Who are Fake Christians, and how do they fool us?

Some people pretend to be true Christians, but they are not.  Some know they are faking, while others mistakenly think their un-surrendered life fits on an alleged (false) spectrum of Christian faith.  They claim going to church on occasion and having a general belief in God counts as Christian faith on the low end of their imaginary spectrum.  These people don’t realize that only those who surrender their whole life to Christ will inherit eternal life, but they rarely if ever read the Bible.  If they did read Scripture, they would see countless places where the Lord warned against this façade of Christian faith, such as the parable of the wheat and tares in Matt. 13:24-30. An enemy planted tares which looked like wheat, but it was really a poisonous weed. Fake Christians can spring up in the church like those tares.

Look at Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matt. 25:1-13.) Especially look at verses 11b & 12, “They said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us.’ But he replied, ‘truly, I don’t know you.’”

Then look at Matt. 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say, ‘Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name and do many deeds of power in your name?’ and I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me you evil doers.’” Jesus warned against this fake Christianity, and in both cases, he said he did not know the faker.  People who do not surrender their hearts to Christ, claim they know God. But God does not know them, because they never surrendered to him.  They lack an intimate relationship with him, just like people who claim they “know” a famous person, but that celebrity does not know the fan.

These people want the look of “religiosity,” without giving their lives to Christ.  Luke 20:46-47 describes these fakers in Jesus’ day, “Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the market place and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.  They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers.  These men will be punished most severely.” Fake Christians are people who want to sin but want to look good as if sinless. Like the white washed tombs to whom Jesus compared these teachers of Law (Matt. 23:27-28), they only look good on the outside but are corrupt on the inside.

How do fake Christians fool some Christians?  Some fake Christians, like Judas look good for a short time.  Judas only kept his fake ministry up for approximately three years before his frustrated greed caused him to betray Jesus.  If pushed, fake Christians will begin to reveal their true, unrepentant heart.  But if they find a way to live in a compromised life, they will go on for a long time.  Judas was forced to admit his frustration with Jesus, when Jesus said Mary was right for anointing him, lavishing a fortune on him, in preparation for his burial. At that point, Judas’s desire for Jesus to overthrow Rome clashed with Jesus’ desire to suffer in humility, according to God’s plan as revealed in Scripture (which Judas did not want to agree with.) Judas could no longer give fake service to Jesus, because he was forced to face Jesus’ true intent, and this clashed with Judas’s fleshly desires.

When forced to admit what they believe, fake Christians can no longer hide their true intentions.  The ex-husband of my past kept his lack of true Christian faith secret from me until he realized I refused to submit to that pagan life.  When he was pressed to live a true Christian life, he finally admitted he did not believe in God the way I do.

Other fraudsters may try to cling to their lack of Christian faith, even after they have betrayed people (whether divorcing an innocent spouse, or cheating on a business partner, or stabbing a friend in the back, or doing other cruel things.)  These fakers will try to make the true Christian look like the villain, so the faker can keep up his (or her) charade and stay in good graces of a church or other community of Christians.

It is especially sad when a powerful and evil faker maligns a true Christian and the Christian community believes the liar.  When I was sexually harassed at the Christian organization where I once worked, one of the men who harassed us was told to apologize.  He said, “I am sorry you misconstrued my good intentions towards you.” Then I was told to accept this man’s fake apology and reconcile. This man had touched me and many other women in places where only our future husbands should touch.  But this leader expected us to accept that as an apology and even chastised us when we said the harasser was insincere.  Later the higher ranking leader of that organization did apologize to me and promised that organization would better protect its women, but only after I used legal proceedings to force them to look more closely at what was happening to the many women there who were too afraid to speak up.

The fakers prey on new believers and weak Christians who are needy for love.  The disciples fell for Judas’s tricks, because the disciples only knew Jesus for three years during Judas’s time of deceit.  They did not yet have the Holy Spirit living in their hearts either.

Some Christians are weakened by growing up in a legalistic home where the law or even man-made traditions are upheld over a relationship with Jesus.  These Christians may have stumbled into a true, living relationship with Christ but they do not understand the difference between legalistic doctrine and the living faith they have.  This was true for me.  I was even taught there are two kinds of Christians, “assenting” and “confessing” Christians.  Those who get called “assenters” will not readily speak of the Lord, ever. Just to get them to speak of the Lord, they will have to be asked, “Do you believe the Bible says Jesus died for your sins,” and they will agree from their logical head without any living faith.  The so called “confessors,” actually love Jesus and don’t even need to be asked about the Lord, because they joyfully speak of him often.

I grew up believing this false idea of two kinds of Christians.  This is why I accepted many fake Christians into my life.  Some fake Christians also misapplied the verse James 2:18, “But someone will say, ‘You have faith. I have deeds.’  Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds,” and they tricked me by claiming they had done works for God.  Some of these people did a few outward acts, and I accepted these as fruits of living faith. I foolishly forgot how often Judas performed works that looked like ministry but were not acts of faith.  I did not remember that people who called “Lord, Lord” and also did outward shows of service, had never surrendered their souls to Christ.  The Heavenly Father had told them he never knew them.  Jesus can only “know” us (as the Heavenly Father used that term) if we surrender our whole heart to him.  Matt.10:38 says, “If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine.” A true Christian does whatever God calls her to do, even when it hurts. Even if she rebels at times, she will always repent and return to the Lord.

False teaching easily predisposes true Christians to be deceived by fake Christians.  Sadly, some Christians believe God expects them to honor anyone who taught them what they mistake for true doctrine (whether their parents, church or an organization.)  Those who teach these lies will demand their followers not question them or their lack of faith.  This is also why I followed that false teaching for so long.

Because gals (and guys) raised in such legalistic homes and churches are often starved for love, these misguided Christians also choose wolves in sheep’s clothing.  The deceivers can more readily fool these gals, because they want to be loved and want to honor God.  The fake Christian uses both of these tools against the true Christian.  I mentioned some of those ploys in my post, “Why and How Deceivers Shame Us.”   The true Christian wants to please God and actually believes she must believe this fake Christian.

Some fake Christians are not as malicious as the fakers who want to use and hurt true believers. Some fake Christians simply don’t read the Bible and assume they are good enough without surrendering to Jesus.  These fakers may truly think they are saved. They may cause far less harm, but eventually true Christians will also sense something is wrong in those fakers’ claim of faith.  It is especially painful to admit that a beloved friend, family member or spouse is not a true believer. The true Christian may cling to the lie that the one she loves is a fellow believer, because she thinks admitting this loved one is not a believer constitutes betrayal or unjust judgment of that unbeliever.  Often the unbeliever him or herself will accuse a true believer of judging, if the faker’s faith is called into question. This has happened to me when I questioned some unbelievers at different times over the years.  Yet the bitter root of unrepentant sin has shown up, over and over, in the lives of the people I questioned.  Seeing these people live in selfishness, hurting others without remorse, lying and committing other sins has shown me what is really in their hearts.

We must not accept the angry demands to accept the fake faith of these deceivers.  We must privately pray for their salvation, since we cannot argue these frauds into Christ’s kingdom.  And at times, we may need to detach from these people, if they continually hurt us, even if they claim our Christian faith demands we do what they say. Our Christian faith demands we do what God says.

There is another group who are deceived by fake Christians: other fake Christians.  Some people are gentle and do not use others.  They are deceived and think they are Christians, but they have not surrendered their souls to Christ.  But they have a moral sense of right and wrong and try to live a good life.  But lacking the power of the Holy Spirit, these gentle people get fooled by fake Christians with bad intentions.  Yet these gentle, fake Christians can come to full repentance in the Lord and become true believers.  Then over time they may be heart-broken by many people they trusted who used the name of Christ but never surrendered to him.  Those fakers used the gentle fake Christians, and it may be hard for these gentle souls to forgive the fakers. They may even blame God.  But Numbers 23: 19a says, “God is not a man that he should lie.”  God is not the one who deceived or harmed this person, but the harsh, fake Christian.  They need to learn that humans are to blame, even humans who use the name of Christ but do not actually live by the life of Christ.  True Christians will repent of the wrong they do and also make restitution to those they have truly harmed—but not restitution to those who are angry the true Christian did not bend to their selfish whims. 

I have not explained all the ways fake Christians deceive true believers, but I pray I have shared enough so you can better understand how this happens and encourage your friends (especially the younger friends and loved ones) who may be prone to falling for the lies of the fake Christians.  God does not want us to be deceived “And Jesus told them, ‘Do not let anyone deceive you,’” Matt. 24:4.  In many places God warns us to be careful about what we accept, whether from religious teachers or from those who claim to be our friends. Matt. 7:15 – 20, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, and every bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”  God calls us to judge the fruits of people’s actions.  When their lives bear mostly bad fruit, we can confirm these people do not truly love the Lord, and we can be cautious around them (and pray for their salvation.)

I pray we have blessed you this week with this heavy post.  At times I pursue difficult subjects so I can warn you and also reassure you.  God loves you and does not want any fakers to deceive or hurt you.  God is totally good, and he will never harm you.  Have a blessed week! Thanks for joining us in this post.

**If you are still unsure about some possible fake Christians, here are some verses that talk about our need to count the cost to become a Christian:

Matt.6:24, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and money.”

Luke 14:26-27, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sister, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.  Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

Mark 8:34b-36, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”

1 John 2:15-17, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.