Don't be an Almost

Almost winning story.

Today, I want to talk about not confusing doing church stuff with being a part of the church.

Don’t confuse going to church and church activities with actually being a Christian. Don’t be an “almost.”

What does the word “almost” mean? Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines almost as “very nearly but not exactly or entirely.” Things that are “almost” probably appear to the naked eye as completely being the thing they haven’t entirely become. Some of you listening now, maybe you appear to be a Christian, perhaps you’ve convinced yourself that you are, but the truth is that you’re just almost there. And in the world of eternity, almost will not cut it.

I want to look at a story in the Bible of a couple of almosts. First, I want to look at the book of Acts, where Paul has been arrested and is stating his case before Agrippa and Festus. The Jewish people were angry at him because he was teaching the truth about Jesus, and they wanted him put to death for it. So here he is, before the highest authorities in his area, defending himself.

Acts 26:9–23 NIV

9 “I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. 11 Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities. 12 “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. 16 ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. 17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ 19 “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. 20 First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. 21 That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. 22 But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen—23 that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”

So Paul, in the course of making his defense with his life on the line, shares his story. He talks about Jesus and how He saved him. He talks about how Jesus intervened in his life and completely changed him.

Listen to how Festus and Agrippa respond to his testimony:

Acts 26:24–29 NIV

24 At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you insane.” 25 “I am not insane, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable. 26 The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.” 28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?” 29 Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”

Festus thinks that Paul is crazy. Festus isn’t a Jew, so he hasn’t grown up learning the law and prophets. This is all foreign to him. Agrippa, though, is a Jew. He had grown up learning about these things.

Paul makes a case for how Jesus is the fulfillment of everything Agrippa was taught to hope for growing up—and it almost works. He says, “You almost got me! You almost persuaded me to be a Christian!” Almost.

We don’t know what became of Agrippa—if he ever heard the gospel again, continued thinking about it or not, or ever accepted it after this point. If this is the last time he heard or thought about it, and he never came to a saving faith in Jesus, he died an almost. He remained unsaved, because “almost” doesn’t cut it. That’s why Paul says that he hopes that he and everyone else will not be just an almost, but be altogether like him: someone who has full faith in Jesus as God, crucified and risen again.

Agrippa had the opportunity. He had heard the truth. He had observed the commotion in Israel after Jesus was raised from the dead. Surely he must have heard whispers and rumors of the work Jesus did while He was alive on Earth and after He was resurrected. He was told plainly by Paul all about it. None of that seemed to convince him. Perhaps he wanted to believe, but couldn’t because he was afraid of the fallout. We don’t know. We just know he was just an almost, not an altogether.

An “almost” may believe something about Jesus. They may have an inkling to believe, but they don’t actually put their faith in Jesus.

Judas is another prime example. Judas believed something about Jesus. He was a Zealot, wanting to overthrow the Roman rule in Jerusalem. Some believe he betrayed Jesus not because he no

I believe there are a lot of “almost” Christians in the church, even in our church and youth group. I believe there are people who’ve grown up around church, gone to church a lot, know every Bible story, and even look like a Christian, but inside, they’re not entirely there.

That’s a dangerous seat to sit in—convincing yourself that you are saved, that you belong to God, while actually not belonging to Him. It has grave, eternal consequences.

Matthew 7:21–23 NIV

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

It doesn’t matter what you know. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done. Unless you have placed your faith in Jesus as God—I mean absolute faith—and seen the changing work of the Holy Spirit in your life, you might be an almost.

Don’t be an almost. I want you to pray about it. Consider it. Seek God. If you feel like it, after praying and after considering that you’re not an almost, send me this message: I am not an almost.

If you’re not sure, don’t send me a message. Pick up your phone and call me. Let’s talk about it, because like Paul, it is my hope that everyone here would be not just an almost, but be one who has full faith in Jesus as God and is completely His.