Saturday, June 24, 2017

Kind-Of Christians

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.

—Acts 4:13

There are a lot of people running around today who are what we might describe as kind-of Christians. I know that isn’t theologically correct, because according to the Bible, either you are a Christian or you are not.

I’m talking about these people whom we’re not really sure about. We see some things in their lives that make us believe they might be followers of Jesus. They attend church, and they talk about God periodically. Maybe they even pray before meals. But then there are other things in their lives that seem to contradict that, and it makes us wonder.

I think there are a lot of people who believe they are Christians when they probably aren’t. And one of the reasons for that is a lot of shallow, anemic preaching in churches today. I’m afraid there may be a generation of people who think they really know God when they don’t know Him at all. They have been told to believe, but they have never been told to repent. They have been promised the hope of Heaven, but they have never been warned about the reality of Hell.

I question whether most Americans have ever heard the authentic gospel message. I know we’ve heard a lot of preaching. I know we’ve heard a lot of sermons. But have most Americans really heard the gospel? And do they have even a basic understanding of it?

Seven out of ten American adults have no clue what John 3:16 means, and barely one-third of all adults know the meaning of the term “the gospel.”

What we need today are people who walk and talk with Jesus Christ, people who, through their godly lifestyles, have in effect earned the right to be heard. What we need are people who have been with Jesus.