More Than a Cultural Christian

“And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’”
—Matthew 4:19

Is it possible to be culturally Christian without truly following Jesus Christ?

Is it possible to attend church, know Christian language, believe that Jesus was a real person, and still possess more knowledge about Him in our heads than obedience to Him in our hearts?

Jesus certainly believed it was possible.

In Matthew 7, Jesus warned that some would call Him “Lord” and even point to impressive works performed in His name, yet hear Him say, “I never knew you.” Their problem was not a lack of religious activity. Their problem was that they did not truly know or follow Him.

Cultural Christianity allows us to maintain a connection to Jesus without surrendering control of our lives to Jesus. It treats His teachings like a cafeteria line: we take what appeals to us and leave behind whatever seems costly, uncomfortable, or inconvenient.

But Jesus never offered that kind of discipleship.

When great crowds followed Him in Luke 14, Jesus did not soften His message to make discipleship more attractive. He spoke about loving Him above every other relationship, carrying a cross, and counting the cost. In the first century, a cross was not a decoration. It was an instrument of execution. No one carried a cross without understanding that he was walking toward death.

Jesus was teaching that following Him requires the surrender of our previous claim over our own lives.

“Follow Me”

The first part of Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 4:19 is simple: “Follow me.”

This is where discipleship begins. A disciple knows Jesus savingly.

Peter, Andrew, James, and John did not merely add Jesus to their existing plans. When He called them, they left their nets, their boats, and their former direction in life. Jesus did not give them a detailed itinerary. He did not explain every hardship they would encounter. He simply called them to follow.

The call remains the same today.

There is no truly neutral response to Jesus. When we are confronted with who He is, we either turn away or bow before Him. Cultural Christianity attempts to create a comfortable third option—admiring Jesus while retaining lordship over ourselves—but Jesus never offered that option.

Luke 5 gives us a striking picture of Peter recognizing who Jesus truly was. After the miraculous catch of fish, Peter fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

Standing before the holiness of Christ, Peter became overwhelmed by the reality of his own sin.

Peter did not need Jesus to accept him. Peter needed to be rescued by Jesus.

That remains true for every one of us. Jesus does not need our acceptance. We need His mercy. We bring nothing to our salvation except the sin from which we need to be saved.

The proper response is the response Jesus proclaimed at the beginning of His ministry: “Repent and believe the gospel.”

To repent means that we turn away from our sin and our former direction. To believe means that we trust that Jesus died in the place of sinners and rose again. To follow means that we fall in behind Him as Savior, Lord, and leader of our lives.

We may not know everything Jesus will ask of us. We may not know where obedience will take us. But we know who is calling us.

A disciple is not merely someone who attends church or agrees with certain Christian beliefs. A disciple is someone who has encountered Jesus, repented of sin, believed the gospel, and begun following Him.

That leads to an important question for each of us:

Are we following Jesus, or have we merely found a comfortable place somewhere in the crowd?


This article was adapted from the sermon “A Disciple Knows, Grows, and Goes,” based on Matthew 4:18–22, preached by Doug Modic at Cornerstone Bible Church on October 1, 2023.