Christianity – Can You Spot the Fake?

We’ve all seen them – pirated DVDs, fake Rolex watches and Oakley sunglasses, even counterfeit paintings and bank notes. Some of us have bought these fakes knowingly; others may have been fooled into thinking they got the real thing at a bargain. Unsurprisingly, the manufacturers of top quality, expensive goods are not pleased when they see the counterfeits. They have worked hard to make their brand well known, and will sometimes go to great lengths to ensure that their goods are of the highest quality, and that their customers are satisfied. The counterfeiters then use the good name of quality products to sell cheap knock-offs to unsuspecting buyers. When the knock-off doesn’t deliver the same experience that the real thing does, then the customer may be put off from buying that brand again.

Let’s say you have bought a fake Rolex watch, thinking that it was a real one. It breaks after one month of use. Does that mean that there are no real Rolex watches? Does it mean that Rolex is a bad brand, and that all Rolexes will break after a month of use? Does the fact that someone has made a fake Rolex mean that real Rolexes are valueless and not worth buying? I trust that your response to all of the above questions was a resounding “No! Of course not!” Particularly for the last question, surely the fact that such things as fake Rolex watches exist actually shows that real Rolexes are valuable, high quality watches. No one bothers to fake cheap Chinese brands, or make counterfeit Zimbabwe dollars – these things have so little value anyway, so what’s the point?

This is a weird way to start an article about Christianity, I know, but bear with me. Let’s replace the “fake Rolex watch” above with fake Christianity. Say you or people you know have bought into a religion that comes with the label “Christian”. It even has all the right terminology, so it appears to be legit. You buy into it, but pretty soon it breaks. Despite your identity as “Christian”, or that of your friends, family, or acquaintances, this religion doesn’t seem to work very well. The people you know that are “Christian” behave in extremely un-Christian ways – they are hypocritical, self-absorbed, and unloving. If you are the one who has the “Christian” label, you soon realise that you are just like everyone else – your life is the same as it always was, and you have no idea if you will make it to heaven.

As is the case with counterfeit goods, pirated Christianity is very common. Every second person seems to be peddling it. In some towns there are five times as many types of churches as there are schools. Just about everyone I know has a “Christian” friend or relative who has cheated, used, and even abused them in some way. Many “Christians” seem to have the same lack of answers about life as unbelievers do – they live without hope, cannot cope with life in general, and have to use all of the world’s methods to deal with their problems. For them, the label “Christian” is just that – a label on a life that has nothing to do with Christ. They have never actually met Him, never known His love or power to change them, never relied on Him for their needs.

This is a sad state of affairs, no doubt. But even more worrying is that people use greater discernment and common sense when dealing with counterfeit goods than when it comes to the things that really matter. Many who have experienced fake Christianity, either for themselves or in the lives of others, now seem to think that there is no real thing, that Christianity itself is bad or valueless. Somehow, people have come to judge the makers of Rolex and other quality brands more fairly than they do Christ, who died for them. 

How could anyone be expected to know the difference between real and fake Christianity? If God allowed fake Christianity to proliferate, then should I not be absolved of trying to find the “real deal”? Perhaps these and other questions have just entered your mind. There are plenty of ways to find fake Christianity rather than the real thing: some are born and raised being told that they are “Christians” by default; others live in a “Christian” country, which by extension means that that is their identity, too; still others have gone looking for Christ, only to fall for a fake version of Him. What is most amazing is how many people apply greater discernment to buying watches and sunglasses than to answering questions of eternal importance.

As any producer of quality products would tell you, the final responsibility for buying a fake must lie with the consumer. You don’t usually pick up a genuine article on the street, or pay next to nothing for something made of top quality materials. A trained eye can spot a counterfeit from a mile away, just by knowing what real quality looks like. It is certainly not the producer’s fault that their potential customers are gullible, or that they are unwilling to pay the price for quality. As with counterfeit goods, there are simple, intuitive ways to discover whether or not the variety of Christianity you have found is real. In this article, I will look at some of the most intuitive ways to spot a fake from the real thing – ways that we use all the time when judging everyday goods, but are somehow not employed when judging matters of eternal importance.

The first thing that should tip you off to a fake is the price. More often than not, you get what you pay for, so why should it be a surprise when the “Rolex” you bought for a pittance turns out to be a fake? In the same way, real Christianity comes at a price, whereas the fake version is going cheap. What could possibly be cheaper than being born into a religion? All you had to “do” was have the good fortune of coming from the right family. Your parents took you to be christened before you even knew how to talk, and a few short years thereafter you were ‘confirmed’ as a Christian. How easy is that? The other ever so slightly more expensive version is sold by seeker-friendly churches, which literally fall over themselves to make your spur-of-the-moment decision to become a Christian as easy as one, two, three.

In contrast, the real thing is expensive. When people were clamouring to follow Jesus, He didn’t hide the cost of becoming His disciple. He even warns potential followers to find out the cost of coming to Him before they commit: “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it?” (Luke 14:28) At the end of the passage, He gives the bottom line: “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:33; emphasis mine). Jesus’ gives us an invoice in these and other passages, to make sure that we know what real Christianity costs: your earthly goods, all your personal relationships (including your closest relatives, Matt. 10:34-39), even your life. “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matt. 10:39). His “sales pitch” seems to be the very opposite of that which current “Christianity” peddlers use today, doesn’t it?

There is a reason why genuine, quality goods are expensive, and that should be evident to every sharp-eyed buyer. Expensive goods are made out of rare, precious materials. A quality watch, for example, may have a crystal face, with plates of gold and diamond studs built in to the body. The fake version replaces the crystal with plastic, the ‘gold’ is just aluminium with a touch of paint, and the ‘diamonds’ are pieces of glass.

In the same way, the true Christian life involves rare, precious things that are not often found in the world. Self-sacrificial love, unconditional forgiveness, kindness, patience, self-control, and godly wisdom, amongst other things (see 2 Peter 1:5-8) are the materials of true Christianity. These are the gold, silver, and precious stones that should be present in the life of a Christian (1 Cor. 3:12). In some Christians, you may not find many of these precious materials, but if their faith is true, some of these things should be in their lives, and they should be increasing. Furthermore, a true Christian should desire to have these things more than anything the world can offer. If you carry the label “Christian”, then look into your own heart and answer this question: do I long to build my life and character with the rare and precious materials of the Bible more than I long to have earthly riches, a good reputation, or a great career? In short, what is your faith made of?

Another easy-to-spot issue with fake goods is that they are breakable. They do not last longer than a few months. The fake Oakley sunglasses will probably break on the second or third use. Fake goods simply cannot endure the same level of use for the same length of time that the real ones can. The first time you drop it, it breaks. Even if you look after it and use it correctly, it somehow stops working before it reaches its expected lifespan. In contrast, many high-quality goods come with a lifetime guarantee, because their makers are so sure that they will endure the test of time.

The Christian life, as described in the Bible, is meant to be durable in two different ways. In this life, we are told to run with endurance the race that is set before us (Heb. 12:1); and to endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ (2 Tim. 2:3). The Christian walk is described as a fight or a long race (2 Tim. 4:6-8); it does not collapse at the first sign of trouble. Jesus describes how a quick ‘convert’ loses their way, as their newfound faith is shown to be fake:

When they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble. (Mark 4:16-19).

The second aspect of durability for true Christianity is that it is eternal. We do not base our faith in temporal things. Those who belong to Christ are citizens of heaven. As a result, the Christian has little faith in the stock market, or the latest political leader, or the ‘goodness’ of humanity. We have no confidence in ourselves, either. Our faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ, who has gone before us to prepare a place where we will be with him forever (John 14:1-3). Christians should be immovable. Not because they are stubborn, ignorant of the current times, or they don’t give any thought to the future. Christians are immovable because their anchor is grounded in the love of God, they understand that this world will pass away, and when they look into the future they see eternity with Christ.

The manufacturers of top-notch goods know that their customers want something more than just the product. You don’t need a Rolex just to tell the time. People who buy these things want something that the Rolex can offer that cheap watches cannot – exclusivity. Not many people can afford high-end products, so by buying one and wearing it you are joining an exclusive group of wealthy people with good taste (at least, that’s how you see it). Perhaps this is the greatest problem with cheap knock-offs – they reduce the exclusivity of the genuine product.

Contrary to what the current culture would have us believe, the claims of Christ are exclusive: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6; emphasis mine). “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matt. 7:13-14; emphasis mine). One does not simply stumble upon Christ, or accidentally become a child of God. As with knock-off goods, the lack of exclusivity of fake Christianity is the gravest threat to the real thing.

Today’s “Christian” preachers do everything they can to play down the exclusive, narrow claims of Christ. “Anyone will get to heaven, really,” “God loves you no matter what,” or “There are many routes to God, we are just on the Christian one” are common themes that run through fake Christianity. The reason this is such a great threat is that it lulls people that carry the fake “Christian” label into a false sense of security. They believe they are on their way to heaven, but they do not even know the Lord. Jesus warns us in advance of the final result of such a delusion:

Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (Matt. 7:22-23).

Finally, as I alluded to earlier, genuine high-quality products come with a guarantee. The manufacturer is willing to bet that you will be satisfied with their product well into the future. You are unlikely to get a long guarantee from someone selling the cheap equivalent of that product – they are certainly not willing to bet that their product will last! Indeed, some street vendors peddling knock-offs will be mysteriously hard to find when you go back a few weeks later to demand your money back for a defective product.

In the same, but infinitely more wonderful, way, God gives His true children a guarantee. The simple fact that He is God, Who cannot lie, should give us enough confidence to believe in His promises (Heb. 6:17-18). However, He knows that we battle to put our trust in anyone or anything. We live in a broken world, we have experienced broken promises, and have misplaced our trust often enough to be wary of any deal that seems too good to be true. So He goes above and beyond to provide a guarantee of our salvation. When we come to Him in the sincerity of our hearts, and repent from all that we have done against Him, He gives us a guarantee – Himself.

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. (Eph. 1:13-14).

This is an intensely personal process, so only the individual and the Lord really know what happens in that moment. As you give yourself to the Lord, He comes to dwell in your heart as the Holy Spirit. That moment is what ultimately separates true from fake Christianity. This is the moment that Christ will use when judging between those who know Him and those who do not. Have you come to know the Lord? Have you experienced this moment for yourself? No one can answer these questions for you, but you will know for certain if the answer is yes. The Holy Spirit doesn’t sneak into your heart via a back door whilst you’re not watching. He comes in only when you fling open the front door and welcome Him in, and you will know when that happens!

Let me ask you the same questions I asked about the Rolex watch in the beginning of this article. Let’s say you have seen fake Christianity all around you, yet you thought it was the real thing. This “Christianity” is really cheap and easy to get into, just like joining a club or a band; some people are even born into it. The people who use the “Christian” label do not have any rare or precious characteristics; rather, they seem to be as shallow and self-absorbed as anyone else. This faith seems to be fickle and breakable; at the first sign of trouble your “Christian” acquaintances seem to throw off all pretence of being righteous and holy, or good and kind. Finally, it seems to you that “Christianity” is just one of many possible paths to God, whoever anyone may define Him to be. The “Christians” you know appear to be no better off than Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, or Atheists.

Do all of these things mean that there is no real Christianity, that there is no true way to find God? Does it mean that Jesus Christ came to die for nothing, and that all faith in God will break at the first sign of trouble? Does the fact that there are many “Christians” that have nothing to do with Christ mean that real Christianity is valueless and not worth investigating for yourself? Are you really going to let fake Christianity, which is ultimately spawned by Satan, prevent you from finding God? My sincere hope is that your response to all of the above questions was a resounding “No! Of course not!” The fact that there are so many fakes must mean that the real thing is highly valuable. Seek, and you shall find.