Going to church doesn’t make
you a Christian. Or so the saying goes. Well actually, it does. In a survey
published some years ago on how people became Christians, it was found that the
involvement, contact and, most importantly, the friendship of other Christians
was vital in their journey towards God.
Church involvement
Some 86% of those who had
become followers of Jesus in adulthood had had some contact with a church in
their childhood and 90% said that the involvement of a church – including
attending a church service – was very significant for them. And a whopping 92%
said that they had a relationship with a Christian before becoming Christian
themselves.
Perpetuating a myth
Of course this survey was
taken predominantly among evangelical Christians of a varying kind and some of
us would question many of the premises behind the survey (including the concept
that you can ‘go’ to church) but it is evangelicals who use the ‘truism’ most.
Since it is clearly wrong,
however, is it time to stop perpetuating the myth?
