Some Of You Aren't Even Converted

What True Christianity Looks Like

I was talking to a dear preaching friend from South Dakota recently about the state of the church. He spent many years as a missionary to Russia. We were discussing how apathetic many Christians have become in America.

In many countries Christians are literally risking their lives to gather together for worship. But in the America many people struggle just to check off a box on Sunday morning. (Just look at our drop off rates Sunday night and Wednesday night.) He commented that the buckle on the “Bible Belt” has become loosened, and that many who claim to be Christians really are not.

Let’s be brutally honest for a moment. Some of you sitting in church pews every Sunday morning aren’t even converted.

You’ve been baptized. You know the songs. You can even quote a few memory verses. But if someone followed you around on Monday morning, would they see any evidence that Jesus Christ has actually transformed your life?

Far too often, church has become little more than a social club. It’s a place to meet friends, discuss football scores, enjoy potlucks, and occasionally soothe a guilty conscience. For some, it’s the weekly “insurance policy” they keep in their back pocket—attend enough services, and maybe they won’t go to hell.

But Christianity is not fire insurance. It’s not about checking a box, singing three songs, and bowing your head at the right time. It’s about transformation.

The apostle Paul declared, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). But let’s be honest—some of us have never truly left the “old” behind. We still gossip like the world.

We still chase materialism like the world. We still let Netflix, TikTok, and Instagram shape our values more than Scripture does. We claim the name of Christ, but our hearts and habits look suspiciously like those who don’t know Him at all.

And let’s not overlook this—some of us treat our own brethren worse than we treat strangers. We carry grudges for years. We refuse to forgive. We let bitterness take root and poison our relationships, all while pretending we’re walking in the light.

We won’t forgive members in our own church family, but we will fight tooth and nail if the preacher doesn’t mention the 5-step plan of salvation and get us out in an hour.

Friend, that’s not conversion. That’s camouflage.

Too many people are just playing church. Jesus didn’t die so you could warm a pew and go home. He didn’t shed His blood so you could keep one foot in the kingdom and one foot in the world. He died to give you a new heart, a new purpose, and a new mission.

But if your life looks no different than your unbelieving neighbor’s, then it’s time to face a hard truth—you may not be converted at all.

In Matthew 7, Jesus warned that “not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.” Those words should shake us to our core. He wasn’t talking about atheists or pagans. He was talking about people who thought they were safe—people who looked religious but had never truly surrendered.

So let me ask: Is your Christianity real, or is it a convenient cover?

Are you staking everything on your “baptism card” and being present one hour per week? Has Christ transformed your mind, your speech, your habits, and your priorities? Or do you still cling to the world’s values while trying to wear His name?

Conversion means more than sitting in a pew. It means dying to self and living for Him (Galatians 2:20). It means a radical break from sin. It means aligning your life so completely with Christ that others can’t help but notice the difference.

The church doesn’t need more social club members. It doesn’t need more lukewarm pew-sitters. It needs men and women who are truly converted—on fire for the Lord, sold out to His mission, and unashamed to be different from the world. Especially now, at a time when so many people are returning to religion.

So, I’ll say it again: Some of you aren’t even converted. The question is—will you stay that way?

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