American Dream vs Biblical Faith

I read a book recently, "Radical" by David Platt.  Platt really challenged me to consider the possibility that I had sold out to the American Dream.  He gives some pretty easily understood indicators that hint that one might be living for self, rather than living for God.  I hear people all the time say "I'm a Christian, I believe in God and all that.  I go to church."  Blah, blah, blah.  The problem with this statement, at least in my experience is that it's almost never backed up with any kind of physical evidence to prove that the person believes in what he or she just said. 

Here's what I mean.  A person says "I'm a Christian".  But they live a life of self-indulgence.  Jesus said that if anyone wants to be His disciple, they must first deny themselves and then they can follow Him.  So, self-indulgence seems to be the antithesis of being a Christian.  Others say; "oh, I believe in Jesus", as though simply assenting to what we know from History is significant.  The Bible says that even the demons believe in Jesus, so that doesn't seem to carry much weight, either.  Jesus said in Matthew 7:21:  "Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."  So, just believing that Jesus exists doesn't seem to get me very far, either. 

So, what is it that makes me a true Christian and enables me to live without worshipping the world or all of it's toys?  Well, I'll give you my thoughts on the next post.  In the mean time, I'd value hearing about what you think?