The Danger Of Growing Up In A Christian Home

Before all the non-Christians rejoice over the title and think I am going to lambaste Christian families let me assure you that is not the case. If you are going to grow up in a family then a dedicated Christian home is the best place to be.

When I was newly saved, my pastor and I were having a chat and he said, “I wish I had a testimony like you because I grew up in a Christian home and been a Christian since a child. I told him, “You are lucky I don't punch you in the nose because I would give my right arm to have your testimony. Jesus saved you from going into the pit. He had to pull me out and you do not have the scars or the memories. Be happy! “ Remember, I was newly saved. I don't punch preachers in the nose though I did have one that I wanted be a part of the Kung Fu fighting scene with him, but that is another story. ;-)

While a Christian home living in grace and truth is awesome, it also has its danger. Too often, we rush our children into becoming Christians or some think salvation is handed down like blue eyes and blond hair. Once in Virginia Beach at a Service Men's center I was talking with a sailor who told me that he was born a Christian. I could not get him to see that he needed to have his own relationship with Christi

Growing up in a Christian home has the danger of this kind of thing more often than we might suppose. When I was a junior in Bible college we had five THB seniors get saved at a conference. These lads were born and raised in good Christian homes. They were schooled in Christian schools from 4K through what was not their fifth year of Bible college. They were about to go out and seek a position as pastors of a Conservative, Bible Believing, KJV toting' church, yet were as lost as a goose in a hurricane.

Over the years I have heard many similar stories. Men who have been pastors for 30+ years, Sunday School teachers, deacons, and music people getting saved. Serving their hearts out for Jesus and yet not in a true relationship with Him. It is not just Baptists. I grew up a Methodist thinking I was OK because I was baptized as an infant and said a bunch of creeds I did not understand.

My wife was a Lutheran who thought being baptized as an infant was all she needed. I never heard about Wesley riding a quarter of a million miles on horseback preaching you must be born again. My wife never heard the solas of Luther. All we had were tradition, creeds and rituals. Many folks from those groups and others have had issues with being good church members but not saved.

The most glaring story was when a lady told me she was a Lutheran and I replied then you believe what Luther said about sola fide and sola scriptura? She said, “Martin Luther King?” Some preachers have failed to to do their job and that is putting it mildly.

Many knew all the right words, hand shakes, routines and rules, yet they were religious but lost because they had learned everything as a child. Did they go forward to be saved to please parents or grandparents? Did their buddy go so they went with him and said the prayer he did? Maybe the buddy was saved because he was under conviction of the Spirit, but he was not as he was just mimicking what he heard. My theologians friends could militate against everything under the sun, but did not know the Son.

We need to make sure our children truly understand what salvation is all about and that they are truly saved or we make them twice the “child of Hell” we were before we were saved by inoculating them with facts not truly mixed with faith making them resist Holy Spirit conviction to be saved. They may think it is just the devil trying to make them doubt their salvation. He does do that, but in their case it is the Spirit trying to keep them from “ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (2 Timothy 3:7, Hebrews 4:2)

Do I write this to scare you and cause you to doubt? Yes, and I am unapologetic. There is an obvious dearth of true Christianity in the West and Europe as seen in the Word. I believe it because there is dearth of true Christians and a plethora of ethnic, traditional and misguided people who think they are Christians and not truly born again.