So I remember in church, when I was growing up, after every Sunday morning service the Pastor would ask those that had asked Jesus into their heart or just needed prayer to come down front in a public profession of faith. Sadly those days seem to be gone. Now every church I have gone too says the same thing…”Every head bowed and every eye closed”.
Wait. What? When did we become ashamed or embarrassed by becoming a Christian. Has the church changed so much that people are afraid that they might be ridiculed by the members of the church? If that’s the case you are in the wrong church! But that can’t be it because most churches are doing that now and they can’t all be making fun of new Christians. Surely not!
My belief is that it is just another part of the feel good ideology that has taken over many churches. Churches was to make becoming and being a Christian as easy as possible because it directly effects their bottom line.
Am I the only one who misses the days of the small country churches where the sermons were honest even if they were tough to hear? Where the church,as a whole, was more worried about your well being and your walk with Christ than they were about attendance numbers and how much money they had in the bank or how big and fancy their building was. Please tell me I’m not the only one that sees this and is worried by it.
No we are embarrassed to say we are a Christian…even in our churches. Was Paul afraid, even in prison, to let people know he was a follower of Christ? Let’s have a look…
“And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’”
Acts 16:25-30 NKJV
Even facing death Paul wasn’t afraid to show that he was a follower of Christ. But we want to make sure no one else in the church knows who has asked Christ into their heart? Something is seriously wrong with that.
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”
Romans 10:9-10 NKJV