spiritual authenticity Quotes

If Christ were here now there is one thing he would not be—a Christian.

Hypocrisy is fatal to religion.

Busyness is the unrivaled archenemy of spiritual authenticity.

A powerless church has nothing for the devil to counterfeit.

I live in a country where 90 or 95 percent of the people profess to be religious, and maybe they are religious, though my experience of religion suggests that very few people are actually religious in more than a conventional sense.

I'm convinced that a large percentage of people that we call worldly Christians are perhaps not Christian to begin with and that may be the trouble.

The greatest enemy to the movement of Jesus Christ is Christianity.

Prayer is not eloquence, but earnestness; not the definition of helplessness, but the feeling of it; not figures of speech, but earnestness of soul.

More than anything, people want the reality of the discussion at hand. If what is going on in that building is the real thing, if the transforming love and power of Jesus Christ is being experienced, you can sit on a metal folding chair or in a plush theater seat.

Nothing so tends to mask the face of God as religion; it can be a substitute for God himself.

Charisma on stage is not necessarily evidence of the Holy Spirit.

Better is the sinner who hath thoughts about God, than the saint who hath only the show of sanctity.

If I were not a Catholic, and were looking for the true Church in the world today, I would look for the one Church which did not get along well with the world; in other words, I would look for the Church which the world hated.

The institutions of Churchianity are not Christianity. An institution is a good thing if it is second; immediately an institution recognizes itself it becomes the dominating factor.

You can't hide God in you. God was not meant to become part of you, and you hide out in the closet. I don't think He wanted that. I think He wanted people to see the Christ in you that reflects Him.

Many people profess Christianity. Very few live it-almost none. And when you live it people may think you're crazy. It has been truthfully said that the world is equally shocked by one who repudiates Christianity as by one who practices it.

There's this morbid side to the way many represent Christianity today, where you don't smile, because it's too serious, and you can't expect to see God - that kind of stuff. If there is God, we must see Him, and I don't believe in the idea you find in most churches, where they say, "No, you're not going to see Him. He's way up above you. Just believe what we tell you and shut up."

Your religion is what you do when the sermon is over.

Faith that doesn't affect your life isn't really faith.

Sincerity is the indispensable ground of all conscientiousness, and by consequence of all heartfelt religion.

The church is in trouble-that's what they say anyways. The problem is most of what they call the church is not the church, and the church is not quite as in trouble as everybody thinks. As a matter of fact, the church today is absolutely beautiful-she's glorious, she's humble, she's broken, and she's confessing her sin. The problem is what everybody's calling the church today isn't the church. Basically, by and large, what's called the church today is nothing more than a bunch of unconverted church people with unconverted pastors.

Too many Christians live their Christian lives inside their heads; it never gets out through hands and feet and lips.

A truly religious man does not embrace a religion; and he who embraces one has no religion.

Good taste ruins certain true spiritual values: such as taste itself.

Going to church doesn't make you any more a Christian than going to the garage makes you a car.