Christ’s Kingdom Has a Border Wall

Does Christianity have borders? In other words, is one a Christian simply because he says he is, or are there qualifications? Today, we’ve advanced the Christian religion far beyond what even Jesus envisioned. You can be a trans-Christian, gay-Christian, racist-Christian, feminist-Christian, or whatever you choose. Simply select the form of perversion that suits your lifestyle and attach Jesus to it.

The foundational verse of the modern Christian is Matthew 7:1.  I call it the godless man’s life verse.  There, Jesus said, “Stop judging, so that you will not be judged” (my translation). According to un-discerning men, this verse teaches us to suspend all judgment against all people whatsoever. Disregard the fact that Jesus assumed his followers would be able to judge what sorts of people are “swine” (Matthew 7:6) and “wolves” (Matthew 7:16).

In a moment of divine passive aggression, Jude chastised the leaders of the Christian church for allowing certain men to creep in “unnoticed” (Jude 4). In other words, while they were busy exercising judgment-free leadership, they let Satan in and he burned down the church, killing their wives and children. If you’re not catching on, this was a bad thing.  Good shepherds exercise good judgment. So do good average Christians.

You see, Christianity has boundaries.  Some who profess to be citizens of Christ’s kingdom aren’t even in its suburbs. This is what Jesus explained in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-23). In that illustration, two types of people attended all the church socials for a while without ever being converted to Christ.

We can discern true from false Christianity on two bases: profession and character. Christians affirm all that Jesus taught, not just his ethics. Our starting point, therefore, is to accept and consent to everything the Scriptures teach, no matter how uncomfortable it makes us. The Christian does not modify the Bible to fit his cultural context. Instead, he insists that culture conform to God’s Word.  If you deny this, you belong to Satan’s kingdom, not Christ’s (cf. 1 John 2:19-20).

Second, true Christians are known for their pursuit of holiness.  In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul listed a number of sins and said “such were some of you” (1 Corinthians 6:11). The Christian, enabled by the Holy Spirit, seeks to live in a way that is consistent with God’s Law. He shows he truly believes in the authority of God’s Word by obeying it. He may have been racist, greedy, or gay, but in Christ he works to die to those sins daily (cf. Romans 8:13).

For many, such a strict view of the edges of Christianity is intolerable. To insist Christ expects us to believe and obey everything the Bible says is considered outdated, even, dare we say, dinosaur-ish! Yet Christ reminds us, “If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book” (Revelation 22:19). The man who takes away from or ignores parts of Scripture is no citizen of Christ’s Kingdom.