What is meant by secular Christianity? What is a secular Christian?

The term secular Christianity is the label for an unbiblical approach to following Jesus Christ. The word secular, meaning “without spiritual conviction,” describes people who adopt beliefs and behaviors that reflect worldly culture rather than biblical truth. For example, secular Christians may appreciate Jesus’ teaching on love yet reject what He said about sin. As a result, they embrace society’s values rather than submit to the Bible’s authority. A secular Christian is someone who professes faith in Jesus but follows the world instead.

Secular Christianity isn’t biblical. It’s misguided because it redefines faith according to the preferences and opinions of one’s culture. In fact, the Bible warns that those who claim to follow Jesus without genuine devotion are living a lie. Such hypocrisy has dire consequences. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). These words reveal the difference between a verbal profession of faith and a genuine walk with Jesus. The Lord said that, at the judgment, many will claim to have done good works in Jesus’ name, but Jesus will reply, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (Matthew 7:23).

True discipleship is what genuinely following Christ looks like. It involves a spurning of the world’s value system in favor of God’s. As the anonymous chorus says,

Discipleship requires surrender to God’s authority, not conformity to the world. The apostle Paul wrote, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). Secular Christianity blurs the line between the church and the world. Genuine discipleship calls believers to reflect God’s holiness, even when it sets them apart. Ultimately, faith that conforms to culture loses its power to transform that culture.

Furthermore, secular Christianity distorts the message of grace. The Bible teaches that grace saves people from sin. It doesn’t free people to continue in it. Paul warned, “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (Romans 6:1–2). God’s grace results in repentance and obedience, not indifference and compromise (see also Psalm 130:4).

Secular Christianity replaces God’s truth with the popular opinions of an unbelieving world. The tendency to do this is not new. Paul said that people would reject truth in favor of messages that please them: “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear” (2 Timothy 4:3). This verse shows that those who claim to follow Jesus while rejecting what He teaches are driven by sinful desire, not spiritual conviction.

In contrast to disingenuous faith, authentic Christianity endures a secular world through loyalty to Jesus above all else. Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). Authentic faith resists the lure of worldly approval and finds joy in obedience to God. Such devotion stands firm when culture shifts because its foundation rests on the unchanging teaching and character of Jesus.

Secular Christianity is the result of loving the world more than God. Compromises may make someone more popular on social media, but it does so at the expense of one’s heart, mind, and soul. Accordingly, James 4:4 offers this warning: “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” In other words, the Bible affirms this age-old truth: you can’t walk with God and hold hands with the devil.