I’m almost ready to become a Christian. What does that mean?

Almost.

It’s a word that basically means “not quite.” Or maybe “nearly” or “approaching” or “pretty much.”

Like when you go into a restaurant and you sit down and the server says, “Can I take your order?”

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You say, “Well, I’m almost ready to order.”

But I don’t advise that. You may not see the server again for a month.

Or maybe you’re getting ready to go out to dinner and you say to your wife, “Are you ready to go?” And she says, “Almost.” Now, you know what that means. One hour minimum!

Or maybe you get a call from your boss. He says, “The meeting is starting. Where are you?” You say, “I’m almost there,” which really means, “I was asleep and you woke me up, and I’m now trying to get there as quickly as I can.”

“Almost” is a word that is usually coupled with procrastination. You might say, “I’m almost ready to decide, but not quite.”

Someone might even say, “I’ve been thinking about it, and I’m almost ready to become a Christian.” But what does that really mean?

Well, you may be further down the road toward faith in Jesus than you were last year. Maybe you started listening to some Christian music or visiting a church with one of your friends. Perhaps you heard a presentation of the Gospel at a Harvest Crusade but you did not respond.  It’s one or the other. “Almost” and “Christian” don’t go together.

It’s like an oxymoron — that’s a figure of speech that lumps two words together that don’t naturally belong together. I’m thinking of terms like jumbo shrimp, freezer burn, pretty ugly, or deafening silence.

Saying you are almost a Christian is like a woman saying she is almost pregnant. You either are, or you aren’t.

In sports, you might almost complete a pass, almost hit a home run or almost sink a three-point shot as time runs out. Sure, it’s nice that you came close, but that’s not going to win you any fans.

The Bible tells the story of a king named Herod Agrippa who had the Apostle Paul appear before him.

Even though he was a prisoner at the time, Paul had this amazing chance to speak to the king about faith in Christ, and he jumped on it. Finally, Herod looked at Paul and said, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian” (Acts 26:8, NKJV). Another translation (The Message) says, “Keep this up much longer and you’ll make a Christian out of me!” 

In other words, “Wow, you’re quite a preacher, Paul. After listening to you, I’m almost persuaded!”

Herod Agrippa was close, but not close enough. As far as we know, he never did make a decision to follow Jesus. In those moments, he came close to the Lord, close to salvation, and close to eternal life in heaven. But close isn’t the same thing as stepping over the line.

I suggest to you there are a lot of “almost Christians” in America today. In fact, far more of these than outright atheists. Statistics say that 66% of Americans would call themselves “Christian” — but only 20% believe that the Bible is the Word of God. And a third of Americans don’t believe He was born of a virgin or rose from the dead.

The truth is, you can’t pick and choose which parts of the Christian faith you agree or don’t agree with. This is not faith a la carte, this is a package deal. You don’t vote on it. Majority does not rule unless you’re speaking of God. God sets the rules; we follow them. Period. It’s your choice. And if you choose to believe, you have to believe the way the Lord presents it to all of us.

Almost believing doesn’t cut it. It never has.

In the book of 2 Corinthians, Paul issues this challenge: “Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves” (13:5, NLT). In other words, are you really a believer? Or could it be that you are just pretending to be a believer when you actually aren’t at all?

Let me say something that may surprise you. You can pray, keep the Ten Commandments to the best of your ability, attend church on a regular basis, put money in the offering, be baptized, and not necessarily be a Christian. All of those things, of course, are good and right and commendable.

But they don’t make you a Christian. They don’t get you to Heaven.

Before I knew the Lord, I would sometimes call to Jesus — when I was in trouble. So, I halfway believed there was a God “somewhere out there” and I cried to Him for help. But I still wasn’t a Christian. I believed in God, but I had no relationship with Him. I admired what I knew of Jesus, but didn’t really know Him.

Do you know Him? Paul is saying, “Check up on yourself.” Are you really a Christian or are you just pretending to be when you actually aren’t at all?

So how can you know? How can you go from being an almost Christian to the real thing?

Paul gives the answer in his conversation with Herod Agrippa. He’s explaining to this leader what the Gospel means, and what the Lord had commissioned him to do. He tells the king that he had been given a mandate “To open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people” (Acts 26:18, NLT).

I see two all-important steps in this Bible verse.

Step one: You need to have your eyes opened — in this case, your spiritual eyes. The eyes of your heart. In Ephesians 1:18, Paul prayed for non-believers, that their eyes would be open. So, when you’re sharing your faith, the first thing you should do is pray, “Lord, open their eyes.”

I don’t care how persuasive you are (or even if you’re the apostle Paul), there is nothing you can say or I can say that will make a person believe. Only God can open a person’s eyes.

So that first step is all God. But the second step is up to you. You make a decision — an act of your will — to turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.

Only you can do that. This is your part, your move, your choice.

If your eyes have been opened to the truth about Jesus dying on a cross to purchase salvation and eternal life for you, the next step is to turn to Him, to confess your sin to Him, to admit that you are powerless to save yourself and invite Him to be your Savior and Lord.

It’s not enough to be exposed to the truth, or learn the truth, or even applaud the truth. I need to act on it.

That’s what Herod should have done in that all-important moment with Paul. If he had done that, history might have been different, and we would have had the opportunity to meet him someday on the streets of Heaven.

He was almost there! But he let the moment pass.

The problem is that when you hear the Gospel and choose not to respond in the affirmative, your heart can get harder. That means that the next time you hear, you might be even less inclined to believe or say yes.

So it’s not enough to have your eyes opened or even to believe something is true. You need to act on it. As Paul wrote, “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2, NIV).

Another translation says, “Right now God is ready to welcome you. Today he is ready to save you” (TLB).

Herod said, “Let me think about it.” But he didn’t.

Maybe you’ve had a lot of “almosts” in your life. Whatever you do, don’t let this decision be one of them.