How to Spot a Real Christian

It’s quite natural for our interests to change over time. As we grow up, we discover new things and lose interest in others. We make new friends who introduce us to a new hobby or sport. I used to be an avid cyclist, but age, arthritis, and a few broken bones made me look elsewhere. Now? I rarely think about cycling. I’m also thankful some things changed. I found on YouTube a kids show I watched growing up: the Banana Splits. My dad must have questioned my IQ when he’d walk through the den and see me watching that on Saturday morning. Yeah, I grew out of that.

One change grieves me. It’s when I hear someone has changed his interest and belief in Jesus. He has walked away from faith. He no longer calls himself a Christian. Maybe he’s lost faith … or experienced doubts or a crisis of belief … or just decided this “Jesus thing” was just a phase.

“How could he walk away? He loved Jesus so much! He talked about Jesus. He prayed so eloquently. You just knew he was a Christian!”

Was he?

“Yes, he was! He walked the walk and talked the talk!”

Did he?

Jesus said, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matt. 15:8).

We put a lot of stock in “praying a prayer” and “asking Jesus into your heart.” That’s a great starting point but is that enough? I hold strongly to faith alone in Christ alone. In other words, I do nothing to earn my salvation, but I place my faith and trust solely in Christ. Yet I think there is an element we often overlook. We hear someone pray to ask Jesus into his heart and we conclude, “Yea! He’s now a Christian!” What we’re overlooking is the role of perseverance.

It’s easy to like Jesus and pronounce faith in Him at youth camp or when life is great. But what happens when life gets hard? Sometimes people place their faith in faith or in their own idea of Jesus, but when they hit a roadblock that “faith” can falter. What then?

I was once a marathon runner. I decided one day I would run the 26.2 miles and be a marathon runner. I bought a pair of really good running shoes. I learned how to stretch. I paid the entrance fee and got a number to pin to my cool running shirt. On the day of the marathon, I started with all the other runners in their equally good running shoes, but I only ran two miles. Stomach cramps. Leg cramps. THIS IS HARD. So, I detoured by the Krispy Kreme and soon forgot about the marathon.

That is a totally fictitious story (here’s my idea on how to run a marathon), but I hope you see my point. Just calling myself a marathon runner doesn’t make me a marathon runner; I must persevere.

So how do you distinguish a real, legitimate follower of Christ from someone who makes the claim but walks away? Perseverance.

Only a few people have walked as closely to Jesus as Judas did. He was one of the chosen—the twelve! He wasn’t just a silent observer. Jesus sent him to do mission work (Mark 6:7-13). Judas preached. He cast out demons. He healed. But it never took internally, and in the end, when Jesus wasn’t being the kind of Messiah he expected, Judas walked away. Judas looked and acted the part of a disciple, but he wasn’t. Even when Jesus announced one of them would betray him, no one looked at Judas. He seemed to fit right in. But his true heart came out in the end. He didn’t persevere.

My life has truly been transformed by the love of Christ and the indwelling presence of His Holy Spirit. Why would I ever think of walking away? It’s not always easy, but I choose to follow no matter what. That is true for those who truly trust and have a relationship with Jesus. Those who have been transformed by the saving work of Christ will persevere and not walk away.

Let me close by inviting you to ponder this passage. Note the connection between faith, endurance, and hope.

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:1-5).

My faith and hope are in Christ who loves me. There is no way I’m walking away from that!

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