Christianity vs ianity

Christianity without Christ is just "ianity" - and who the heck is Ian compared to Jesus?!
We're warned about "having a form of godliness but denying its power" (2Tim3:5). Why? Because this approach looks like Christianity but ignores the Person at the centre. So all too soon "Ianity" devolves into self-righteousness (legalistic or licentious), because it follows its own construct of the values, rather than meeting with, listening to, and being led by the Designer, Jesus Himself.

I can see this danger in my circles, where we teach (rightly!) that Judaeo-Christian values, indeed the Bible, is the best value set on which to build civilization. I teach world views from a Biblical foundation.
But I also teach that people need not just the values of Jesus but the Person of Jesus, to come to new life spiritually. To see the qualities of Jesus fruit in our lives.
I've recently been invited to ARC (Alliance of Responsible Citizenship), and I'm sure that such necessary cross-disciplinary cooperatives will ultimately only be successful to the degree that they acknowledge this Spiritual Way. Because the spiritual is part of life too, so should not be overlooked but integrated into the cross-disciplinary approach.
People need the LORD, not just his values. In fact if we truly had His values, we would know there is a spiritual dimension to which we need to come alive, and we can't do that without Jesus! Consider Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus in John 3. We all need to humble ourselves, to let "the same Spirit of Him who raised Christ from the dead live in us" (Rom8:12). Only then we can listen to Jesus and do what He says. And that leads to real responsible citizenship, where everyone is responsive to Jesus' lead.

Now this in no way negates the need to engage rigorously in all sectors. Indeed doing so is also part of Jesus' values, to "go into all the world." All the world includes:

1. Family
2. Charity / Not-for-profits / Health / Science & tech
3. Church / Religion / Worldview / Philosophy / Culture
4. Education / Media
5. Arts & Cultural expression / Entertainment / Sport & Rec.
6. Business / Economy
7. Government / Law / Justice / Military

But Jesus continues, "go into all the world ...and make disciples..." In all the world's spheres there are people, people who need the spiritual life that only Jesus can give. So as we go into all these spheres, we are not only to influence with Jesus' values, but to introduce people to Jesus Himself! When they come to that new life, connecting directly with Him, then that Life spreads in the world. And that's what ultimately makes a truly responsible citizenship, because then they too grow to influence the world in ways that are Christ-led from the inside out.

Therefore, this Spiritual Life is not to be confined to just the "Church sphere." Churches play a significant role in sharing that spiritual life, but that Life is needed in every sphere. Let no sphere exclude this Life, because all of life is ultimately spiritual, and to ignore this is to frustrate our own efforts.
Rather, let anyone, anywhere, in any sphere, turn to the One Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6).