The Problem with Cultural Christians

Cultural Christian: I don’t believe in this religion, but I think it’s done a lot of good, so I encourage you and the others to follow it.

Gene: You… Want me to follow a religion which you just admitted you do not believe?

CC: Yeah. It’s just not for me. But I’m cool with it if you want to believe.

Gene: Your sales pitch needs some work.

Christianity was never meant to be a social program. It is not a system devised to promote good behavior or uphold civilization. It is a claim about reality, a declaration that Christ is King, that man is fallen, and that salvation is possible only through faith. It is absolute. It is binding. It is true, or it is nothing.

Cultural Christians do not see it this way. They admire Christianity from a distance, acknowledging its historical influence, its moral teachings, its power to shape nations. They recognize that it has done great things, that it has inspired art, philosophy, and law. Yet, they do not believe. They encourage others to follow the faith while refusing to do so themselves.

This is the great contradiction. If Christianity is true, then it is not something to be admired—it is something to be obeyed. If it is false, then no amount of cultural value justifies its continued existence. A faith that is followed out of admiration rather than belief is a faith that has already been abandoned.

Cultural Christianity presents itself as a pragmatic solution. It says that people should believe, not because it is true, but because it is good for society. This strips the faith of its power. It turns devotion into performance, worship into tradition, and truth into mere preference.

Thus, Christianity is left with supporters who do not believe and believers who are unsure if they should commit. And in this half-hearted embrace, the faith is slowly eroded.

II. The Hollow Endorsement

A man who tells others to follow what he himself will not is not a believer—he is a salesman with no conviction in his own product.

Cultural Christians speak well of Christianity, yet their words lack weight. They admire its teachings, its influence, its role in shaping history. They speak of its virtues, its ability to build strong families and moral societies. But when asked if they believe, they hesitate.

They do not deny the faith outright. They do not argue against it. Instead, they offer a kind of passive approval. “It’s good,” they say, “but not for me.” They tell others to follow what they themselves will not. They praise its effects while ignoring its demands.

This is not faith. This is public relations. A man who endorses Christianity without following it does not treat it as a truth to be obeyed but as a product to be recommended. He treats belief as a social good rather than a personal conviction. He sees the church as useful, but he refuses to kneel before its altar.

Such an endorsement is empty. It carries no risk, no sacrifice, no cost. It is admiration without commitment, respect without reverence. And in the end, it convinces no one. A man who says, “I do not believe, but you should,” makes a weak case. He presents faith as something for others, something optional, something unnecessary for himself.

A faith treated as optional will not survive. It will be reduced to habit, then to nostalgia, then to nothing at all. Christianity was never meant to be a cultural artifact. It was meant to be lived.

III. The Religion of Transient Desires

A faith treated as a tool will always be discarded when a more convenient one comes along.

A religion sustained for its usefulness rather than its truth is a religion already in decline.

Cultural Christians see Christianity as a stabilizing force, a moral framework that keeps societies from unraveling. They speak of its civilizing power, its influence on law, its ability to shape good citizens. But they do not ask whether it is true. They see faith as a tool, not as a reality that demands obedience.

This is a fatal mistake. A faith that exists for its effects alone will collapse when people find alternatives. If Christianity is followed only because it produces moral behavior, then why not replace it with another system—one that requires less sacrifice, one that conforms more easily to modern sensibilities? If the faith is treated as a stabilizing force rather than a divine truth, it will be discarded the moment it becomes inconvenient.

A religion that is followed for its benefits will be reshaped by those benefits. It will soften where it once stood firm, compromise where it once commanded, bend until it is no longer recognizable. Christianity cannot survive as a tool of social order. It must stand on something greater than usefulness.

A people who follow Christianity for its benefits will leave it when they find something more beneficial. A people who follow it because it is true will never abandon it. And in the end, only one of these paths leads to a faith that endures.

IV. The Religion of Social Utility

A faith that is inherited but not embraced is like a candle passed from hand to hand—eventually, the flame goes out.

Cultural Christians do not defend Christianity as truth. They defend it as useful. They see it as a force that instills discipline, upholds tradition, and provides a moral framework for society. They do not believe it themselves, but they argue that others should, because belief makes people behave.

This is a hollow foundation. A religion cannot survive on utility alone. A faith followed for its benefits rather than its truth will crumble the moment those benefits seem unnecessary or replaceable. The argument for Christianity then becomes an argument for anything else that serves a similar function. If the goal is moral behavior, why not replace Christianity with secular ethics, psychology, or nationalism? If the goal is social cohesion, why not embrace a new ideology that demands stricter conformity?

A civilization built on Christianity’s usefulness rather than its truth will not remain Christian for long. When faith is reduced to a means rather than an end, it ceases to demand loyalty. It becomes a relic of tradition, something to be acknowledged but not obeyed. And when a new philosophy offers the same sense of order without the burden of belief, people will discard Christianity without hesitation.

A faith that exists only to serve society will always be shaped by society. It will change with the culture, bending to its pressures, softening its doctrines, retreating where it once stood firm. A faith that is treated as a tool will soon be abandoned for a better one.

V. The Modern Consequences of Cultural Christianity

When Christianity is followed out of habit rather than conviction, it becomes nothing more than an echo of a forgotten voice.

Cultural Christianity does not preserve the faith. It erodes it. Where once the church stood as a force of conviction, it now finds itself diluted by those who admire its influence but reject its demands. This has not strengthened Christianity—it has left it vulnerable, unguarded, and fading.

The West is proof of this decline. For centuries, Christianity shaped laws, customs, and moral expectations. It was not merely a respected institution but a guiding authority. Yet, as faith became a matter of tradition rather than belief, its influence waned. Churches filled with passive attendees, people who identified as Christian but did not live as such. Rituals remained, but the fire of conviction dimmed.

A religion that is followed out of habit will not survive cultural upheaval. When the modern world offered new ideologies, when material comfort became the highest good, Cultural Christians had no reason to resist. Their faith was not based on truth but on social expectation. And as those expectations shifted, so did their loyalty.

Now, Christianity in the West is largely a shadow of what it once was. Many still claim the name, but few embrace the cost. The doctrines are softened, the moral teachings revised, the authority of Scripture questioned. In the absence of real belief, new faiths have emerged—secularism, self-worship, political ideologies that demand obedience with a fervor Cultural Christians never had.

This is what happens when a faith is not lived. It is not merely weakened; it is replaced by its shadow.

VI. The Only Real Choice: Believe or Do Not

To call Christianity “good but not true” is to build a house on a foundation you admit is sand.

Christianity does not allow for half-measures. It is not a cultural ornament or a moral guideline to be admired from afar. It is a claim on reality—either Christ is Lord, or He is not. Either His words are true, or they are meaningless. There is no middle ground.

Cultural Christians want Christianity without commitment. They want its stability without its sacrifice, its moral order without its divine authority. But a faith that is followed for its effects rather than its truth is not faith at all. It is theater. It is sentimentality masquerading as conviction.

A civilization cannot be built on borrowed belief. It cannot sustain a faith that no one actually holds. Those who see Christianity as beneficial must ask themselves a harder question: is it true? If it is not, then why encourage anyone to follow it? If it is, then why not submit to it?

The world does not respect passive faith. It does not yield to cultural inertia. It is ruled by those who believe in something with conviction. If Christianity is to endure, it will not be through the lukewarm approval of those who admire from a distance. It will be through those who know that the faith is not optional, that Christ’s words are not suggestions, and that Christianity must be followed not because it is useful, but because it is true.

A man must choose: believe, or do not. But admiration without obedience is nothing at all.

VII. Terminus: A Faith That Must Be Lived

Christianity will not survive as a memory; it must either be lived or be lost.

Christianity was never meant to be a cultural relic. It is not a tradition to be preserved for its aesthetic value, nor a social mechanism for producing order. It is a call to obedience, a demand for faith, and a reality that shapes the lives of those who follow it. Anything less than full commitment is a shadow of the real thing.

Cultural Christians do not sustain the faith—they undermine it. They treat it as a beneficial institution rather than the truth of existence. They praise it while refusing to submit to it. In doing so, they turn Christianity into a hollow form, something admired but not obeyed, something respected but not believed. This weakens the faith, leaving it unguarded against cultural shifts and ideological replacements.

A borrowed faith will not survive. A religion followed out of convenience will fade. The history of Christianity in the West has proven this. Where belief was once deeply held, it has been replaced with sentimentality. Where conviction once guided nations, it has been softened into vague moralism. And where Christianity once stood firm, it has been discarded by those who never truly lived it.

The path forward is clear. If Christianity is to endure, it will not be through cultural admiration. It will be through real belief, real obedience, and real discipleship. The faith must be lived, or it will die. And those who claim to admire it must decide: Will they follow, or will they step aside and watch as it fades?