From the Reveal survey last January, we know that 57% of our people rated themselves in pre- or early stages of following Jesus. Those people also indicated that they generally don't believe in the authority of the Bible and they don't believe in salvation by grace.
Want to hear some other views of how the 57% think? Here's an excerpt from Stephanie's post where she outlines her beliefs during the earlier stages of her journey.
In the summer of 2000...I had spent a couple of months going to church, reading the bible and religious materials, and I had come to some conclusions:
- I needed to be "saved" (fixed might be a better word)
- Of all the available options to fix me, Christianity was probably the best because...
- Just in case...the whole burning in hell thing.
There were some steps to being fixed:
Sinners Prayer: For me this looked something like - God, I'm unbelievably, unfathomably bad. Badder than even you could probably imagine, but maybe, you could have pity on me? Please help me, fix me. Please, Please help me, Please fix me. Please. Please. Please. (Repeat often, maybe daily, indefinitely)
Baptism: (3 times, I don't need to say any more than that)
Rules: Follow them.
Judgment: Standing in a long line, keeping my fingers crossed that the "blood" really works, when I get to the "Book".
Reward: Heaven, maybe, hopefully, someday (not too soon, please).
...I'm wondering, am I the only one? Because this is the message that I got, in some form or another, my entire life, from "saved people"...I have to ask, "What's up with that?"
She is definitely not the only one - at GCC or any church. Far from it! This is an accurate articulation and consistent with the statements I hear frequently from people I talk with. Helping people move from self-centered to Christ-centered lives is why we're doing what we're doing...more details of the changes are coming in the next couple weeks - we're on the way!
Comments