The Most Practiced Christianity

If you ever wondered what the most practiced form of Christianity is, I think I know the answer – Imposter Christianity.

It’s the Christianity that claims Jesus while looking nothing like Jesus. It’s the Christianity that insists on inserting itself in places that it shouldn’t. It’s the Christianity that fights over things that don’t matter and have no real impact on people while ignoring the things that actually do impact people’s lives. It’s the Christianity that is far more concerned with imposing a preferred set of morals on others, rather than looking in the mirror and doing any type of self-reflection to see what needs to change in me.

The beauty of Imposter Christianity is that the membership for this religion is pretty wide open. All are welcome so long as you become just like everyone else, or at least give the appearance of change. You’ll need to pass the test though – to make sure you have the “right” beliefs. Don’t worry about doing anything though. Imposter Christianity doesn’t ask anything of you – it just imposes on others and forces all to change.

To some degree we’re all imposter Christians. Or at the very least, we are part-time practitioners. Some of us are more faithful to Imposter Christianity than others.

Why do I think Imposter Christianity is the most practiced form of Christianity? Just look around. We fight over whether we should be saying “Merry Christmas” vs. “Happy Holidays” completely missing the point of the season. We fight over what books can be in libraries rather than how we keep our children safe from being shot. We fight over what bathrooms people can use. We make Jesus a patriotic American or someone who adopts economic theories that didn’t exist when he walked the earth.

Imposter Christianity is pretty wide spread. And it reeks. I hate it when I find it – especially within myself.

I pray that in this season that Imposter Christianity would be thrown away with all the wrapping paper, discarded as useless and seen for what it is: a cheap imitation bought at a junk store which carries no value and should have never been bought in the first place.

My wish for Christmas is that any Imposter Christianity within me would be flushed out of me and in its place let the Holy Spirit transform me to follow Jesus. Replace Imposter Christianity with discipleship, that I might participate in the unfolding of the Kingdom of God in our midst and by doing so, share Good News with others, encounter Jesus, and see how God is renewing the face of the Earth and moving us toward shalom.