What If Everyone Became A Christian?

I was weaned on the idea that our mission as Christians was to reach the world. Student workers would speak of " taking our school for God." Pastors spoke of "reaching our community," or missionaries would call for many to join in the world wide crusade to reach all ethnic groups.

The one thing no one really spoke about was what would it be like if everyone on a campus, in a community or a nation believed; what would life be like if everyone became a Christian? Many don't think such a discussion is relevant because the bible clearly states that the world will not be totally converted in its present configuration.

The reason I believe it is a valid consideration is the answer to the question does reveals what kind of Gospel we preach. Frankly, many Christians who pray, preach, and give toward world evangelization haven't thought about it. The first thing that comes to mind is some sort of better society where crime is nearly non-existent, jails are empty, churches are full, school prayer is reinstated, abortion is declared a crime in all fifty states, and television and movies are cleaned up.

I am afraid that none of the above would take place. I would only ask you to consider the turmoil found in churches or other Christian organizations. Some of the meanest people alive are members in good standing in Evangelical Churches.

The hostility and malice, along with the spirit of bitterness are a plague upon a Church that has refused to take the transformation of the human personality into the likeness of Christ seriously. The best research can find no real moral difference between church goers and the rest of the population.Whether it be marriage, use of pornography, honesty in business, the moral virtue that once separated Christians from others has disappeared.

The Gospel we preach is a forgiveness only gospel that does not at its heart speak to the whole life of the believer. We seem to be satisfied with a gospel that rescues us from hell, but does not change us now.

All Christians believe in life after death, but do we believe in life before death? Do we believe that becoming a Christian means to be a follower of Jesus that begins at conversion and continues through the journey of discipleship and then continues into the new heavens and the new earth?

Becoming a follower of Jesus is not about becoming a nicer person, it is about becoming a new creation, and the "saved" state has several stages that continue into eternity. So when you consider what the world would be like if everyone believed, remember that in this phase of "saved" we remain fallen, people of the flesh, and that progress is present, but so is failure, disappointment, and weakness of every kind. We are in the groaning phase, Romans 8:26, but liberation is at hand, for God alone can make a world that we dream about.