In a recent article in Christianity Today, Griffin Paul Jackson states that the largest mission field in Europe is made up of those who “call themselves Christians but exhibit few, if any, signs of faith.” They are what we call “nominal Christians,” whose faith doesn’t go beyond being identified with church or denomination. Frank Hinkelmann, president of the European Evangelical Alliance, had this to say about such people: “They believe they know Christianity when they only know a kind of Christendom.”

The Pew Research Center reports non-practicing Christians outnumber church-attending believers throughout Western Europe. What is true in Europe is fast becoming true here in the states with more and more people identifying as Christian while remaining “non-practicing.”

However, “non-practicing Christian” is not a viable label. It was A.W. Tozer who said, “Anything that makes no difference in the man who professes it makes no difference to God either.” Evert Van de Poll, professor at the Evangelical Theological Faculty in Belgium, says, “The nominal Christian does not exist...anybody who has not made a personal commitment of faith needs to be evangelized.”

So here’s the question: How can we discern our own true spiritual conditions—or reach those who consider themselves Christians but have no real understanding of faith? In the spirit of Jeff Foxworthy’s “You might be a redneck if…,” here are a list of questions that provide a starting point to examine yourself or to lovingly engage others on the question of their Christianity.

• If you cannot remember a time and place when and where you personally committed your life to Christ as Lord and Savior, you might be a nominal.

• If there is a notable lack of spiritual fruit in your life, you might be a nominal. “You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.” Matthew 7:16-17

• If there is an absence of God’s discipline in your life, you might be a nominal. Hebrews 12:8 says, if you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

• If you have purposely avoided any contact with a church body, you might be nominal. “We know we’ve passed from death to life because we love the brothers.” 1 John 3:14

• If you have no appetite for the Bible or any desire to serve the Lord, you might be a nominal. Our Lord Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27

• If you think about praying only when you need God to bail you out, you might be a nominal.

• If you hold on to bitterness and an unforgiving spirit, you might be a nominal. Jesus said, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matthew 6:14-15

• If you continue to live in an unscriptural lifestyle without repentance, you might be a nominal. The Bible says, “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.” 1 John 3:9

I could go on, but this should serve as a beginning test. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? —unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” (2 Corinthians 13:5)

I certainly hope you do not think me judgmental. I sincerely believe the greatest thing that could be done for a person living with false hope, thinking they’re Christian when they are not, is to bring them to see their true spiritual condition. Remember, a label on an empty bottle is meaningless.