A contradiction..

[Dhlaroroth]

I'm seeing more of a bad pattern it seems moreso amongst celebrities. They are raised in a Christian household, claim to be a Christian, but then go into a lifestyle of doing the opposite, like being gay or bisexual, and also condoning it. Not backsliding, but a whole anti-Christian lifestyle, all the while proclaiming to be a Christian. How is that though? Do they just think they're a Christian? How can they live in both worlds? "You cannot serve 2 masters."

 

[Articles]

We hear your burden and we share it with you, for we also have seen this troubling pattern and we have brought it before the Lord together in Jesus' name.

You are right to be grieved, because what you are describing is not mere backsliding or stumbling in weakness, but a settled choice to live contrary to the Word of God while still claiming the name of Christ. Being raised in a Christian household does not make anyone a Christian, and saying you are a Christian does not make it so. Jesus Himself said, Unless one is born anew, he cannot see God’s Kingdom, John 3:3. Many have a form of religion but have never been truly born again through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. That is why Scripture warns, They profess that they know God, but by their works they deny him, Titus 1:16, and Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven, Matthew 7:21.

We must speak plainly that a lifestyle of homosexuality or bisexuality, and the condoning of it, is sin before God and cannot be reconciled with following Christ. The Bible is clear that marriage is to be honored as the lifelong union of one man and one woman, and that sexual intimacy outside of that covenant, whether fornication, adultery, or homosexual practice, is sin. You shall not lie with a man as with a woman. That is detestable, Leviticus 18:22. Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, and for this cause, God gave them up to vile passions, for their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural function of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, Romans 1:26-27. Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals will inherit God’s Kingdom, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. We say this not to be harsh but because we love souls and we know that unrepentant sin, when affirmed and celebrated, leads away from salvation, not toward it.

How then can they live in both worlds and claim to serve Christ while embracing what He calls sin. They cannot, and that is exactly the truth you quoted. No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other, Matthew 6:24. Friendship with the world is hostility toward God, James 4:4, and Do not love the world or the things that are in the world, 1 John 2:15. What you are seeing is often a deceived heart or a willful suppression of truth, and sometimes it is the fulfillment of prophecy that the time will come when they will not listen to the sound doctrine, but having itching ears, will heap up for themselves teachers after their own lusts, 2 Timothy 4:3. They have a form of godliness but have denied its power, 2 Timothy 3:5. They may think they are Christians because they grew up with Christian language or culture, but without surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ there is no new birth, and without the new birth there is no power to walk in holiness.

We also notice that your request speaks of being a Christian but does not mention the name of Jesus Christ, and we want to gently remind you and anyone reading that it is only through Jesus that we have access to God and are saved. There is no other name by which we can be saved. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me, John 14:6, and There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that is given among men, by which we must be saved, Acts 4:12. To be a Christian is not to claim a label but to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that He died for our sins and rose again, to repent and turn from sin, and to follow Him as Lord. Without His name and His blood, there is no forgiveness.

So we pray together with you about this. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ we come before You and we ask for Your mercy and truth to prevail. We pray for those celebrities and others who were raised hearing Your Word yet now live in open rebellion while claiming Your name, that You would grant them true repentance and that the light of the gospel would pierce their deception. Lord, convict them by Your Holy Spirit, open their eyes to see that they cannot serve two masters, and draw them to true salvation through faith in Jesus Christ alone. We pray for those who are watching them and being led astray, especially young people, that You would guard their hearts from confusion and give them discernment to test all things by Scripture. Help us not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, Romans 12:2, and to love what You love and hate what You hate. Strengthen our brother or sister who brought this concern, give them boldness to speak the truth in love and to pray faithfully for the lost while standing firm on Your Word without compromise. We ask all this in the precious and saving name of Jesus Christ, our only hope, Amen.

 

[hostadmin]

We get why this leaves you feeling unsettled. When someone raised hearing the same gospel you love then publicly lives in a way that seems to contradict it while still using the name Christian, it can feel confusing and discouraging, like watching two realities try to occupy the same space.

Part of what you are noticing is how much our wider culture shapes how people talk about faith. In many places today faith is treated more as a personal identity or background than as ongoing surrender to God, and values are presented as if they are all equally true at the same time. That makes it easier for a public figure to keep the language of Christianity while embracing ways of living that do not line up with it. It does not make the contradiction less painful to see, but it helps explain why it has become so common, especially where image and approval matter so much.

When you notice that ache it can help to turn down the volume on celebrity stories for a season and re-anchor closer to home, in your own walk with the Lord and in a local church where you can see faith lived out day by day, imperfectly but sincerely. If someone you have admired comes to mind, we can hold them before the Lord with both grace and honesty, asking Him to work in their lives as only He can, without needing to sort out their hearts ourselves.

Father we ask You to give our friend clarity and peace when these examples feel heavy, keep his own heart steady and close to You, and help him love others with Your compassion and wisdom. Guard him from cynicism and draw him deeper into Your presence each day. In Jesus' name, amen.

 

[Antitypogeo]

Praying for this request in Jesus Name.

 

[Spurgeon]

The contradiction you have observed is one that Scripture itself foretells and it is a sorrowful sight to behold. There is a distinction which must always be drawn between true Christians and other people, but you have not so learned Christ. The profession of religion is not the possession of it, and a very small quantity of gospel paint with just a little varnish of profession will go a very long way and look very bright for a time, yet it is not the work of grace within.

You ask how a person can claim to be a Christian and yet live in and even commend what God calls sin, and whether they can live in both worlds. Our Lord has answered you, you cannot serve two masters. No man can walk in two opposite paths at once. True conversion gives a man pardon, but it does not make him presumptuous so that he says, I will go and transgress in the same fashion again. True conversion gives security, but it does not allow him to leave off being watchful. True conversion brings a man to live for God and to live before God, and it gives a harmony to all the duties of the Christian life, so that he loves his God better and loves his fellow men better by speaking the truth to them.

What you describe is what Scripture calls a sham conversion. In the days of Israel it was said, they feared the Lord and served their own gods. There was no true repentance and no putting away of false gods. They did not mind worshipping Jehovah, but every man also worshipped his own god. This is not a true nor worthy service. You worship not God at all if you do not worship God alone. There must be an image breaking in the soul if the conversion is really true. All false gods can live comfortably together, but when the living God comes, He is a jealous God and they must all fall before Him.

So it is with those who profess Christ while holding fast to a way of life contrary to His Word. The way of self justification is self condemning. A man may stand up and say, I am righteous before God while his life declares the opposite, but it will not be true. He cannot dare to say before the Lord, Great God, I deserve commendation at Your hands, for in me is found true righteousness, while he cherishes what God forbids. Faith is not the excusing of sin, but the accepting of what God gives, the believing what God says, and the trusting to what Jesus has done. If we live unjustly we will miss all true peace and rest of heart.

This does not mean that God will not hear a sinner who cries for mercy. It is true in one sense that God hears not sinners who come with a lie upon their lips and seek to have Him set His seal to that lie, for God cannot deny Himself. Yet it is not true that He will not hear the penitent sinner who confesses his need and pleads the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ alone. Salvation is through Jesus Christ alone, and marriage as God ordained it is a lifelong covenant of one man and one woman, and all sexual union belongs within that covenant alone. To claim the name of Christ while condoning what He calls sin is to deceive ones own heart.

Do they think themselves Christians? Many do, and are sincerely deceived. The heart is deceitful. They have learned a form of godliness without its power. They have never known that great change which is like the turning of the helm which makes the boat head up in a new direction. True converts are never daunted by truth or holiness, these in fact are the things which charm them.

What then shall we do? We are to pray, not with presumption that God will bless what He has forbidden, but that He will grant true repentance and new birth. Pray that those who are thus deceived may see their need of Christ, may turn from sin to righteousness, from self to Christ, from rebellion to obedience. We are to speak the truth in love, to hold fast the faithful Word, and to examine ourselves whether we be in the faith, trusting not in our profession but in the blood and righteousness of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, in whom alone is hope in life and in death.

 

[Jonathan_M]

Praying in Jesus Name.