A Lament for the Tragic State of the Fraudulent Christian

Barronelle Stutzman

The penalty for impersonating a police officer is imprisonment up to five years, give or take a few.

The penalty for practicing medicine without a license can often range anywhere between one to eight years in prison, depending upon the severity of the offense.

The penalty for impersonating a Christian? God will make the final ruling on that one…

“And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” Matthew 7:23

The question must be asked. Are we guilty of impersonating a Christian?

Are we faithful representatives? Are we acquainted with the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Does it compel us to resist the common wisdom of our day?

Blessed are those that stand up and speak out with charity and dignity. Barronelle Stutzman is one of those precious ones standing up before God and man.

Christians must remain mindful and vigilant, knowing the struggle and warfare against sin to be a perpetual, existential reality of true life. On the flipside, we must guard our consciences against the bondage of legalism. Righteousness lies not in us, but in the grace bestowed by the One we serve.

We can never serve Him perfectly. Like the prodigal son, we may even go astray for a season, but be certain we will come crawling back. Assuredly, we will be received in the arms of a loving Savior.

The ‘Christian’ tag is thrown around way too loosely these days. It is not something we could ever earn. It’s not something that can be blindly tainted and diluted by some liberal philosophy.

The knowing must precede the doing. The word of truth can never fill our hearts if we are unwilling to truly hear it. If the Bible remains closed so will our hearts. God’s plan is simple. It needn’t conform to the times, only to our minds…

And ultimately our hearts.

*America has stood as a beacon of liberty to the world because our Constitution protects people’s freedom to peacefully—and publicly—work and live according to their convictions.

More than 75 prominent religious and thought leaders have come together as charter signatories of “Preserve Freedom, Reject Coercion,” a statement that affirms every American’s freedom to peacefully live their lives according to their beliefs…

Daniel L. Akin
President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

Anthony Allen
President, Hannibal-LaGrange University

Jason K. Allen
President, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Ryan T. Anderson
William E. Simon Senior Research Fellow in American Principles and Public Policy, The Heritage Foundation

Bruce Riley Ashford
Provost, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

Mark L. Bailey
President, Dallas Theological Seminary

Robert Benne
Institute of Lutheran Theology

Gerard V. Bradley
Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame

Rick Brewer
President, Louisiana College

Michael Bryant
Executive Vice President, Charleston Southern University

Thomas Buchanan
Senior Editor, Touchstone Magazine

Rosaria Champagne Butterfield
Author and speaker

Most Rev. Charles J. Chaput
Archbishop of Philadelphia, Chairman, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth

D. A. Carson
President, The Gospel Coalition

Joshua D. Chatraw
Executive Director, Center for Apologetics and Cultural Engagement, Liberty University

Derry Connolly
President, John Paul the Great Catholic University

Barry K. Creamer
President, Criswell College

Jim Daly
President, Focus on the Family

Most Rev. Frank J. Dewane
Bishop of Venice, Chairman, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development

Kevin DeYoung
Senior Pastor, University Reformed Church (East Lansing, Mich.)

David S. Dockery
President, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Daniel J. Egeler, EdD
President, Association of Christian Schools International

Rev. Wilbur David Ellsworth
Pastor, Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Christian Church (Warrenville, Ill.)

Anthony Esolen
Professor of English, Providence College

Tony Evans
Founder and Senior Pastor, Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, Founder and President, The Urban Alternative

William Fahey
President, Thomas More College of Liberal Arts

Gene C. Fant, Jr.
Provost, Palm Beach Atlantic University

Thomas Farr
Professor of the Practice of Religion and International Affairs, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University

Robert A. J. Gagnon
Associate Professor of New Testament, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

Sister Mary Sarah Galbraith
President, Aquinas College

Robert P. George
McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University and Former Chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom

Timothy George
Founding Dean, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University

David Goodwin
President, Association of Classical Christian Schools

Franklin Graham
President/CEO, Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

Loren Gresham
President, Southern Nazarene University

Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison
President, The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

Anne Hendershott
Professor of Sociology and Director of the Veritas Center for Ethics in Public Life, Franciscan University of Steubenville

James Hitchcock
Professor of History, St. Louis University

Edith M. Humphrey
William F. Orr Professor of New Testament, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

Bishop Harry R. Jackson, Jr.
Senior Pastor, Hope Christian Church (Beltsville, Md.); Presiding Bishop, International Communion of Evangelical Churches

John Jackson
President, William Jessup University

David Lyle Jeffry
Distinguished Professor of Literature and Humanities, Honors Program, Baylor University

Philip W. Kell
President, California Baptist Foundation

Jerry A. Johnson
President and CEO, National Religious Broadcasters

Daniel R. Kempton, Ph.D.
Vice President, Academic Affairs, Franciscan University of Steubenville

James M. Kushiner
Executive Director, Fellowship of St. James/Executive Editor, Touchstone Magazine

Peter J. Leithart
President, Theopolis Institute

Stephen D. Livesay
President, Bryan College

Most Rev. William E. Lori
Archbishop of Baltimore, Chairman, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty

Fred Luter
Pastor, Franklin Avenue Baptist Church (New Orleans, LA) and Former President, Southern Baptist Convention

John MacArthur
President, The Master’s University & Seminary

Barbara C. McMillin
President, Blue Mountain College

Benjamin R. Merkle
President, New Saint Andrews University

Eric Metaxas
Author and Nationally Syndicated Radio Host

C. Ben Mitchell
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Union University

Albert Mohler
President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Russell Moore
President, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention

Jeff Myers
President, Summit Ministries

Most Rev. George V. Murry, S.J.
Bishop of Youngstown, Chairman, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Catholic Education

Bradley Nassiff
Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies, Northpark University

Samuel W. “Dub” Oliver
President, Union University

Paige Patterson
President, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Everett Piper
President, Oklahoma Wesleyan University

Leon J. Podles
President, Crossland Foundation

Mary Podles
Author and Art Historian

Patrick Henry Reardon
Pastor, All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church (Chicago)

Patrick J. Reilly
President, The Cardinal Newman Society

R. R. Reno
Editor, First Things

John Mark Reynolds
President, Saint Constantine School (Houston)

Jay Richards
Assistant Research Professor, The Busch School of Business and Economics, The Catholic University of America

Samuel Rodriguez
President, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, Hispanic Evangelical Association

Mike Rouse
President, American Association of Christian Schools

William Saxby
Dean, School of Humanities, Colorado Christian University

Alan Sears
President, CEO, and General Counsel, Alliance Defending Freedom

Rev. Sean O. Sheridan, TOR
President, Franciscan University of Steubenville

Robert B. Sloan
President, Houston Baptist University

Kevin L. Smith
Executive Director, Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware

Robert Smith, Jr.
Charles T. Carter Professor of Divinity, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University

Timothy L. Smith
President, University of Mobile

John Stonestreet
President, Colson Center for Christian Worldview

Carol M. Swain
Professor of Law and Political Science, Vanderbilt University

Justin Taylor
Author, editor, blogger, The Gospel Coalition

Peter W. Teague
President, Lancaster Bible College/Capital Seminary and Graduate School

H. James Towey
President, Ave Maria University

Todd Wagner
Pastor of Watermark Church

Roland C. Warren
President & CEO, Care Net

George Weigel
Distinguished Senior Fellow and William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies, Ethics and Public Policy Center

James Emery White
Pastor, Mecklenburg Community Church (Charlotte, N.C.)

David W. Whitlock
President, Oklahoma Baptist University

Thomas White
President, Cedarville University

Carl E. Zylstra
Executive Director, Association of Reformed Colleges and Universities

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A.J. Castellitto is a freelance writer who resides in NJ with his wife and five children. He holds a B.S. in Counseling and Human Services from the University of Scranton and his writings have been published at The Center for Western Journalism, The Christian Post, Intellectual Conservative and Reformed Perspective Magazine.

A.J. Castellitto

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