Almost, but lost

On June 17, 1999, Edgbaston, Birmingham witnessed one of the most dramatic finishes in Cricket World Cup history. The South African cricket team almost beat the Australians in the deciding semi-final. But they didn’t. Instead, the game ended in a tie. A tragic comedy of errors led to a run-out when Lance Kluesner and Alan Donald ended up at the same end. They only need a single, they almost won, but in the end, Australia went through to the final and won the World Cup. Almost! Almost! Almost! Almost was not good enough.
“Almost” is an interesting word that can be used in different ways. It can be used to describe a situation in which you are not altogether ready. Maybe you are in a restaurant where the menu is the size of a cookery book. When the waiter comes to your table and asks if you are ready to order. You reply, “Well, almost.” We use the word when you are not sure about something and are not ready to commit.
We also use “almost” when we’re procrastinating. For example, if a husband and wife are going out to dinner and he asks her if she is ready to go, she will say, “Well, almost.”
While we like to use “almost” for a number of situations, there are certain words that don’t work with almost, as in “almost pregnant.” A woman is either pregnant or she is not. Another word that doesn’t work with almost is “won.” You either won or you didn’t. The winner is the winner, so you can’t almost win.
ALMOST A CHRISTIAN
Another word that doesn’t fit with the word almost is “Christian.” Either you are a Christian or you are not. You may be well on your way to becoming a Christian. You may be looking into the claims of Christ and investigating them. But you cannot be an almost Christian.
When the apostle Paul presented the gospel to Herod Agrippa, he said, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian” (Acts 26:28). Almost. He was close, but not close enough. Apparently, Herod Agrippa was moved by Paul’s powerful and persuasive presentation of the gospel, but then he turned and walked away from it. He was an almost Christian.
There are a lot of people like Herod Agrippa in our world today: “almost Christians” who think they are Christians when they really are not. Church membership rolls are filled with people who think they are Christians because they are church members; they were baptised in the church; they were confirmed in the church; they were married in the church. All this may give them some connection to the church but they do not make you a Christian. They may give you a relationship to the church. But there is no personal relationship with Jesus.
It’s not just coming to church that saves us. It’s not “turning over a new leaf” that saves us. It’s not having our names on a church membership roll. It’s not being baptized that saves us. Being saved begins with repentance. We must repent of our sins and turn away from them. We need to put our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and accept Him into our lives to take control.