Why would a person who has never come to salvation through Christ bother to keep up the outward appearance of being a Christian? Why would such an individual serve as a Sunday school teacher, deacon, pastor, or pastor’s wife?

There could be many reasons: to impress others, to please someone else, to enjoy the benefits of a believing community without the spiritual cost, because they really don’t understand the gospel of salvation by faith in Jesus, because it’s a commitment they’ve put off so long that it’s now a false lifestyle, because it’s what their family always did . . .

Whatever the reason that leads to pseudo-Christianity, the good news is, when a person like this truly kneels in subjection to the Son of God, embracing Him as their Savior, the well of new life springing up and spilling out through God’s Spirit at work in them can transform a whole church!

One of our teams is currently in a summit where, in the Sunday morning church service, 50 people expressed their need for genuine salvation. We rejoice with those who were born into God’s family that day, and we look forward to seeing the evidence of this new life, as they are now what they only seemed to be previously.