That’s a disturbing question.
But observing the average American Christian today, it’s painfully obvious that something has run amok. I’m not even talking about heretical movements that are flaunting false doctrine in abundance today - nor am I referring to declining church attendance. My concern is for those who are sitting in our pews.
The “sheep” are becoming more difficult to recognize as sheep. We’re undoubtedly reaping the fruit from decades of preaching a soft Savior, salvation without self denial, a crown without a cross and using unbiblical language like “accept” Jesus as one’s Savior (He accepts us).
So how many of our “sheep” have really experienced Biblical salvation? The late Dr. D. James Kennedy pondered the same question, when he stated that based on the empirical evidence, he had come to the conclusion that “75-80% of people attending church weren’t really saved.”
Jim Elliff essentially asks the same in his article about the Southern Baptist Church when he said: “When as many as 70-90% of “converts” are giving little if any evidence of being saved after their first weeks or months of emotional excitement, questions should be asked, both about our understanding of the gospel and about our methods.”
Questions indeed - and the biggest one - How saved are we?
Many church goers would say that they "know who they are in Christ” - but I must kindly beg to differ. Only 1-2% of Christians EVER share their faith - blatantly ignoring even an attempt at fulfilling the Great Commission. The divorce rate is actually higher in the church than it is in the world. (I've cited on this blog that the divorce rate among church attenders is actually higher than it is among atheists). The percentage of Christians involved in cohabitation and other sexual promiscuity rivals the world’s numbers. Again I wonder, how saved are we?
Ron Sider, author of The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience says, “If American Christians simply gave a tithe rather than the current one-quarter of a tithe, there would be enough private Christian dollars to provide basic health care and education to all the poor of the earth. And we would still have an extra $60–70 billion left over for evangelism around the world.” Apparently us church folks aren’t the most generous bunch either. That flies in the face of the very definition of a true Christian.
Evidence points to the fact that, by and large, we have a defective church. And the reason? We have preached a defective message. We have done a big disservice to our hearers in two ways: We have failed to tell them the old life must end; and we have failed to definitively show them the new life in Him. The truth is our Americanized modern gospel has created a lot of followers who are not true sheep, but geese - as in, lost as a goose.
The sad and difficult part is, many actually believe they are saved merely because they may have said some sort of a prayer, perhaps have a church membership card in their wallets or maybe even have baptism waters dripping off of their face.
John MacArthur, speaking about some of these church attenders who populate the American church: “People are breezing through these wide, comfortable gates with all their baggage, their self needs, their self esteem, and their desire for fulfillment and self satisfaction. And the most horrible thing about it is, they think they are going to heaven.”
The preaching of Biblical salvation is long overdue. So how Biblical is our salvation? Here is Biblical salvation in a nutshell:
1. To be saved there has to be a complete, utter surrender and sellout to Jesus Christ. This is often referred to as “believing in Jesus” or “putting your trust” in Him. God’s holy Son died for the world. The Perfect One suffered a criminals death. He bore all of our sin on the cross. The Righteous Lamb died for foul sinners. He paid the price completely for sin. We sinned. He died. We were guilty. He was punished. We deserve death. He gave us life. We rejected Him. He accepted us. Salvation is through Him completely. We add NOTHING to our salvation. It’s a gift of God given by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ the Righteous.
2. With this sellout, there is something called repentance. Repentance is a change of mind, a change of direction - we abandon the sin we used to partake in. Jesus described our salvation experience as being “born again”. That describes an upheaval. A drastic change. A brand new start. Does that sound familiar? When the Spirit of the Living God comes to inhabit our lives, there should be a big difference - a before and after - Liars stop lying. Thieves stop stealing.
It’s time to wake up the pew sitters in America with the truth. It may be shocking and offensive to many that have been lulled asleep by having their ears tickled, but it will be oh so healing, redemptive and life changing.
“Therefore He says: ‘Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” Ephesians 5:14.
A Pew Forum survey has found that 57 percent of evangelical church attenders say that they believe many religions can lead to eternal life, which is in direct conflict with Biblical Christianity.
