More Teens Becoming ‘Fake’ Christians?

Kenda Creasy Dean is a minister and a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary. She has also authored a new book with a catchy and rather sobering title - "Almost Christian”. Her main premise is that many parents and pastors today are unwittingly passing on a self-serving and "mutant" form of Christianity, one she terms as "moralistic therapeutic deism." Dean states, “It's a watered-down faith that portrays God as a "divine therapist" whose chief goal is to boost people's self-esteem.”

The National Study of Youth and Religion included in-depth interviews with 3,300 American teenagers between ages 13 and 17. It included everything from Catholics to Protestants of both conservative and liberal denominations. It revealed that most American teens that called themselves Christian were indifferent and inarticulate about their faith and can't talk coherently even about their core beliefs.

Also, a great number of those surveyed seemed to practice the “gospel of niceness” – a basic belief that God simply wanted them to feel good, do good and not ruffle any feathers. This, too, misses the mark since the Bible clearly teaches that the cross of Christ is an offense to those who resist its claims and demands. A casual reading of Hebrews chapter eleven will show that radical and outspoken Christianity may well ‘ruffle feathers’ sometimes to unimaginably horrendous levels. 2 Timothy 3:11-12 substantiates the serious truth seen there by stating, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”

The ‘watering down’ of the solid and biblically-based gospel message has been a subject of concern and debate for several decades now. Many in the pulpits of America have traded the full message of personal faith in Christ for one that centers more on personal relationships with others. Their reasons vary. But the evidence is clear that this style puts more people in the pews.

For some, that is priority one. The Scriptures are about a relationship, but one that keys primarily on the union between God and man and not mainly the one between man and man.

The fact that a large percentage of teens don’t, or can’t, articulate the basic facts of the faith likely means that some have perhaps not really entered the family of God through faith. If Christianity means only what is mentioned above, that may also mean that they have no grasp on true salvation and how it changes a life from the inside out. This flies in the face of 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 where Paul the Apostle writes, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” There should be serious and noticeable changes to those who have been indwelled by God’s Spirit through the new birth!

Then a few verses later Paul adds the prime directive and responsibility for all who have become new creatures in Christ. Verse 20 begins, “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:20-21)

Also, 1 Peter 3:15 reveals the need to be able to share the clear facts and outward hope of one’s personal faith. “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” Those who cannot at all articulate their faith have a problem. At best, they are ineffective in impacting and influencing a spiritually needy and lost world. At worst, they may themselves be in desperate need and a part of that lost world.

It is beyond obvious that the church and spiritually-grounded Christian parents have their work cut out for them. Many precious children seem to be falling through the church cracks and in danger of becoming so-called “Fake Christians”. Many seem to remain confused about the core facts of true biblical salvation - not to mention the terrible possibility that they do not even possess it. Nothing is more critical than addressing this eternal issue while time remains.

As Dean’s book title reads, “Almost Christian” is simply not good enough. That position may actually be a harder place from which to spiritually correct and reach those who reside there. But it is clear that there is no ‘almost’ when it comes to true redemption in Christ – a fact clearly pointed out by the inspired words of 1 John 5:11-13.“

"And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.”

Bill Breckenridge