The spirit of falsehood is often a very religious spirit.
And the “religious spirit” is like the flu—constantly adapting to the environment. I mean, how else could it sell its deceptions over the years?
Over the past two thousand years, the spirit of falsehood has flooded the church with a counterfeit currency. I’m not talking about only the blatant stuff—the Inquisition, witch trials, televangelists.
Such repugnance does cause the world to turn away in disgust.
And even today, bizarre so-called followers of Christ are probably the most effective tool of the enemy to turn people off to Jesus. The way they talk. The culture they create. But mostly, what they are like to be around.
Religious terminology and talk can be an immediate sign of a religious infection. How do people in that community of faith talk about Jesus? How did they say his name? Does sound like someone they know, or is it just stuff like Jeeeezus?
Here’s the test—if you can’t take your church culture and language and drop it in the middle of a bar or social gathering, and have it make winsome sense to the people there, then it’s not from Jesus. Because that is exactly what He could do. That’s what made Jesus the real deal.
Friends, if you would know Jesus as He is, if you would let Him simply be Himself with you, then run—run as fast as your two feet will carry you from anything that smacks of religion.
Sadly, for too many people, the Christ they know is too religious to love, too distant to experience, and too rigid to be a source of life. It explains the abject spiritual poverty of the church. But hear this—Jesus hasn’t changed one bit. He is still quite himself. This is still how he acts. The Scriptures assure us that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)
The above text based on excerpts of John Eldredge’s book, “Beautiful Outlaw”.