Authenticity

Following Jesus vs. Behaving Christian

Ryan Schulte

12 Dec 2025 — 5 min read

Every once in a while someone asks me, “Are you a Christian?”

I almost always answer, “It depends.”

Not because I am trying to dodge the question, but because many people already have a definition of Christianity in their head. And that definition may have very little to do with Jesus.

To many, a Christian looks like a Republican-voting country singer, or a missionary living in the slums of India. There is nothing wrong with either of those things. But neither one captures what a Christian actually is. They are cultural snapshots, not spiritual realities.

Even the word Christian did not start as a badge of honor. In Acts 11:26 we are told, “And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.” The term was likely used mockingly. It meant “little Christs,” said with a sneer. It was not a label the followers of Jesus chose for themselves. It was a name placed on them because their lives so clearly pointed somewhere else.

When Faith Becomes a Culture

One of the greatest dangers Christianity ever faced was becoming popular.

Once faith gains cultural approval, the enemy rarely attacks it head-on. Instead, he reshapes it into something safe, manageable, and hollow. Christianity becomes a culture. A checklist. A performance.

Say the right things.
Vote the right way.
Show up on Sundays.
Dress the part.
Avoid the obvious sins.

If you do those things, you are “good.”

The problem is not that these behaviors are always wrong. The problem is that none of them are what Jesus is after.

Jesus does not call people to look righteous. He calls people to die.

“Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’”
Matthew 16:24 (ESV)

That is not an invitation to behave better. It is a call to surrender control and follow Jesus.

Jesus Is After the Heart

The Pharisees were experts at religious behavior. Jesus was not impressed.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.”
Matthew 23:25 (ESV)

Jesus consistently confronts the illusion that outward goodness equals inward life. You can look clean and still be rotting from the inside out.

What Jesus wants is trust. Following. Transformation.

Not cosmetic change. Not religious polish. Real renewal.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)

That kind of change is not tidy. It is slow, uncomfortable, and often embarrassing.

Faith Is Simple. People Are Not.

Hebrews 11 is often called the Hall of Faith. It lists the heroes of Scripture. And nearly all of them had deeply messy lives.

Noah got drunk.
Abraham lied repeatedly.
Moses murdered a man.
David committed adultery and arranged a killing.
Rahab was a prostitute.

Yet Hebrews says, “These all died in faith.”
Hebrews 11:13 (ESV)

Faith is not about having it all together. In fact, the more aware you are of how broken you are, the easier it is to depend on God.

St. Augustine put it plainly:

“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. And no one is humbler than the man who knows he needs God.”

The Christian life is not about managing appearances. It is about being continually undone and rebuilt by grace.

Stop Trying Harder and Start Being Honest

Trying harder does not fix a heart problem.

Confession does.

This is why following Jesus always begins with truth. Truth about who God is, and truth about who you are.

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:8–9 (ESV)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer warned about what he called “cheap grace.” Grace without repentance. Forgiveness without transformation. Christianity without Christ.

“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”
Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

That death is not dramatic. It is daily. It is the slow surrender of self-rule.

Pursue Jesus, Not Applause

Do not worry about behaving well so others notice.

Worry about whether you are actually pursuing Jesus.

Be concerned with being filled with the Spirit, not with looking spiritually impressive.

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.”
2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)

Transformation happens as you behold Christ, not as you perform for people.

And if pursuing Jesus honestly does not interest you right now, that's fine. That's the initial state of all humanity. Don't be surprised. But pretending helps no one.

Be honest and ask why.

Pray something like this:

“God, I am more concerned with __________ than with you. Give me wisdom to understand why, and awaken my heart to want what I do not yet want.”

God is far more interested in your honesty than your religious effort.

A life following Jesus does not start with behavior.
It starts with confession.
And it continues with grace.

Reflection Questions

Sit with these slowly. Do not rush to clean answers.

When someone asks if I am a Christian, what definition am I assuming they mean? How does that differ from what Jesus actually calls me to?
In what ways do I feel pressure to appear faithful rather than actually trust God?
Where in my life am I more concerned with managing behavior than surrendering my heart?
What spiritual habits or outward actions might I be using to avoid deeper obedience or repentance?
If my faith were stripped of its cultural markers, church attendance, vocabulary, reputation, what would remain?
What parts of my life do I keep trying to fix through effort rather than confession?
Where do I resist being honest with God because I fear what He might ask of me?
Do I believe God is more interested in my performance or my truth? What evidence from Scripture supports my answer?

Guided Prayer

You can pray this as written, or pause and linger where needed.

God,
I confess that I often want to look faithful more than I want to be faithful.
I want the comfort of approval without the cost of surrender.

I bring to you the parts of my life I try to manage on my own.
The habits, fears, and motives I polish on the outside while avoiding on the inside.

Search me and know me.
Show me where my faith has become performance.
Show me where I am hiding behind behavior instead of trusting you.

I admit that I am more concerned with __________ than with you.
Give me wisdom to understand why.
Awaken my heart to desire what I do not yet desire.

Teach me to follow you, not just speak about you.
Transform me from the inside out, by your Spirit, in your time.

I place my trust again in you, not in my effort, not in my image, not in my ability to hold myself together.

Amen.