We’ve all known “that guy” who we ignominiously refer to as “The One-Upper.” If you ran a 4:15 mile in High School, he ran a 3:45…while wearing Crocs. If you bench press 225 pounds, he benches 315…with one arm. And if you missed a couple days of work with the flu, he sends his condolences…while reminding you of the time that he had to call in sick because he simultaneously had ebola, anthrax, and amoebic dysentery while passing a 7-pound kidney stone.

And The One Upper attempts to legitimize his fraudulent feats by “name-dropping” celebrities. My favorite One Upper was apparently on a first-name basis with Michael Jordan, Barack Obama, and Mariah Carey…but I guarantee if anyone asked any member of that trio, “Do you know (insert One-Upper’s name), they would have responded with a quizzical look, a perplexed furrowing of the brow, and a unanimous “No.”

Unfortunately, many people treat Jesus in the same way. They “name-drop” him, say they “know” him, and maybe even claim to follow him. But the more important question for anyone who claims to have a relationship with Jesus is, “Does Jesus know you?” Because the true followers of Christ who know and are known by him are characterized by humility…there’s no place in God’s Kingdom for Pharisaical One-Uppers.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”

-Matthew 7:21-23