Lip Synching Christians Series

“Lip-Syncing” Christian?

Rev. Rodney Johnson and Rev. Barry Johnson

NOTE: New Light Faith Ministries and Barry Johnson Ministries, founded by Rodney V. Johnson and Barry O. Johnson, respectively, are partnering to offer Bible studies for Christians who are seeking to grow in their relationship with Jesus. This is a Bible study lesson, not a sermon. The Bible studies teach foundational truth that are designed to challenge, encourage and, most importantly, flame the fire of hunger in the Christian who wants to learn more about who they have become in Christ Jesus. The Bible studies you find on this site contains the written version of the lesson. However, these lessons also include a video and an audio file of the study, a PDF version of the lesson and a sheet for note taking. If you would like any of the additional resources for these studies, please email us at newlightfaithministries@gmail.com or bjteachingltr@gmail.com for more information or contact us at the email provided on both of our Sermon Central pages. Please visit our YouTube Channel (Barry Johnson Ministries; New Light Faith Ministries, Inc.) to watch or listen to these lessons as well as other available sermons. Be blessed.

Introduction

Hello everyone and Happy New Year! I want you to say this with me: “God is good. All the time. To me and to you!” Amen! This is what we can always expect from our Heavenly Father and that’s why we are excited to see what God has in store for us and for those in the Church who want to see His will done here on Earth. Let’s open this month’s Bible study with a Word of prayer. We truly believe that the overall purpose of these monthly Bible studies is help you grow and mature in your faith walk with Jesus. And one of the ways we do is by examining what is going on in the Church today that may or may not be in agreement with foundational truths God has given to us in His Word. And, just to be clear, as we prepare these lessons, we grow in our faith walk as God continues to reveal truth to us as well.

This month’s Bible study looks at the Church and how some in the Church say the right things but are not living the things that they are saying. So, we have titled this month’s Bible study “Lip-Syncing Christians.” Would you recognize a “lip-syncing” Christian? By the close of this lesson we hope that not only will you be able to recognize one but will also be able to determine if there are areas in your life where you might be as well. Believe us; we had to make this same assessment in some areas of our lives. Before we go further, we want to remind you of one something Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23, “(21) Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. (22) Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ (23) And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” Keep this Scripture in your heart and mind as we go through this lesson because lip-syncing Christians will not be known by our Lord and Savior.

How many of you remember Milli Vanilli, the R&B duo from Munich, Germany? The group was founded in 1988 and their debut album, “Girl You Know It’s True,” achieved international success and earned them a Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1990. When the duo did their first live interview with MTV, an executive noticed their poor English skills. Those present began to doubt whether they were the voices singing on their records. The first public sign that they were not the voices on their records came on July 21, 1989, during a live MTV performance. As they performed the song “Girl You Know It’s True” the record jammed and began to skip, repeating the partial line “Girl, you know it’s ...” over and over through the speakers. They continued to pretend to sing and dance for a few more moments then ran offstage. They eventually confessed to not singing the songs and were later stripped of their Grammys. Barry, what is lip-syncing?

What is lip-syncing?

Lip-syncing is when a person moves his lips silently pretending to say or sing at precisely the same time with a recorded sound. This is not an uncommon practice. Today many vocalists, for example, pre-record their singing of the National Anthem before performing it before large outdoor gatherings like the Super Bowl and MLB playoffs games. And, Rodney, it makes sense because there are too many variables the person has to control, unless of course you are Whitney Houston or Marvin Gaye! When Whitney sang the national anthem for the Super Bowl and Marvin for the NBA All-Star game – they were amazing! Okay, I am showing my age with Marvin Gaye! However, in the case of Milli Vanilli, they were lip-syncing the voices of other singers – not their own voices that they had pre-recorded. They were pretending to be people they were not. Let me repeat that because it is an important principle to remember for this lesson. Milli Vanilli was pretending to be people they were not. The person who lip-syncs, and Rodney and I want you to hear what I am about to say. If a person is lip-syncing and pretending to be someone else, the person who lip-syncs is a shadow of the real person. They have not put in the work necessary to be authentic, to be genuine, to be real – to be who they say they are. Now let’s me define “Christian lip-syncing.”