When Church Members Wear Disguises
We can be thankful that science and medicine have gotten good at fighting disease, but there is one parasite that is particularly pesky and hard to catch—for good reason. It’s a parasite called Entamoeba histolytica that infects 50 million people each year. Typically, this amoeba causes nothing worse than diarrhea, but—SPOILER ALERT! THIS IS GROSS—sometimes it can be severe, even fatal, by chewing ulcers in the colon, liquefying parts of the liver, and invading the lungs and brains. (I told you it was gross.) *
God created your white blood cells to recognize and kill anything from the outside. For example, when you get the sniffles, your white blood cells kick into gear and start attacking the cold virus. It may take a few days, but those white blood cells will have you breathing clearly again.
But those same diligent white blood cells ignore E. histolytica, and scientists finally figured out why. E. histolytica take bites out of human cells and ingest the cell fragments. By ingesting parts of human cells, the amoebae grab proteins from the outer membranes of human cells and place them on their own outer surface. In other words, the amoebae kill human cells and cover themselves with the cell’s outer layer. The immune system sees this outer layer and the thinks, “Oh, this cell is one of us,” and moves on. The white blood cell is confused by a costume! [Source]
Wearing a costume—a deceptive outer layer—is not limited to certain amoebae and kids on Halloween. Unfortunately, it also happens in the church. Scattered among the faithful, committed followers of Christ are people who look the part, but that is all it is: a look. They can say the right things, give money, be nice people, and even do some good things, but …
“This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matt. 15:8).
The Bible has repeated cautions about guarding against false teachers in the church—those who teach things contrary to God’s Word (or add things to Scripture)—but we should keep in mind that false believers can be sitting in the pew next to us.
This is not a call to scrutinize, critique, or judge everyone at church! If you critique anyone, critique yourself! As Paul said, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves” (2 Cor. 12:5). When it comes to others, our role is to encourage them to examine themselves … keep the unadulterated truth of God’s Word before them … encourage them to lay aside the things of the world and follow Christ wholeheartedly. One thing Jesus said has always challenged me in this.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven’” (Matt. 7:21).
An amoeba can dress up like a part of the body, but that doesn’t make it a part of the body. And a person can “dress up” like a part of the body of Christ, but that doesn’t make it a part of the body. What does make a person a part of the body?
- A recognition of sin and a heart of repentance before God.
- Humble surrender before Christ and trusting Him for forgiveness.
- Embracing the new life in Christ with a joyful acceptance of His lordship.
In recent weeks, a single word keeps popping up in my study: perseverance. A mark of a true believer is perseverance. Perseverance in following Jesus regardless of my circumstances, and perseverance in my obedience to His Word.
“Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves” (2 Cor. 12:5).
*To ease any fear, Entamoeba histolytica is found in developing countries with poor water sanitation. Your tap water is probably fine.
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Banner photo by Braydon Anderson on Unsplash
