"Nominal" Christianity vs. "Normal" Christianity

What we’re actually dealing with in America (and Europe, too, but I’m thinking primarily about Christianity on this side of the ocean right now) is “nominal” Christianity versus “normal” Christianity. Nominal Christianity is a spiritual scandal! Maybe not to everybody but it should be to every child of God. The word “nominal” literally means, “in name only.” So, nominal Christianity carries the label but little else. It is Christianity “in name only.”

I call nominal Christianity scandalous because it preaches a cultural Christianity, looking and acting more like the world than the Lord. It is scandalous because it promotes a counterfeit Christianity, misrepresenting what it really means to follow Christ. And nominal Christianity is scandalous because it produces a Christless Christianity, a so-called faith that ignores the claims of Christ.

The Apostle Paul called “normal” Christianity simple, however, in 2 Corinthians 11:3, “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” Did you catch that? “…simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.”

Normal Christianity can be called simple (not simplistic, by the way) because, at the heart of the Christian faith, it is loving and following Christ.

By the way, I need to clarify what I mean by “normal.” Contrary to what one might think, “normal” doesn’t mean “average.” The average temperature on a hospital wing could be 101 degrees, but that’s not normal. The average golf score of someone like me might be 105, but that’s certainly not normal. Average isn’t the same thing as normal.

We live in a culture in which we’re measuring our spirituality by whatever is average, not normal. We find average Christianity by looking around us (i.e. nominal Christianity)…but we find normal Christianity in the pages of Scripture and wherever people are deeply and passionately in love with Christ.

The late A.W. Tozer said, “The Bible recognizes no faith that does not lead to obedience, nor does it recognize any obedience that does not spring from faith. The two are opposite sides of the same coin.” Good word!