not mature. we are mostly infants.
check out the article in Christianity Today from this month — “The Juvenilization of Christianity”. very interesting!! <3