What’s clear in the book of Acts is that Christianity and the church are not something to trifle with. Ananias and Sapphira found out the hard way in Acts 5, so did Simon in Acts 8 and now these exorcists in Acts 19. The point is that any attempt to simply add Christianity to one’s existing life or worldview results in deeper deception and disaster. Being saved by Jesus Christ and added to the church must consume one’s life; it’s a complete transfer from being a world lover to a God lover and it’s impossible to be both.
Now you might be thinking—“I don’t always see a lot of negative consequences in those who try to play the game and merely baptize their personal desires in the name of Christ to the end that they only partially commit to his will.” Well, one of the most destructive things anyone can do is to become accustomed to being around the church, while sitting under the word and yet never grow or change. In the patience of God, the severe consequences often take a while to show up. In other words, it often takes years of superficial interaction with the church to lead to some major sin that plunges one into spiritual disaster. This is why we must be on guard to refuse to simply add Jesus to our personal pursuits. God will never bless that, since Christ is worthy of our entire lives, because he is above all things and God has bestowed on him that name that is above every name.