From Cameron Fultz, in the forward to “Christ Life” by A.B. Simpson. Get this book. It is a critical read.

“Getting “saved and born again” does not magically make the core nature we inherited from Adam suddenly disappear. Instead, unless Christ is revealed in us we will just continue using it to follow Jesus. We will get focused on doctrines, diets, our own music styles and spiritual giftings.

And so what do you get when you live for God and try to be like Jesus with the old core nature still intact? You get American Christianity. You get “9 steps to freedom” from whatever your problem. You get practical applications to every sermon. You get people living for God and a Bible that is God’s handbook for life on earth. Many probably don’t think that is wrong.

And what else do we get? We get 80% of men struggling with lust and porn. We get Christian leaders fighting each other for ministry volunteers. We get pastors hiding from everyone that their marriage is dying. We get Bible competitions between young people who intimidate each other like beasts. We get a consumer mindset among believers. And the list goes on and on.

There is nothing wrong with Christ, but American Christianity is languishing because it has forsaken the power and the secret…. When Christ is not living the Christian life and we still are, then the whole thing is according to us, benefits us, and is ultimately as self-centered as anything else. The world knows it and that is one reason why every passing year there are 1% fewer professing Christians in America. The world looks at us and sees something that is of Adam and not of God.”

May our God have mercy on us and draw us into repentance.