Not Your Garden Variety Christian

On real-deal believers:

We now have plenty of men claiming to be women. Simply claiming to be someone or something does not make it so. In the same way, there are plenty of people who think they are Christians. But again, thinking or claiming to be something does not automatically make it to be the case.

Let me explain. Simply put, a genuine Christian will show evidence of his or her faith in two major areas: orthopraxy and orthodoxy. That is, their life and practice will bear evidence of their commitment to Christ, and their beliefs and doctrines will also bear evidence of that. Both are needed.

We should be living a life that honours God and shows a change of heart and attitude. Instead of just going with the flow and running with sin and self, the real believer will want to please God in all things, bring him glory, and turn from sin to holiness.

And we should be clear on the importance of maintaining and promoting biblical teachings. Christianity is not some airy-fairy feeling but is truth-based and doctrine-rich faith. We need to affirm what Scripture clearly teaches and reject what it rejects.

As such, just being a cultural Christian or a nominal Christian or second-hand Christian (‘I was born in a Christian home’) does not cut it. A believer will show by his life and by his beliefs that he is a new person in Christ. Sure, some folks who claim to be Christians may only show half of these marks of the true believer.

That is, some might have all the ‘right’ head-knowledge: they have lots of theology and good doctrine, but they are still living like the devil. But some can seem to be all rather nice, smile a lot, and appear to be fairly decent folks, but they have no grasp of basic Christian teachings, nor do they care about them.

Cults are a clear example of the later. Cultists can often seem like decent, upright people. They might not smoke or drink alcohol or even partake in tea and coffee and the like. But they believe in that which is clearly heretical: eg., denying the triune God or rejecting the deity of Christ, and so on.

So the genuine Christian will show by his life and by his beliefs whether or not he is truly part of God’s family. And it can be hard to tell at times, which is why we must also recognise that while folks can fool others, they cannot fool God. He knows those who are truly his.

Case in point

Let me speak to this on a personal level. I have mentioned before on these pages that in my twice-a-day dog walks, I try to pray for all my neighbours whose houses I pass by. I know at least half of them by name, and sometimes I have chats with some of these folks. One couple had even invited me to join them for Christmas lunch five months ago, knowing that I lived alone.

In my walks I ask God to bring salvation to those households that are not yet Christian. I pray that God will allow me opportunities to share some biblical truth with them. I have been aware of at least three of the families being Christian, so I pray for them as well that they grow in Christ.

Given this background to my walks and prayers, I had a neat experience just recently. One neighbour was doing their lawn, and since they are right next door, she also tidied up my front lawn and sidewalk. I thanked her for that and said I quite appreciated it.

Good neighbours will often do this: extend the lawn mowing out front to each neighbour on either side. Then the other person will return the favour. It is a nice practice to get involved in, and some communities still run with this reciprocal arrangement.

Anyway, as I was chatting with this gal, we saw some dressed up folks walking around the area. I thought they might be going to a party or someone nearby. But this gal said something like this: ‘No, they are part of a cult. I am a Christian, and they are going door to door trying to proselytise others.’

That was the first time I learned that she (and therefore presumably her husband and kids) was a Christian. So I said I was a Christian too. And I mentioned something about when such people come to my door, I immediately make it clear that as a biblical Christian I cannot buy their dodgy beliefs, and that I will pray for them instead.

So this was a triple blessing: not only did my front lawn look really nice because of her kind lawn work; not only did I discover that this neighbour is also a Christian (that’s four nearby households now that I am aware of!); but I also found a Christian who is not just your typical garden-variety type.

That is, she was not biblically and theological illiterate. She knew that doctrine matters. What you believe or do not believe has eternal consequences. Too many who say they are Christians have no clue here, and they are not even aware that such things as Christian cults do exist, leading many people astray.

So here we had this terrific neighbour not only demonstrating in practice her Christianity but making clear she is aware of basic Christian truth claims. She had both orthopraxis and orthodoxy. She knew that not everyone who claims to be a Christian actually is one. That sort of basic biblical discernment is becoming rare in too many church circles today.

So I am still quite thrilled with that recent encounter. I have never been really overly sociable in nature, but now that I am on my own, and feeling more and more the need to pray for and seek conversation with others – certainly with my neighbours – I actually look forward to chatting with others.

It was so good to make this discovery about this neighbour. I still pray for this family, but now I can pray for them in terms of their Christian journey. Some neighbours I have still not officially met yet, and do not know their names. But I am encouraged that having brief chats with others over a simple thing like a dog walk can result in some good opportunities.

I encourage you to do something similar. You may not have dogs to walk, but simply taking prayer walks in your neighbourhood is a good practice to get into. Take time out to pray for your neighbours and ask God for opportunities to chat with them.

It took some years before I even knew this gal was a believer, and it may take more time to learn where others are at. But simply keeping them in regular prayer is a good place to start. You do not have to be a Billy Graham before you can intercede for your neighbours and seek to evangelise them. And some of them might end up surprising you in terms of their own faith.

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