We can clearly see that many Christians devote a significant amount of time to worldly activities, yet very few spend time reading the Bible, praying, or studying God’s Word. Some never read the Bible at all, nor understand what prayer time or meditative worship means. Yet, they still attend church regularly and consider themselves Christians—because they have been Christians since childhood. They never chose to become Christians; Christianity was attached to them from birth. But surely, such Christians have never truly done God’s will. They may be good, moral people, but that does not necessarily mean they are doing God’s will according to His standard—having the mind and heart of Christ, possessing spiritual intelligence, so that every action aligns with God’s thoughts and feelings.
It is no wonder, then, that some Christians display worse moral behaviour than non-Christians. Therefore, there must be a conscious decision to follow Christ. If up to now we have been Christians since birth but not in sincerity, then starting today, we must change. Otherwise, we will ultimately be rejected. The standard for entering the Kingdom of Heaven—in the context of the family of God’s Kingdom—is doing the will of the Father. The question is: have we done it? It’s hard to answer. The reality is that many have never personally chosen Jesus. They became Christians not by their own decision, but by their parents’ choice. Their Christianity is inherited, not born out of personal surrender.
No one can become a follower of Christ simply by following others. Following Christ must be a decision that comes from one’s own heart and awareness. Being religiously Christian can happen without choice—just going along with family tradition—but following Jesus cannot be that way. Following Jesus is complex and demanding; it requires strong commitment and determination. One must make it a daily agenda to learn the truth of God’s Word. For true believers, the only agenda in life is to follow Jesus—nothing else. To follow Jesus is to worship God, to give Him the highest worth. Yet, in reality, many Christians place the highest value on entertainment, media, wealth, and worldly luxuries.
Many Christians are taught from a young age that being Christian is pleasant: if you die, you go to heaven; if you are sick, you can be healed because of Jesus’ stripes; because God is good and full of love. The result is a generation of opportunistic Christians—people who use God for personal benefit, without caring about God’s interests. They never personally chose to follow Jesus, yet they still want to enjoy all the spiritual benefits. Their religious language is shallow, limited to emotional expressions like, “God is good, He loves me, He protects me, He keeps my tears in His bottle.”
This way of thinking causes many Christians to stop growing and remain parked in spiritual childishness, and this may be understandable for new believers or Sunday school children, but not for those who are spiritually mature. As one’s biological age increases, spiritual maturity should also grow. For an adult believer, the issue is no longer whether God takes care of us, but whether we are taking care of ourselves in the face of the world’s influence. Do we guard our eyes from unworthy sights? Do we guard our hearts from harboring impure things?
Christians who inherited their faith from family background are often not unfaithful in the general sense. They can be very loyal, usually defending Christianity fanatically. Yet fanaticism is not the steadfast faithfulness that God desires. True faithfulness can only be born out of a personal decision to follow Jesus wholeheartedly. God does not want people who merely inherit a religion, but those who consciously choose to become disciples of Christ and live according to His will.