What Does Genuine Christianity Look Like?

2 Corinthians 11 (ESV)

I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness, but do bear with me. For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge. Indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things. Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God's gospel to you free of charge? I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less? As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. I repeat, let no one think me foolish; but even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. What I am saying with this boastful confidence, I say not as the Lord would, but as a fool. Since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast. For you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourselves! For you bear it if someone makes slaves of you, or devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you on the face. To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that; but whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one. I am talking like a madman. I am more—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me, but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.

The Central Question: What Does Genuine Christianity Look Like?

To answer this question, we must examine three key aspects from this passage: the possibility of being deceived, the correct gospel that should be proclaimed, and the call to avoid comfortable Christianity.

1. The Possibility of Being Deceived

Paul expresses divine jealousy for the Corinthians, having betrothed them to Christ as a pure virgin. Yet he fears that, like Eve deceived by the serpent, their thoughts could stray from sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Sincerity means simplicity—a single-minded focus on Christ, undivided and genuine. Deceived people have divided interests, like the double-minded person in James 1:6-8, unstable and tossed like a wave.

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (James 1:6-8, ESV)

Purity means being unmixed, unadulterated by the world. Divided interests lead to a mixed life, comfortable with certain sins and idolatry. Deceived Christians justify ongoing sin, living double lives—one at church, another hidden.

Worse still, verse 4 reveals deception in tolerating falsehood: another Jesus, different spirit, different gospel. Merely proclaiming "Jesus" is not enough; it must be the true Jesus. Naming Jesus does not mean knowing Him. Deceived believers put up with bad doctrine about Jesus.

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. (Galatians 1:6-7, ESV)

True Christians have single-minded purity about Christ, taking every thought captive to Him.

2. The Correct Gospel Proclaimed by a Genuine Apostle

A genuine Christian mirrors a genuine apostle like Paul, contrasted with false apostles. Paul admits unskilled speaking but insists on equal knowledge of the true gospel. He preached free of charge, robbing other churches to serve Corinth without burdening them.

False apostles disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, like Satan as an angel of light. They exploit for gain, maximizing comfort. Paul maximizes the gospel, embracing discomfort—labors, imprisonments, beatings, shipwrecks, dangers, hunger, sleepless nights, anxiety for the churches.

Genuine Christianity prioritizes gospel integrity over eloquence or ease, willing to sacrifice comfort.

3. Don't Participate in Comfortable Christianity

Paul boasts in weakness, not strength. Genuine believers, like Moses, abandon comfort for Christ's reproach.

By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. (Hebrews 11:24-26, ESV)

Moses left palace for desert. Early believers joyfully accepted plundered property, knowing a better possession in Christ.

But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. (Hebrews 10:32-34, ESV)

True Christians boast in suffering for righteousness, not sin. They accumulate Christ, not comfort. God sees lives as right when righteous, not comfortable. What would you live without if you had only God's presence? A genuine Christian values Jesus above all.