Today’s facebook Friday from the page of Brad Harrub, needs to be read slowly, thoughtfully, prayerfully, and with personal application,
Read it in view of 2 Corinthians 13:5,–“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.”
In many congregations across America, we’ve become experts at spotting “the lost” out there in the world—those who don’t look like us, don’t worship like us, or don’t speak our religious language. We talk often about evangelizing our neighbors, coworkers, and communities. But maybe… just maybe… it’s time we take a sobering, honest look inward. Because the mission field might actually be sitting in our pews every single Sunday.
For decades we’ve cultivated generations of “Christians” who know how to clock in for that one hour on Sunday morning. They grew up in the church building. Their parents were faithful. Their grandfather may have been an elder or deacon. Their family name carries weight in that congregation. And for them, Christianity has become more of a heritage than a personal conviction.
We have third and fourth-generation “Christians” who know how to take the Lord’s Supper, bow their head during prayer, and find Acts 2:38 with record speed—but who, outside of that single hour on Sunday morning, are firmly anchored in the world. They talk like the world. Act like the world. And enjoy earthly pleasures like the world.
Let’s be blunt: we have unconverted people sitting in the church building every week.
And the worst part?
We keep pretending they’re spiritually alive just because their family history and they still “clock in” for an hour each week.
“But My Parents Are Faithful…”
Somewhere along the way we allowed Satan to convince people that faith can be inherited, like a family recipe or a piece of land passed down through the generations. But Scripture shatters that lie:
“The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father…” (Ezekiel 18:20).
Your parents’ faith does not save you.
Your grandfather’s eldership does not cleanse your sins.
Your family legacy will not stand with you on Judgment Day.
Christianity is not genetic. It’s not hereditary. It’s a personal surrender to Jesus Christ. It’s a lifestyle, not an hour.
Yet many in our pews rest easy in spiritual autopilot. As long as they maintain the image—show up, sit down, stay quiet—they think everything is fine. But there’s no prayer life. No Bible reading. No holiness. No conviction. No repentance. No transformation. No fruit.
Just a familiar routine.
Just religious muscle memory.
The Fruit Test Doesn’t Lie:
Jesus didn’t say, “You will know them by their family legacy.” He said: “You will know them by their fruits.” (Matthew 7:16).
And frankly, the fruit tells the truth.
We have members who don’t pray unless someone hands them a microphone.
We have young adults who have never once opened their Bible outside of a worship assembly.
We have teens who know more lyrics from worldly artists than Scripture from the New Testament.
We have adults who know every stat from their favorite sports teams but cannot quote five passages about salvation.
All while confidently calling themselves “Christians” simply because they were raised in the building.
Some of these folks have been in church their entire lives, but spiritually they have never left the starting line. Often they don’t sing. They have never been broken over sin, never surrendered to Christ, never truly repented, never grown, never served, never been transformed.
They are churchgoers—not disciples.
Spectators—not soldiers.
Fans—not followers.
And sadly, their weak spiritual lives don’t just stagnate their own souls…
they often become dead weight for the congregation.
Unconverted Members Drag Churches Down:
Let’s be honest—lukewarm members are not neutral. They don’t remain quietly in the background. They affect the whole body.
• They weaken the atmosphere of worship.
• They dilute the church’s spiritual identity.
• They resist change, growth, or anything that pressures them toward deeper commitment.
• They discourage the zealous by making real Christianity seem “fanatical” or “extreme.”
• They normalize complacency.
• They influence new converts to adopt a watered-down version of discipleship.
• They create generational cycles of spiritual apathy.
Their spiritual laziness becomes contagious—and suddenly you have a church full of people who call Jesus “Lord” but do not obey His commands (Luke 6:46).
Satan doesn’t mind people warming pews.
He just doesn’t want them warming hearts.
The Early Church Didn’t Assume People Were Saved:
In Acts 8, Simon the Sorcerer was baptized.
He was in the church.
He participated.
But he was not converted. His heart was not right with God (Acts 8:21).
Paul warned entire congregations about false brothers among them (Galatians 2:4).
John warned about those who “went out from us, but were not of us” (1 John 2:19).
The early church didn’t take outward appearances at face value.
They looked deeper—at hearts, fruit, and faithfulness.
Maybe we need to do the same.
It’s Time to Preach the Gospel—To the Church:
We cannot assume the people sitting in front of us every Sunday understand the gospel.
We cannot assume they’ve truly obeyed it.
We cannot assume they’ve truly repented.
We cannot assume that baptism was anything more than peer pressure or family expectation.
It may be that our greatest evangelistic need right now…is inside our own church buildings.
Because if people have been sitting in the pews for 10, 20, or even 40 years but have never truly surrendered to Christ—it is not time to comfort them.
It is time to confront them.
Not out of anger.
Not out of pride.
But out of deep, urgent love for their souls.
The Call to Wake Up:
If this describes you—God is calling you to wake up.
“Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”
(Ephesians 5:14)
Your family’s faith won’t save you.
Your Sunday attendance won’t save you.
Your reputation won’t save you.
Only Jesus Christ can. So come out of the world, take up your cross and follow Him!
Examine your heart.
Examine your priorities.
Examine your fruit.
Because a church full of unconverted members is not a church full of hope—it’s a church full of mission opportunities.
And maybe the first people we need to evangelize…
are the ones sitting near us in a pew.
THIS!!!
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