Posers

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."

— Matthew 7:21

 

Did you know it is possible to pray, be baptized, keep the Ten Commandments, go to church, and not necessarily be a Christian? A Christian should do those things, but doing them in and of themselves does not mean you are a Christian.

Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven" (Matthew 7:21).

There are posers in the church. They sit next to us. They sing the same songs. They pray the same prayers. They know the Christian lingo. They come off like they are Christians, but they really are not.

Whenever something good comes along, you can be certain there will be imitations. And the devil is an imitator. Jesus told a story known as the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares about a farmer who planted a crop of wheat. During the night, his enemy came along and planted tares, or weeds, among the wheat. But it was not until the plants broke ground that it became apparent there were weeds among the wheat. Worse yet, the weeds actually uprooted the wheat.

Jesus said that is how it will be leading up to the time of His return. There will be the genuine next to the imitation. There will be the real next to the fake. A fake Christian is not a struggling Christian, because every Christian struggles. Every Christian has times when they fall short. A fake Christian is a poser, a pretender. It is someone who is putting on a performance. They conduct themselves one way sitting in church, but another way altogether in their day-to-day living.

If you are a real Christian, it will be demonstrated in the way that you live.

When to Stay Silent

"Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces."

— Matthew 7:6

 

Years ago, we went snorkeling in Hawaii with one of the local guys who knew the water really well. We were cruising along when we came to a net, and inside the net was a shark. The shark wasn't moving, so we all got really close to get a better look at it. Then our guide proceeded to pull out his knife and start cutting the net to let the shark out. All of a sudden, the shark came back to life. If people could have walked on water-better yet, run on water-we would have done it right there. The animal was turning on the very one who was saving him.

That is how some people are. You try to help them, and they turn on you. It the whole idea Jesus was speaking of when He said, "Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces" (Matthew 7:6).

For He Is Good

Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

— Hebrews 13:15

 

We can praise God in good times and we can praise God in bad times. And I don't know that we will fully understand what is good or bad for us on this side of heaven. When we are younger, we think certain things are good, such as success, while other things are bad, such as hardship.

But as we go through life, after awhile we look back and realize that success actually can be bad for some, while hardship actually can be good for others. So we begin to look at things differently. And sometimes the things we thought were really good things turn out to be bad things. On the other hand, the things we thought were bad things actually turn out to be really good things.

Be Narrow-Minded

"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."

— Matthew 7:13–14

 

If you are worried about fitting in and being cool and being culturally acceptable, you will have a hard time being a follower of Christ, because it means taking a narrow road. Jesus said, "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" (Matthew 7:13-14).

There are two gates and two ways we can take in life: the narrow or the broad. And when we read, "Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life," it means we are to be-in a strict sense-narrow-minded.

Wear Your Helmet!

Paul tells us we are to take "the helmet of salvation" (Ephesians 6:17).

The two most sought-after and vulnerable targets on the ancient battlefield were the heart and the head. With our heart and other vital organs ably protected by the breastplate of righteousness, the enemy will try to strike the head. One well-placed blow to the head and the battle is over.

What does it mean to wear the helmet of salvation?

It would seem to me that the apostle is telling us to watch our thoughts in general. Most temptation comes through the gateway of the mind and imagination.

This is why Paul tells us, "But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:3 NIV).

When those "flaming arrows" of ungodly thoughts come, we need to have our guard up.

Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:5–6: