Then Barnabas went to Antioch to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch.For a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught a great number of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
Acts 11:25-26 NIVUK
Then Agrippa said to Paul, ‘Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?’ Paul replied, ‘Short time or long – I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.’
Acts 26:28-29 NIVUK
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.
1 Peter 4:12-16 NIVUK
The story of art forgerer Tom Keating is quite amusing. In the 1950s, angered and frustrated by his own lack of success as an artist and embittered by the art world's heartless exploitation of great artists, he thought he could get his revenge by faking paintings by those great artists.
It worked, for a while. He created more than two thousand paintings that were sold for huge amounts of money and ended up in the hands of private collectors, who were convinced they were real and not forgeries.
His crime didn't continue forever. He was arrested and put on trial, but his trial was halted in 1979 due to poor health, while his partner and female accomplice was jailed.
Ironically, having spent so much time making forgeries of other people's work, forgeries of Tom Keating's own paintings are now on sale,and selling for thousands of pounds each.
People these days will fake just about anything for cash. The fake calls and text messages we all receive are examples of this. We live in times where consciences are quickly paid off when there is money to be made.
Although we should all be upset and angered when gullible people are tricked, there is a much more heinous crime taking place that has conned tens of millions of people, and it's still happening.
Christianity is being faked.
People are claiming to be Christians for various reasons - usually for money, power or prestige - even though the slightest examination of their lifestyle and beliefs will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are not.
Normally we wouldn't care what people believe themselves to be. People can pay their money and go to ComicCon and other cosplay events and play at being any fictional character they choose - we let them have a good time because it has no effect on our lives at all.
And these days, there are those who believe we should allow everyone to claim to be whoever they want and accept whatever they ask for. A man could believe he is an uncooked fruitcake and they say we should open the oven door to him. A woman can believe she is a worm, and we should show her the way to our flower bed.
(Although, interestingly, if you turn up an airport without a ticket and claim to be a first class passenger, you won't be allowed on the plane.)
But if there is one thing we cannot allow, ever, under any circumstances, it's for someone to claim they are a Christian when the evidence of their life points in completely the opposite direction.
Too many people have done it and caused too much damage for us to tolerate this anymore.
Why?
Because it's one thing to cavort around a hall dressed in make-up and a super hero costume, or to play 'let's pretend' with your mother or father's wardrobe, but it is completely another to claim you are a follower of Jesus Christ when you know next to nothing about Him and find His teachings to be a little absurd.
You can call yourself whatever you want - an alien from the planet Zog, if you wish - but do not, ever, take the name of Christ and drag it through the mud by living your life in ways that do not honour Him.
Enough damage has been done by those who claim to believe in a Gospel of Love, but will shoot you dead in an instant, without a shred of remorse, if you dare disagree with them.
Enough damage has been done by those who preach a Gospel of freedom, yet lock people up worse than animals for the crime of simply being born in the wrong country.
Enough damage has been done by those who preach a Gospel of redemptive grace, and yet are right-wing chauvanists who tolerate no-one but their own kind.
Enough damage has been done by those who claim to worship God, yet bow down to their bank balance every night, genuflect to their stocks and shares and crush the poor into the dust for a dollar more.
Enough damage has been done by those who claim to be something they never were and have no intentions of being.
And to that, we say, 'Enough! It ends here!'
It's because of them that we see these words:
As it is written: ‘God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.’
Romans 2:24 NIVUK
‘And all day long my name is constantly blasphemed.
Isaiah 52:5 NIVUK
And what does it mean for God's name to be blasphemed?
It means for it to be treated with contempt, for people to speak badly of it, to devalue it and to degrade it.
A shiver will shoot down the spine of any true Christian reading these words. They will care for God's Name and His glory. If there is one thing they could not stand to happen it's that God's Name would be treated with contempt.
And yet that's exactly what happens when people claim to be Christians, but are not.
As if the toleration of cruel dictators and financial chicanery and terrible abuses of previous generations were not enough, now we see false apostles raising their heads and thoroughly confusing the masses.
Young people especially are leaving so-called 'Evangelical' churches in the States in their droves because of fakes and charlatans and tricksters who care more about power and politics and the 'almighty dollar' than they do about Jesus Christ.
And that has to stop. Someone has to call 'Time!' on this before any more lives are lost. The bleeding must end.
That's why Paul wrote these words to the Corinthian church:
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realise that Christ Jesus is in you – unless, of course, you fail the test?
2 Corinthians 13:5 NIVUK
https://bible.com/bible/113/2co.13.5.NIVUK
There are organisations - great, uptight organisations, who sit down and dictate the definitions of things. They define the parameters of what a chocolate bar is, what makes a yoghurt a yoghurt, how much fruit there needs to be in a drink to make it a juice. And although none of us would want their job, what they do is very valuable. They prevent us from being ripped off.
I don't want you to be spiritually ripped off. I want you to see what a true Christian is. I want you to see what the standards are. And I want you to measure us: every last one of us. If we don't meet the standards, then don't listen to a word we say.
But if we meet them, if our message has credibility, then you need to listen and you need to join us.
If you keep reading this study, then I hope you do it with this understanding in mind.
So let's look at the first standard of a Christian: EVERY CHRISTIAN IS A SINNER.
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