You May Be a False Convert if…

Jeff Foxworthy has made a living telling redneck jokes. I’m sure you’ve heard him say, “you may be a redneck if…”. I was thinking the other day of some of the things I used to believe (and say) when I was a false convert. So, I feel qualified to state the following because these used to apply to me.

You may be a false convert if…

1. You read your Bible once a week while you are at church (or at least you take it with you when you go to church).

2. You only think of God once a week on Sunday (or when you ask Him for something – like He’s a magic genie).

3. You don’t attend a Bible believing church (or better yet you convince yourself that you don’t need to go to church to believe in God).

4. You live for God on Sunday and for the devil the rest of the week.

5. There is absolutely no difference in your character after you were “saved” than there was before you were “saved.”

6. You bless God and curse God too.

7. You try to convince your friends that you are a Christian while you are out sinning with them.

8. You said the sinner’s prayer when you were a youngster, but then proceeded to live your life (selfishly) for yourself after that.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. These eight statements describe how I used to be and how I used to think. I thought I was a Christian because I said the sinner’s prayer at 11 years old and I cried real tears at the time. But God didn’t change my heart back then. I wanted God to forgive me, but I wanted to keep on sinning and asking for forgiveness with a cheap view of grace. I really didn’t want to surrender my life to Jesus (Matt. 16:24-26).

When I was older I thought I was a good Christian because I went to church once a week. Everyone thought I was a nice guy, but I was really mean to my family. Again, I was selfish, full of rage and living for myself. I was not a new creature in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17).

I didn’t read the Bible and I only prayed when I wanted something from God. I used to sing praises to God (on Sunday) and then use his name as a curse word throughout the rest of the week (James 3:10).

I don’t drink alcohol anymore, but I used to drink too much. Many years ago I was out drinking with a couple of old high school friends. Two of us were professing Christians and the third one has never accepted Christ as his Savior. We were all three stumbling drunk one night. The “unsaved” friend said to us “if you guys were really Christians, you wouldn’t be out drinking with me like this.” I was so mad at him that we almost got into a fist fight over it.

But my friend was right. If my other friend and I had really been saved back then, we wouldn’t have been out drinking with him (1 John 1:5-6). (Sadly, he is still unsaved, but my other friend who was a false convert just like I was at the time, has truly been born again).

Please examine yourself and see if you are in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5). Don’t fool yourself like I used to do. Here are some questions to ask yourself: Do you pray to God on a regular basis? Do you pray for others? Do you read your Bible on a regular basis (such as daily)? Has God taken away your heart of stone and given you a heart to of flesh? In other words, are you a new creature in Christ? Has God transformed you (2 Cor. 3:18)?

If you can’t honestly answer yes to these questions, I beg you, please, turn away from your sins and put your faith in Jesus today. Ask God to forgive you for your sins and then truly forsake them. Turn away from any bad habits that you have. Ask God to give you His strength to overcome any addictions in your life. Then read your Bible daily and find a good, Bible believing church to attend. Won’t you sincerely pray to God and ask Him to reveal to you if you are truly saved or if you just think that you are a good person? The Bible warns us in several places that we are not to be deceived, so please don’t deceive yourself.