Seven Types of "Christians"

Culled from The Naked Church by Wayne Jacobsen

Pretend Christians only go through the motions of religion for the benefits of being thought a Christian. It might please a spouse, help them make business contacts, or give their children a religious heritage, but they are not interested in growing closer to God or obeying His will.

Cultural Christians think that they inherit Christianity from previous generations. These people love chaplains in legislatures, “Now-I-lay-me-down-to-sleep” prayers, and invocations at graduations. Cultural Christians produce the kind of headlines we see coming out of Ireland: “Catholics Kill Four More Protestant In Belfast.”

God gets more bad press from Pretend and Cultural Christians than from any other variety. They are hypocrites of the worst order, exploiting Christianity for their own gain. The next four varieties are less maliciously inclined, but that still doesn’t negate the emptiness they feel or the damage they can cause.

Fire-Insurance Christians scare easily, and though thoughts of hell may drive them to “accept Christ,” they are always trying to find minimal salvation—just enough to qualify for heaven. Their favorite question upon hearing what God wants of them is “Do I have to in order to still be saved?”

Creedal Christians find salvation by agreeing with a prescribed list of truths. Our evangelistic strategies, or lack of them, have produced more of these than any other. The Four Spiritual Laws are the epitome of Christianity by creed. They forget that good theology isn’t enough: it’s how much of it we allow to shape our lives that is important. As James 2 points out, even demons can affirm correct theology: “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.”

Good-hearted Christians seem so loving, kind, and generous that even though they don’t get “too religious” everyone assigns them believer status. They do little harm to Christianity itself, since they often demonstrate more kindness than the others, but they endanger themselves by finding false security in their perceived goodness rather than in surrendering to Jesus.

Ethical Christians try to find salvation by living a morally impeccable life, and outwardly they appear that way. Yet when this is produced by their own strength of will, it yields very little of Christ’s compassionate character. These people are usually happy only when demanding of others the same ethic that makes their own life so miserable.

These last four may indeed be better-intentioned than the first two, but they are equally as misguided. All of them seek to answer the legal question of escaping the flames of hell, but do not fulfill the purpose of salvation, which is to restore our fellowship with God. 

We may see a wide variety of so called Christians, but the Bible recognizes only one kind—disciples. Disciples are those people whose hearts burn with an unquenchable hunger for God, desiring to know him better every day. They are not perfect, but they love him and continue to draw near him to learn how to trust Him more and be changed into His likeness.

There are lots of people like this (you probably even know some), but regretfully they are often typed as exceptions. In actuality, they are model normal Christianity—walking in a real relationship with the living God.

Hymn: It pays to serve Jesus

It pays to serve Jesus, I speak from my heart,
He'll always be with us, if we do our part,
There's naught in this wide world can pleasure afford;
There's peace and contentment in serving the Lord.

Chorus:
I'll love Him far better than in days of yore,
I'll serve Him more truly than ever before,
I'll do as He bids me whatever the cost,
I'll be a good soldier, I'll die at my post.

And oft when I'm tempted to turn from the track,
I think of my Savior, my mind wanders back
To the place where there nailed Him on Calvary's tree.
I heard a voice saying, "I suffered for thee."

[Chorus]

A place I remember where I was set free,
T'was where I found pardon, a heaven for me;
There Jesus spoke sweetly to my soul,
My sins are forgiven, He made my heart whole.

[Chorus]

How rich is the blessing the world cannot give,
I'm satisfied fully for Jesus to live;
Though friends may forsake me and trial arise,
I am trusting Jesus, His love never dies.

[Chorus]

There is no one like Jesus can cheer me today,
His love and His kindness can ne'er fade away;
In winter and summer, In sunshine and rain,
His love and affection are always the same.

[Chorus]

Will you have this blessing that Jesus bestows,
A free full salvation from sin's bitter throes?
O come to the Savior, to Calvary flee,
The fountain is opened, is flowing for thee.

[Chorus]

Loving Jesus More Than Anything

Written by Kenneth W. Hagin

"So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, 'Lovest thou more than these?' He saith unto him, 'Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee...'" (John 21:15). 

This incident between Jesus and Peter occurred right before Jesus ascended to Heaven to sit down at the right hand of God the Father. This was Jesus' last recorded dialogue with Peter who would later become a leader of the Early Church. 

There is a strong message contained in Jesus' dialogue with Peter. Each one of us can benefit from asking ourselves the same question that Jesus asked Peter: "...lovest thou me more than these?" 

What did Jesus mean when He said "more than these"? He could have meant, "Peter, do you love Me more than you love your friends, your family, or the other disciples?" Or Jesus could have meant, "Do you love Me more than you love these boats, these fishing nets, and this profession and lifestyle?" 

You see, Peter had gone back to fishing for fish rather than for men. He and the other disciples had been out all night fishing, and they hadn't caught anything. So Jesus could have meant, "Do you love Me enough to give up all this so you can follow Me and preach the gospel?" 

"Lovest thou Me?" That's a very searching question, friend. I want to ask you the same question. Do you love Jesus? I'm sure you would immediately answer, "Oh, yes, of course I love Jesus!" 

But when you ask yourself that question, then ask yourself, "What are the 'more than these' in my life?" The secret of service to the Lord Jesus Christ lies in the answer to the question, "Do you love Jesus more than anything else in the world?" 

No matter how much you know, how much you do, how much you talk, or how much you work to show that you have a great belief in God - if you don't love Jesus with all your heart, all your works don't count for a thing. 

I believe if we really love Jesus, we will follow Him with all of our heart. If we really love Jesus, we will want to be like Him. And if we want to be like Him, that will change the way we think, speak, and act. It will change what we do and where we go. 

If we love Jesus, then we must remember that Jesus is the One who told us, "Follow Me." We can't follow our own opinions, plans, and desires and still faithfully follow Jesus. 

It's our responsibility as believers to follow Jesus wherever He may lead us. If we love Jesus, we will say to Him, "Jesus, I'll go wherever You want me to go. I'll say whatever You want me to say. And I'll do whatever You want me to do." 

If Jesus Christ Himself looked you in the eyes and asked you, "Lovest thou Me more than these?" what would be your answer? Do you love Jesus more than anything else in the world? Jesus gave His life because of His great love for you. Can you do any less than love Him "more than these"?

Desperate Prayer

Written by Leonard Ravenhill

God makes all His best people in loneliness. Do you know what the secret of praying is? Praying in secret. "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door..." (Matt. 6:6). You can't show off when the door's shut and nobody's there. You can't display your gifts. You can impress others, but you can't impress God.

I Samuel 1:1-15 gives an account of the yearly trip Elkanah and his wife, Hannah, made to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the Lord. During this time, Hannah had been distressed that she was not able to bear a son for her husband. This passage of Scripture gives quite a descriptive account of her time in prayer concerning the barrenness of her womb. It says that Hannah wept. More than this, she wept until she was sore. She poured out her soul before the Lord. Her heart was grieving; she was bitter of soul, provoked, and of a sorrowful spirit.

Now that's a pretty good list of afflictions - sorrow, hardship, and everything else that came upon this woman. But the key to the whole situation is that she was a praying woman. In verse 20 it says that she reaped her reward. "And it came about in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, 'Because I have asked him of the Lord.'"

Now I say very often - and people don't like it - that God doesn't answer prayer. He answers desperate prayer! Your prayer life denotes how much you depend on your own ability, and how much you really believe in your heart when you sing, "Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling...." The more self- confidence you have, the less you pray. The less self-confidence you have, the more you have to pray.

What does the Scripture say? It says that God takes the lowly, the things that are not. Paul says in I Corinthians 1:28 that God takes the things that are not to bring to nothing the things that are, so that no flesh should glory in His presence. We need a bunch of "are nots" today.