6. They focus almost entirely on Christian action to the exclusion of belief.
Someone recently told me that people in his denomination don’t value apologetics (why there’s good reason to believe Christianity is true- 1 Peter 3:15) because their apologetics are in their actions. This attitude, effectively, is what you see with many popular Christian authors today, even when they say nothing about apologetics specifically. For them, Christianity is all about what you do in the world; it’s no longer about believing in Jesus as Lord and coming to a saving knowledge of Him (Romans 10:9). This kind of Christianity is hardly different than secular humanism. It just comes with a fond but relatively mild appreciation for Jesus on top…like a candied cherry on a sundae of good works that can easily be removed.
The Bible is clear that belief matters…in an eternally significant way. Orthodoxy (Galatians) and Orthopraxy (James) are interconnected; (it's creeds and deeds not one or the other). We are justified by grace through faith alone and believers are called to walk each day in faith. True faith works itself out in Spirit-filled deeds of love and obedience (Eph. 2:8-10).
7. They use the word “faith” to mean some kind of unbounded belief system about God.
One bestselling Christian author shared the following quote on social media recently: “Faith is not a belief. Faith is what is left when your beliefs have all been blown to hell.” This, sadly, was met with thousands of likes, loves, and shares. It’s also a biblically inaccurate definition of faith (Hebrews 11:1-6).
The Bible does not present faith as blind belief. The Bible repeatedly shows that faith in Christ is reasonable and is based in objective truths about God, man, sin, eternity, etc.
Biblical faith is not the broken pieces that remain when you’ve lost a bunch of other beliefs, as this quote suggests. Any time you see an author promoting an inaccurate idea of faith, it should be a warning flag. In this case, the author is well known for writing books about her struggles with the Bible. It’s not surprising at all that she would share such a quote.
8. They regularly encourage you to “be true to yourself.”
If you frequently hear from an author that you need to be true to yourself, you can bet they’re on shaky theological ground. As my 9-year-old daughter said when I asked if she thought people should be true to themselves, “You shouldn’t always be true to yourself, because if you want to be a murderer that would be really wrong.” #basiclogic
Simply put, this kind of “pull yourself up by the bootstraps” secular wisdom is just that…secular. It’s not very inspirational to be more true to yourself. As Christians, we should be inspired to be less like our sinful nature and more like Jesus.
9. They treat judging others as the ultimate sin.
For many people today, the ultimate sin is judging another. Jesus doesn’t tell us not to judge…He tells us not to hypocritically judge and to judge with right judgment (e.g., John 7:24). Friends, we have to be discerning! Discerning between truth and non-truth doesn’t mean you are spiritually condemning a person, as people so often believe. Only God knows the human heart, and we are surely not called to determine whether someone else is saved. But we sure can and should address what the Bible says about right belief and right action. If you’re following someone who says things like, “Don’t stick around if want to judge others!” “Our job isn’t to judge, it’s to love!” or “This is a judgment-free zone!” steer clear. It likely means something very different than you think.
Jesus does not condemn judging. He does condemn hypocritical judgments. Do not quote or apply Matthew 7:1 without the full context of Matthew 7:2-5. If you still are not convinced of this point read Matthew 18:15-17, Galatians 6:1, and 1 Corinthians 5:1-14 (where a local church is rebuked for NOT judging-note. verses 13-14)
10. They make claims about what it means to love others without addressing what it means to love God.
When we follow the greatest commandment—to love God—it informs what it means to follow the second commandment—to love others. It’s not up to us to define the word. There are many authors (who identify themselves as Christians) today who champion unbiblical ideas of what it means to love others, and it’s rooted in ignorance of the commandment to first love God. I saw one such author this week say that Christians are unloving (note 1 Cor. 13:6) for being opposed to abortion, for example. But when we first love God, and understand that we are made in His image and every human therefore has extraordinary value, we simply can’t conclude that loving others means allowing them to take the life of another human, no matter the circumstance.
Be vigilant. Test everything. And hold fast to what is good and true (1 Thess. 5:21)."
10. They make claims about what it means to love others without addressing what it means to love God.
When we follow the greatest commandment—to love God—it informs what it means to follow the second commandment—to love others. It’s not up to us to define the word. There are many authors (who identify themselves as Christians) today who champion unbiblical ideas of what it means to love others, and it’s rooted in ignorance of the commandment to first love God. I saw one such author this week say that Christians are unloving (note 1 Cor. 13:6) for being opposed to abortion, for example. But when we first love God, and understand that we are made in His image and every human therefore has extraordinary value, we simply can’t conclude that loving others means allowing them to take the life of another human, no matter the circumstance.
Be vigilant. Test everything. And hold fast to what is good and true (1 Thess. 5:21)."
Article written by Natasha Crain. This part 2 of a two-part blog series. Click here to read part one.
