Some people talk about God, greet others the way Christians do, know all the right phrases, and even go to church now and then. But they have lived in the same sin for years, with no real repentance and no intention of changing. We are not talking about someone who humbly struggles against sin and falls again while trying to get back up. We are talking about someone who learned to live comfortably with sin and cover it with a religious layer.
It’s as if God became a lucky charm — something we wear for protection, but never truly surrender to. And there is a religious way of doing exactly that with God: using His name, the church, a prayer, or a Bible as spiritual coverage while the heart never actually gives in. But God is not a charm. God is holy, and Christ did not come to decorate our lives, but to save us, forgive us, and rule over us. Today’s question isn’t only “do I talk about God?” — it’s “am I surrendered to God?”
1. YOU CAN HAVE CHRISTIAN LANGUAGE WITHOUT A SURRENDERED LIFE
Jesus taught that not everyone who says “Lord” actually lives under God’s lordship. A person can say “God bless you,” “I’m a Christian,” or “I go to church too” — but the biblical question isn’t only what the mouth says, it’s what the life reveals. It’s common for churches to receive calls from people who, almost before anything else, ask whether there’s a job board or some kind of help available: they’re looking for a benefit, not for God.
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 7:21
“They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.” Titus 1:16
Some people don’t deny God with their lips, but they deny Him with their decisions — when they choose sin over obedience, when they defend a double life, when they want God’s comfort but not His correction. The mouth can say “Lord,” while the life keeps saying “I’m in charge.”
2. YOU CAN HEAR THE WORD FOR YEARS AND STILL BE DECEIVED
James is not confronting people who never heard the gospel. He is confronting people who hear, but don’t obey. That is serious, because one of the greatest dangers inside the church is not biblical ignorance, but biblical knowledge without obedience.
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” James 1:22
Some have listened to sermons for years, felt conviction, said “yes, I know I need to change” — and then gone right back to the same thing. James calls that self-deception: feeling good because you heard the truth, even without any real intention of obeying it. Spiritual self-deception begins when we confuse having heard with having obeyed. Someone who has attended church weekly for ten or fifteen years has heard hundreds, maybe thousands of sermons — and can still walk out saying “what a great message, pastor” without taking any real action that same week.
In Spain, for example, roughly 70% identify as atheist or agnostic, and of the remaining 30% who say they seek God, only about 10% actually practice their faith. And within that small percentage, a good number live out exactly this pattern: approaching God as a charm rather than as Lord.
3. YOU CAN TURN WHAT IS HOLY INTO A RELIGIOUS CHARM
Jeremiah confronted a people who trusted in the temple while living in sin. They thought that having the temple and the language of the covenant kept them safe. But God showed them they were using what was holy as a false guarantee: they had a temple, but no obedience; worship, but no transformation.
“Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.” Jeremiah 7:4
Treating God as a lucky charm means wanting His protection without His government. It means wanting His blessing without His correction. It means using the church as cover, not as the family where we are discipled and confronted. Today someone can carry a Bible open at home but closed in the heart, a cross around the neck but no cross taken up daily, a memorized prayer but no surrendered life. This isn’t unique to any one tradition: it’s common, before knowing Christ, to have carried a saint’s card in a wallet, believing it brought protection or favor — the same principle, just a different object.
4. YOU CAN DRAW NEAR TO GOD’S THINGS WITHOUT REVERENCE
Nadab and Abihu were not unknown pagans. They were Aaron’s sons, close to the altar, close to the priesthood. But that closeness did not protect them when they treated what was holy without reverence.
“And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not.” Leviticus 10:1
We can grow so used to singing, preaching, serving, and coming in and out of worship, that we stop trembling before the God we speak of. The problem isn’t serving a lot; the problem is serving without reverence. A person can be close to the things of God and far from the fear of God. Think of the basic respect people naturally give a teacher in a classroom — no one shows up eating, checking their phone, or dressed however they please — and ask why that same basic respect sometimes disappears before God, who deserves infinitely more.
5. TRUE FAITH DOESN’T USE CHRIST; IT SURRENDERS TO CHRIST
Obedience doesn’t buy salvation. We are saved by grace, through faith, not by human merit. But the faith that saves never leaves the one who is saved unchanged. We don’t obey to earn God’s love; we obey because we have been reached by His love.
“Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.” 1 Samuel 15:22
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15
True faith doesn’t use Christ as an occasional resource. True faith surrenders to Christ as Lord. It’s a bit like Alcoholics Anonymous meetings: someone can attend for years, enjoy the coffee and the company, and still keep drinking exactly the same. Eventually, others stop taking them seriously, because showing up isn’t the same as truly wanting to heal. Something similar happens with God: drawing near isn’t enough if the heart never actually decides to change.
And if you are sincerely struggling against sin — confessing, falling, and coming back to Christ — this is not condemnation for you. There is grace for the one who struggles. This warning is for the one who made a home out of sin and covered it with Christian language.
CONCLUSION
God is not a lucky charm. He is not a phrase to use when I’m afraid, a cross to wear while living the same way, or religious coverage for a life I don’t want to change. God is holy. Christ is Lord. The Word must be obeyed, sin must be confessed, and reverence must be recovered. Today the Lord isn’t calling us to walk away from what is holy, but to draw near correctly: with repentance, faith, obedience, and reverent fear.
If you’ve been using God as a lucky charm, repent. If you’ve heard the Word for years without obeying it, wake up. If you’ve grown used to what is holy, recover the fear of God. Christ doesn’t reject the repentant sinner, but He doesn’t bless hypocrisy either — His grace isn’t permission to stay the same, it’s power to return to God.
