Recently in one of my classes a colleague of mine presented a reflection paper on a Lausanne article he chose for that class session. The article was titled Christian Witness to Nominal Christians Among Protestants and can be found here. In this specific article, a “nominal Christian” is defined as “one who, within the Protestant tradition, would call himself a Christian, or be so regarded by others, but who has no authentic commitment to Christ based on personal faith.” This would be one who:

a. Attends church regularly but has no vital relationship with Jesus as Savior and Lord;
b. Attends church regularly but only for cultural reasons;
c. Attends church only for major festivals and ceremonies;
d. Hardly ever attends church but maintains a church relationship for reasons of security, emotional or family ties, or tradition;
e. Has no relationship to any specific church and who never attends yet considers himself a believer in God.

John Wesley, in his sermon #2, The Almost Christian, describes this nominal Christian perfectly. This type of Christian has “heathen honesty (I.1)”—a basic set of moral principles by which they operate. They have a “form of godliness (I.4)” which “does nothing the gospel forbids (I.4).” They abstain from gluttony, avoid contention, do not willfully hurt others, and even use the means of grace (I.5-8). But in the end, they lack sincerity (I.8). There is no “inward principle of religion, from whence the outward actions flow (I.9).” There is no “real design to serve God” or “hearty desire to do his will (I.10).” Instead there is only a concern for self and a concern to simply “do” the right things, “say” the right things, and go through the motions, just like the person described above.

Upon reading aloud the abstract of this article, my colleague presented us with a series of questions. Two of these questions stood out to me as they were being presented. The first was, “How many nominal Christians do you know?” I literally laughed out loud when I heard this question, not because it was funny, but because of the sheer rhetorical nature of the question. I responded, “The question should be, ‘How many not-nominal Christians do you know?’” Using the formula for determining Christian nominalism above, how many Christians do we actually know that don’t fit these categories? In his sermon #4, Scriptural Christianity, Wesley asked the same question. Upon describing the type of Christianity that set the world ablaze in the first century, Wesley asks, “Where does this Christianity now exist (IV.1)?” He looked at the culture in which he lived and wondered where this scriptural Christianity had gone. “Is Christianity, scriptural Christianity, found here (IV.3)?” The obvious answer was, “No.” Sadly I think that the same is true for us today.

The second question that stood out to me was, “What makes a person grow nominal?” The group had all sorts of answers to this question, and truth be told, there probably is no one single answer that stands alone. But as I sat there thinking, I thought about what in my own personal past had ever contributed to the times in my life where I could have classified my Christianity as nominal. What did I come up with? Lack of accountability. The periods of my Christian experience where I had become nominal are marked by a complete and total lack of personal accountability to any person. We deceive ourselves when we say, “I only need to be accountable to God.” The fact is we all need to be held accountable on a daily basis by real people for the things we do and don’t do. Without someone else to keep us sharp, we soon become dull and rusty. Only a fool stands alone.

But the problem of nominalism runs much deeper than this. A lack of accountability may have been the reason why I had regressed in my Christianity at a time in the past. But what about the general predicament of our churches in America today? What is the solution to our problem as a whole? How do we get our churches to shake off the dust of apathy and embrace our destiny as the “called out ones” of God? Wesley’s prescription was nothing other than a touch of the divine. He proclaimed that what sets the true Christian apart from the nominal Christian is love. It is love for God (rejoicing in God our Savior, delighting in the Lord, and in everything giving Him thanks) and neighbor (a I Corinthians 13 reality in relationship to fellow man) that makes the difference. In conjunction with this love is a true Christian faith. “Faith which bringeth not forth repentance, and love, and all good works, is not that right living faith, but a dead and devilish one (Scriptural Christianity, II.4).” It is not a mere “faith of the devils” nor even simply a speculative faith--the belief in Scripture and the Articles of Religion. What saving faith is to Wesley is a belief in the gospel--God’s whole revelation to mankind. It is a conviction of Christ’s divinity and a trust in his merits. It is a full reliance on the blood of Christ, and a fully trusting response to grace. It is a sure trust in the mercy of God, through Jesus Christ, and confidence that Christ died for “even my” sins. In sum, it is a disposition of the heart.

What kind of Christian are you going to be this day? Are you content to go through the motions and be nothing more than another face in the pews? Or will you embrace your calling, make your election sure, and be the holy vessel of grace for a lost and dying world? The choice is up to you.