The "Unsaved Christian"

If you’ve been reading our blog for some time, this week’s post may look familiar. It is a reprise of a review I wrote years ago. The elders discussed this book this week, so I thought I’d revisit the familiar, terrifying themes of a book that has continued to resonate in my thinking in the years since I first read it.

Every now and then I read a book that captures a cultural moment with such clarity and insight that it creates a paradigm-shift in my thinking. Dean Inserra’s Unsaved Christian is one of those books.

Inserra opens with the story of his parting words with a seminary friend who was leaving for ministry in California, where Inserra expected ministry would be far more difficult than where he was going: back home to the South. His friend surprised him when he disagreed. He explains:

I felt like I was taking the easy road and Matt was taking the courageous one, leading his family to an area where preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ would be just barely harder than finding a Republican…. I wanted to say something spiritual to make myself feel better. With the standard one-arm man hug, I said, “I really admire what you’re doing and will pray for you as you head to an area with such an important Great Commission need.”

Matt’s reply was not what I was expecting. “Whatever,” he said, doing the required pat-on-the-back during our man hug, “the Bible Belt is the most difficult place in America to pastor a local church.”

I was stunned. He must have sensed my confusion because he explained further. As he did, I had a serious epiphany. I believe the Lord knew what I needed to hear in that moment, and it changed my perspective forever on my role as a pastor in the part of the country where I live and minister.

“In California,” Matt said, “there is rarely confusion. Either you’re a Christian or you’re not. In the Bible Belt, many people think they’re Christians but have no concept of the severity of sin, necessity of repentance, message of grace, or the overall message of the gospel. They think they’re just fine with God and God is fine with them because they aren’t atheists and have been to church before as a kid. It’s almost like you have to help them get lost, so they can actually be saved. They believe in God, but do not believe their sin has done anything to separate them from Him or caused them to need the Jesus they claim to believe in.”

“It’s almost like you have to help them get lost, so they can actually be saved.”

Rise of the “Nones”

It was about ten years ago that the Christian blogosphere blew up with the news that the “nones” (people who indicate “no religious preference” on forms) had risen to 20%. One in five Americans, when asked about their religious preference, indicated that they were indifferent to matters of religion.

And that was in 2012!

At the time, many Christian leaders speculated that the news didn’t indicate a massive shift in American spirituality; it showed instead that “cultural Christians” simply no longer identified themselves as Christian.

What is a “cultural Christian”? Inserra says that “cultural Christianity” is perhaps the largest religious group in our nation:

Its participants can be found in Catholic or Protestant churches, in the South and Midwest, on high school football fields, at patriotic celebrations, and around family dinner tables. It looks and sounds very Christian on the surface, but is merely Christian by culture, rather than conviction. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not part of the equation.

The people who practice cultural Christianity are not atheists or agnostics. In fact, Cultural Christians would be offended if described with such labels. These are not the urban academics living in loft apartments who could articulate their opposition to Christian beliefs. These are the suburban, cul-de-sac folks hosting a cookout to watch the game. They believe in God. They take seriously their “Christian” traditions, prayer in schools, nativity scenes, and Linus reciting the story of the birth of Christ during A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Cultural Christianity has many manifestations, which he helpfully lists in the Appendix. Admittedly, these sketches are broad, so they gloss over important distinctions, but he devotes significant space in the book to exploring each one:

Country Club Christian (see chapter 7): Self-focused, not missional; church just happens to be the social club of their preference; mistakes true gospel for comfort; avoiding messy things like visible sin and sinners

Christmas and Easter Christian (see chapter 8): Holds the Christian holidays close with sentimentality, but the implications of these holidays seem to have little impact on daily life; mistakes true gospel for observance, sentimentality, tradition

God and Country Christian (see chapter 10): Digests everything first as an American or member of a certain political party, not as a believer. Can have blinders on to what really matters; mistakes true gospel for being American and voting values

Liberal Social Justice Christian (see chapter 10): Feels strongly about specific social justice issues; compromises biblical teachings in light of cultural whims; believes that politicians and legislation can fix the world; mistakes true gospel for advocating social or political causes

Moralistic Therapeutic Deist (see chapter 11): Sees God as “the Good Guy next door,” believes God just wants people to be good and kind to each other as taught in most world religions; Jesus just so happens to be the mascot, but the specifics of Christianity aren’t really relevant; mistakes true gospel for civility, removal of guilt through trying to be a good person

Generational Catholic (see chapter 12): Generally either views Catholicism as a heritage or carries significant guilt to be loyal to its tenants; mistakes true gospel for religion/rites of passage

Mainline Protestant (see chapter 13) Generally believes vague things about the Bible but is prone to discard it in favor of the pressing beliefs of the day. Proclaims God’s love in terms of license to seek comfort; mistakes true gospel for a Christianity without Christ; a Bible that isn’t inerrant and is at times irrelevant

Bible Belt Christian (see chapter 14): Displays external forms of religiosity and would be offended to be called an atheist, but in actuality, Jesus has little impact on their lives; mistakes true gospel for familiarity with Scripture; religious heritage

If you’re like me, your response to his description of different types of cultural Christians is not all the same. You probably, like me, respond to some of his descriptions with a shrug: “There’s nothing new here. We’ve always know that that kind of person is not really a Christ-follower. We’ve always called that kind of person a ‘nominal Christian,’ someone who is Christian in name only.”

What Inserra is saying in his book, however, is that “nominal Christians” are everywhere – not just in Catholic churches, not just in mainline denominations, not just in liberal Christianity – but also in our own pews.

We have our own people who have mashed together popular categories – patriotism, Americana, Christian tradition, conservative political ideology – and created a hybrid that actually bears no resemblance to genuine Christian faith and thought. A man or woman possessed by that kind of faith might sing “Amazing Grace” – maybe even know several stanzas by heart! – but actually have no idea why we need grace or what God’s grace actually means.

These are people whom we know and love, and their standing before God is perilous because they think they’re good with God when in fact they are far from God. They are clueless about their peril because they are clueless about the gospel.

Inserra cites Jesus’ terrifying parable (Matt 7:22-23), where religious practitioners are shocked to find out they have no place in the Kingdom: “On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

Inserra sees the same thing happening to many people in our own circles: I can’t help but wonder if “Didn’t I ask Jesus into my heart?” will be one of the pleas of the religious when they stand before the Lord.

And that is the heart of the problem with cultural Christianity: it thinks it has embraced the gospel, when it has only accommodated gospel-themed behaviors that are actually true of many Christ-followers:

Didn’t I faithfully support the church with my giving?

Didn’t I get emotional whenever we sang “In Christ Alone”?

Didn’t I have a fish symbol on my car?

Didn’t I recognize all the tunes in Hobby Lobby and Chick-fil-A?

As Inserra points out, the implications are sobering:

A troubling reality in much of evangelical life is that convincing someone they are saved seems to take precedence over making sure someone actually is saved. This must change.

Somehow questioning another person’s salvation became taboo in evangelical culture, when it could possibly be one of the most loving things you can do for another; it could mean the difference between seeds that sprout and bloom and seeds that are snatched away.

Unsaved Christian lays its finger on a problem that has terrifying implications because of its scope and because of the way it impacts people close to us, people we care about.

Look for Unsaved Christian on the Discipleship Resource Shelf in the coming weeks.

Persevere,
Paul Pyle
Pastor of Discipleship