Many people believe that churchgoers are all “Christian”. If you grow up in the church, you’re Christian, right? Many people may be Christian in a nominal sense, but not all people who go to church are true believers and followers of Christ. Following are testimonies of people who grew up in church, but they discovered they were not Christians in the true sense:
Carlis grew up in the church and even played the piano in church services, but he was living a life that was far from God. He knew that he was putting off the decision he needed to make, but he figured he would do it later in life until one day when he realized there are no guarantees in life. There is no time like the present. When he made the decision to give his life for God, things changed. God was there.
Jesus said, “Unless you are born again, you cannot enter the kingdom of God.” Many people are raised in church, but that does not make one a believer or a child of God. The relationship with God is personal and direct and cannot be gained through birth, being born into a Christian family or even by going to church. Jesus said that many will be told, “I never knew you” though they professed to know God and do things in His name. Here is the story of a young man who came to the realization that he did not know God though he was raised in the church in a Christian family, and that realization made all the difference in the world.
Following are four testimonies that likely represent many people in America who believe themselves to be right with God because they have bought in to an easy form of Christianity that is nothing more than an insurance policy to save a person from hell. But Jesus is not just a Savior, but God. A true encounter with God changes people and gives them new hearts, making them more like Him in a lifelong process called sanctification. If there is no change in your life, in your heart, if there is no fruit from your relationship with God, you may not have received the life that Jesus has to give. It is not too late.
This young man was a churchgoer all of his life, and he believed in Jesus, but he was a hypocrite. He was really ashamed of Jesus, and true Christians got on his nerves, so he avoided them. Sin took hold of him, and he delighted in it, but God began to expose the sin to him. So he began to try to get rid of the sin. He thought the solution was in himself. But, as he tried to rescue himself, he went deeper and deeper into sin. He couldn’t stop. And then, his life changed.
Shanomar Ogilvie thought of himself as a Christian. If you asked him, he would say that was saved. But, then he had a dread that caused him to call out to God. That began a series of events and set him off on a journey that changed his life.
Courtney grew up Catholic, but church didn’t mean much to her. She was very successful in college and thought she “had the world”, but then her pedestal was kicked out from underneath her. She lost her boyfriend and her friends, and she plunged into depression and felt like her world crumbled away before her. That’s when everything changed.
Matt was raised in a Christian home, his parents were Christians, and he went to church every Sunday. He got awards for being a “good Christian”, but then he “crashed against the rocks”, and his faith feel completely apart. This is the story of his deconstruction, but that isn’t the end of the story.
Navigating by Faith 