The Almost Christian

Mark 12:28-34

When I was a kid we used to take long car trips to my grandparents’ place several times a year. While it was only about an hour and a half drive, to my sisters and me it was an eternity. I remember my youngest sister was the most impatient and just about every time we got in the car she had the same exchange with mom. “Are we there yet?” she’d ask. “Almost there,” said mom. “But I wanna be there,” my sister would whine. 

Almost there. When I got a little older and started to understand the concept of time and distance a little better, I used to chuckle because mom’s “almost there” could mean anything from 5 minutes way to an hour and 5 minutes. “Almost there” was always relative.

Today’s Gospel lesson is really an “almost there” story. A scribe has been listening to his peers grilling Jesus there in the temple on everything from paying taxes to Caesar to who will be married at the resurrection. Jesus answers all these questions, which were designed to trap him, with skill and grace. This scribe is impressed with Jesus and his answers, and thus comes with not a hypothetical question but a sincere one: “Which commandment is the first of all?” Which one is the most important. Jesus gives him what we know now as the Great Commandment—a quote from the Shema in Deuteronomy 6 – “Hear O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one: you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” and then from Numbers, “and love your neighbor as yourself.”

Yes, says the scribe, you’re right, Teacher. That is the most important thing—more important that all the burnt offerings and sacrifices offered up here at the temple. Good answer, we think, and so does Jesus. But then Jesus says something we don’t expect, and I’m guessing that neither did the scribe: “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” You’re almost there, but not quite yet.

Why would Jesus say that? I mean, the scribe got the answer right, and isn’t faith about getting the answers right?

Well, almost.

The scribe is one of many people in the Gospels who seem to be convinced that Jesus is the real deal—that he is the messiah, the Son of the living God. But while many people were convinced in their beliefs about Jesus, far fewer were committed to following him. The Gospels make it clear that the convinced far outstripped the committed.

Look back at Mark 10 starting at verse 17. A rich man comes to Jesus, much like the scribe does, with a question: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” He is convinced that Jesus knows the way to eternal life. In response to his question, Jesus lists some of the commandments—don’t murder, don’t commit adultery or steal or lie or cheat anyone. Honor your parents. The rich man says, “Yes, I’ve been following these commandments since I was a boy.” But Jesus, with love, looks at the rich man and says, “Great. You’re almost there. Sell everything you have and give the money to the poor. Then you can come and follow me.” Jesus attempted to move the man from being convinced to being committed, but Mark says that the man went away “grieving, for he had many possessions” (v. 22).

In Luke 9, beginning at verse 57 there is a list of people who are convinced that Jesus is the Messiah, and they say to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” They are convinced. But when Jesus says to one that following him will make him homeless, he balks. Another wants to take care of his family’s affairs before he can follow, and another wants to go home and say goodbye first. But Jesus isn’t waiting for the convinced. He is on his way to Jerusalem and the cross. If you want to follow him, you have to be more than convinced. You have to be committed. “No one who put a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God” (v. 62). They were convinced but not committed.

In John 6:66 we learn that there were others in the crowd beyond the twelve who considered themselves to be disciples of Jesus. But when Jesus’ teaching got difficult, these would-be disciples turned back. “Because of this [teaching], many of his disciples turned back and no longer went with him.” They were convinced but not committed.

You can find a lot of people in this world who are convinced in their belief about Jesus. Our churches are full of them. In fact, many people think that all it takes to be a Christian is to be convinced in your mind that Jesus is your “personal Savior.” You pray a prayer, say the right words, confess the right doctrines and you’re a follower of Jesus. You just need to be convinced.

But here’s the thing—even the devil is convinced about Jesus. “You believe that God is one; you do well,” says James 2:19. “[But] even the demons believe and--shudder.” John Wesley once wrote that the demons can affirm everything in our creeds and everything written in the Old and New Testaments. “And yet for all this faith,” Wesley wrote, “they be but devils.” The devil is convinced, but not committed.

Convinced but not committed. John Wesley would have called the person who had this kind of faith in Jesus an “almost Christian.” Indeed, that’s the title of the second sermon in Wesley’s 52 standard sermons, right after salvation by faith. For Wesley, true faith was not only about being convinced of our salvation by faith in Christ, but also being committed to walking with Christ daily on the road to the cross.

Wesley defined the “almost Christian” as one who has a “form of godliness” or “the outside of a real Christian.” The almost Christian is one who may be a regular churchgoer; someone who does good and keeps the commandments, just like the scribe and the rich man. The almost Christian may even have a regular routine of prayer and Bible study. They are “not far from the kingdom of God.” But even though they may be  convinced, they are not yet committed.

One of the things that really strikes me about this sermon of Wesley’s is that it offers a testimony of his own life. For the first 35 years of his life, you would look at Wesley and think, here is someone who appears to be an uber Christian. Indeed, he appears to have been one who was actually committed before he was convinced.

But deep down Wesley knew that all his pious living and right belief wasn’t enough. He believed that he himself was an “almost Christian.” He went through a deep crisis of faith brought on by series of failures in his life. He hit bottom, which is most often the place where we find ourselves before hear God’s voice most clearly!

On May 24, 1738, Wesley went “very unwillingly” to a prayer meeting on Aldersgate Street in London. When you are questioning your faith, after all, the last place you want to be is church. But he went anyway (a lesson for us all). Broken and dejected, questioning his faith, Wesley heard someone read from Martin Luther’s preface to his commentary on Paul’s letter to the Romans. Wesley describes it this way in his journal:

“About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”

The next morning, Wesley wrote in his journal that because he was now convinced of Christ’s salvation, he would recommit himself to following Christ in a new way. The moment I awakened, “Jesus, Master,” was in my heart and in my mouth; and I found all my strength lay in keeping my eye fixed upon Him and my soul waiting on Him continually.”

Wesley preached this sermon “The Almost Christian” in 1741, just three years after this Aldersgate experience. By then he had come to realize what an “altogether” Christian looked like: one who was both convinced and committed. What’s the mark of such a Christian?

Well, like Jesus said to the scribe, it is the mark of love: love for God and love for neighbor.

The altogether Christian loves God with a laser-focused devotion. It is a love that “engrosses the whole heart,” soul, strength and mind. It is love that seeks to please God every moment of every day—love that delights in God more than the things of the world.

Because the altogether Christian loves God, then he reflects that love to his neighbor This isn’t the sappy and sentimental definition of love as a “good feeling” or positive regard toward another person, but real, sacrificial love. It is love that is equally offered to one’s enemies as it is to one’s friends. It is love that is willing to give away everything one has for someone else if necessary. In short, it is the love of Christ, who loved the world so much that he offered himself and walked the road to the cross. It is love that requires us not only to believe, but a love that compels us to act on that belief.  

One of the reasons the world finds Christianity irrelevant and repugnant is because there are so many almost Christians who are convinced but not committed. They are very willing to talk about the tenets of their faith with a stranger but much less likely to help that stranger when he or she has a need. They preach love but practice the opposite. They believe in Christ but they don’t behave like him. They admire Jesus but they don’t follow him. As Wesley put it, “It is diligently to be noted, the faith which bringeth not forth repentance, and love, and all good works, is not that right living faith, but a dead and devilish one.”

Most of us here today are convinced. The surveys we took in August reveal that. But you know, when we started to put those surveys and cards together I knew we needed to change some of the wording. Look at the commitment card you have in your hand today. Now, the original wording on the card asked if you accepted Christ as you savior. That was a question about being convinced—an intellectual acceptance of the tenets and teachings about Christ. Acceptance is rather passive. I changed the words, however, to ask about commitment. Are you committed to Christ? Does your commitment to Christ affect how you live your life every day, at work, at home, at school? Asking you if you are a Christian is one thing, but what if we asked your coworkers, your classmates, your family, that broken person you pass by in the hallway, that person with whom you have a disagreement—what would they say if we asked them if you are a Christian? Would they say that you were just convinced, or that you are both convinced and committed?

Like the scribe, many of us are “not far from the kingdom.” Almost there. Some may be a little closer than others. Some merely want to be there! But becoming a convinced and committed disciple of Jesus requires participation and patience for the journey. Over the next six weeks, we’re going to be teaching you some practices that will help you grow deeper in your love and commitment to Christ: practices like prayer and Bible reading, worship and witnessing to others, financial giving and service. None of these are the goals of the Christian life, but they are some of the means and markers that indicate our commitment to love God and our neighbors. I want to encourage you to be here for the next six weeks as we invite you into commitment. I also want to encourage you to join one of our new Blueprint for Discipleship classes, which are designed to help you grow deeper in your commitment.