Webster defines “superficial” as “(1) being on the surface; not penetrating the substance of a thing; as a superficial color; a superficial covering; (2) hallow; contrived to cover something; and (3) not deep or profound; reaching or comprehending only what is obvious or apparent; as a superficial scholar; superficial knowledge.” Superficial Christianity looks good on the surface, but it is of no “value against the indulgences of the flesh” (Col. 2:23). Our Lord calls for sacrificial, not superficial faith. There is a marked difference between the two.

First, a superficial faith produces a comfortable Christianity; one that does not interfere with one’s predisposed life style. It is a “Christianity” that requires no repentance, exacts no restrictions, and asks for no sacrifice. Unaccustomed to feeding upon the word, superficial Christians are incapable of taking more than short doses of the spiritual medicine that is needed to cure their sin sick soul. The meat of word makes them gag. Moral principles that demand hard choices are rejected for mere platitudes that make them feel at ease, and any sermon that runs more than fifteen minutes is viewed as a waste of time and an imposition upon their busy schedule. Once a week, or in some cases only once or twice a year, these nominal believers make their appearance, pay their dues, and punch their spiritual clock – and that at the church of their choice that meets their personal taste in style of worship and brand of theology. Easter Sunday and Christmas are the apex of their spiritual activity. Daily cross bearing means nothing to them.

Second, superficial Christianity will produce a church that is foreign to the blood-bought institution we read about in the pages of the New Testament. The leaders are quick to provide those things that will help increase the numbers, but fall short of improving spiritual maturity. The denominations have long sought to entertain rather than enlighten. C.C. Crawford addressed exactly what I am talking about:

Receiving people into the church is not a process of administering a spiritual anaesthetic [sic]. The church is something more than a haven of rest, where the indolent, idle and tired may congregate. It is more than a house of refuge to which folks may flee from their pursuers. It is more than a safety zone in the midst of the highways of life, into which people may step to avoid the dangers of spiritual injury. It is more than an old folk’s home where the spiritually defective, infirm and incompetent may find shelter and be assured against all want for time and eternity. It is not a sort of spiritual Florida to which people can migrate in order to escape the chilling blasts of a cold, unfriendly world. The prevailing tendency in the present-day church is to make religion too easy. It is kept within the realm of convenience and comfort. Rarely is there a call for real sacrifice. By means of suppers, sales and pay entertainments and various ingenious devices people are tricked into giving. Through entertainments and other alluring programs an effort is made to surreptitiously inject a little religion into the unsuspecting. And when people have come into the church the greatest care is exercised to spare them; so that only a minimum of anything is asked of them. Do we need to wonder that the church is not more aggressive and victorious? It hesitates to propose a program that summons us to heroic effort, sacrifice, even the giving of blood (Sermon Outlines On The Cross of Christ, 86).

I wish that such misconceptions were limited to those in the denominational world, but so much of this “give me” mentality has infiltrated the Lord’s church today. Oh, how I wish it were not so! Having had the opportunity to travel about our country seeking funds for my mission work, I have learned that we have spent too much on creature comforts and neglected the Creator’s commission to go into all the world (Matt. 28:18-20). I have visited congregations willing to borrow millions to build an elaborate building, and make long term commitments to mortgage payments, but unwilling to commit themselves to more than a year at a time to mission endeavors. One wonders if we have not been the victims of superficial Christianity.

Third, superficial Christianity will not save. I am writing to an audience who knows (or at least should know) the demands from our Father and His Son. “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever would save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what shall a man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and forfeit his life? or what shall a man give in exchange for his life?” (Matt. 16:24-26). “So therefore whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). “No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matt. 6:24). Superficial Christianity is the antonym of genuine saving faith. It is confined to the realm of convenience and comfort. Seldom is there a call for real sacrifice. Suppers, sales and entertainment are the means by which people are brought into the church, and through more exciting and more numerous entertainment and programs they are tricked into believing that they are making sacrifices and living the kind of life God wants them to live. No wonder the church has lost its influence in a world that seems to be overrun with evil and ungodliness. The gospel is no longer considered the power unto salvation, but the power unto sensationalism. There are churches out there that are indeed sensational, with their Broadway style productions and glitter and glamour that thrill men, but they do not offer what it takes to save the souls of men. In this they have long ago compromised.

Go back and read this tenth chapter of Matthew again. Having done that, ask yourself what kind of faith those twelve apostles had as they went forth as “sheep in the midst of wolves” (Matt. 10:16). With the exception of Judas, each of those men demonstrated a sacrificial faith that is exemplary beyond measure. Go with those men as they were delivered up to the religious councils, scourged for their faith, and “hated of all men” for the sake of the precious name of Jesus Christ. Follow the path those men travelled as they were “set at variance against” their immediate family members, and in the face of such incredible persecution, refused to deny their Lord, compromise the gospel, or flinch at the darts that Satan threw their way.

God help us to return to His great wisdom, and build churches that seek and save the lost rather than seeking to serve and satisfy the masses. Anything else is only superficial Christianity.

By Tom Wacaster