As a working student in the late 90s, I worked in a bank, and since we always handled money, the bank made us attend a training called the “Counterfeit Verification” seminar.  The first and most important point they told us in that seminar was this, “You don’t learn to spot counterfeit money by studying the counterfeits. You study genuine bills until you master the look of the real thing. Then when you see the bogus money you recognize it.” The same principle applies to the spiritual journey that we each have. When we encounter others who claim or say they are Christians, we are only able to discern and really identify if their Christianity is real, if they have a growing and vibrant relationship with God and not just religion. We recognize true followers of Christ by knowing and mastering the real thing.