By Kristy Volmert | Staff Writer
“Performance Christianity” is a phenomenon becoming increasingly common amongst Christian college students, and it is abundant at Baylor University.
Baylor’s administrators in spiritual well-being do a fabulous job at helping Christian students grow in their faith. In fact, they almost don’t get enough recognition. The resources provided to students by faculty to engage in spiritual growth are extraordinary. The thing that concerns me is the growing number of college-aged Christians who don’t practice what they preach.
Surely, no Christian student is perfect, nor should they ever be expected to be. Every single one of us will make mistakes and sin. These mistakes are part of human nature, and we should be quick to forgive ourselves and others just as God forgives us. The issue lies within the way we act when nobody is watching — or at least when nobody whose opinion we truly care about is watching. The truth is, there’s only one opinion that should truly, always matter to us — God’s.
Christian character all comes down to integrity, and integrity is rooted in intention. As a Christian, that intention is to follow the example of Jesus and live a life that is dedicated to Him. Having this genuine intention in our hearts equips us to live with integrity that sets us apart from others.
Many Christians believe that they are driven by this intention, but are more motivated by self-benefit. This ulterior motivation, whether consciously recognizable or not, can stand in the way of true Christian integrity. This is normal and nothing to be ashamed of. Human nature is an inevitable component of our behavior. But someone who has the intention of living for Jesus will at some point recognize this fault and intentionally repent. However, some Christians will recognize this fault and convince themselves that they can make it work — there’s a way for them to make their wrongs right.
There is no way for anybody to grow in their faith if they are not able to recognize the areas in which they struggle most. Self-awareness is a key part of growth. Self-awareness is to growth as intention is to integrity. I believe that these attributes are greatly under-discussed. A lack of both intention and self-awareness is what leads to Performance Christianity — a lifestyle that on the outside is dedicated to Christ, but is ultimately selfish beneath the surface.
For one, there are those who openly have no intention of having a relationship with God and took every spiritual opportunity for granted. Two, there are those who are intentional in their Christian faith and want to grow in an evident way. And three, there are those who say what a Christian would say and do what a Christian would do, only when given a reward or public recognition of some kind — that’s Performance Christianity.
Having a graduating class of less than two-thirds of my current Psychology lecture, it wasn’t hard to get to know almost everyone and their relevant public endeavors. After years of observing those around me, I eventually adopted the ability to discern an intentional Christian from a hypocritical one. But I did not learn this the easy way. From sixth grade until my junior year, my naivety left me vulnerable to a group of performance Christians who became my group of friends.
It wasn’t until I was truly saved and fully dedicated my life to Christ that I woke up to the reality of how many of my friends had been living. I had understood what it meant to be considered a Christian, but I was not living it. I was falling into the pattern of many around me, letting my faith become a checklist and my selfish wants becoming the driving force behind my actions. The radical change I experienced when I was born again changed my perspective on everything. It was like taking off a blindfold. I became aware of the mistakes I had been making. Now, I knew exactly who I was, but had not forgotten who I was before.
Posting Instagram pictures from the mission trips I went on and receiving recognition of Christian character from my coaches did not fulfill me in the way I’d always thought it would. Nor did leading worship, reposting Bible verses on my Snapchat story, donating an outstanding amount of money to my church’s expansion fund or telling my friends about all the ways I’d volunteered in ministry.
I thought I was doing everything right and wondered why I wasn’t experiencing the abundant joy and peace that other Christians so often talked about. Why did going to church on Sundays feel like a chore? Why didn’t I enjoy reading my Bible?
It wasn’t until I ended up in a place of intentional worship that I finally felt touched by the Holy Spirit. It was just me and God. I realized that He sees and recognizes my every action and knows me better than anybody else ever could. I didn’t need validation from others anymore. I would always be noticed by God, and He is the only authority to judge and reward me.
I encourage every person reading this to periodically reflect on your intentions and self-awareness. It is such a small and simple thing, but it helps us exponentially in our faith journeys.
