When Does a person become a Christian?

I grew up in a church (and a family) that taught me the only way to become a Christian was to wait until the end of the church service, listen for the altar call, go to the front of the church, kneel, cry and say a 'sinner's prayer.' The sinner's prayer has become a time-honored staple of the evangelical Christian church. So much so, that many church leaders would say something like, "Every person who is a Christian will remember the date, time and circumstance when he got saved and said the sinner's prayer." Of course, the problem with a statement like that is if you do not remember the event clearly, you must not be a Christian. Poppycock.

Another problem along these lines is that the altar call and the sinner's prayer have become so ingrained into their thought patterns that some might be surprised to learn that the sinner's prayer is not even in the Bible! In fact, surprise might lead to shock if you were to ever tell one of these individuals that the altar call was not even invented until the camp meetings of the 1800s in the United States.

Here is an alternative for you.

A person is a Christian when his mind considers how he might follow Jesus more faithfully and when his heart loves Jesus and others. I know that this is a dangerous definition. There is no way to count converts in this way of thinking. How can a person 'confess Jesus before men' if there is no altar call?

I believe that it is entirely possible for an individual to become a Christian without even realizing it. It could be that an individual, trying to find the truth contained in the gospel, questions, struggles and seeks God every day. All the while, without recognition, this person is becoming a faithful follower of Jesus. This person, almost inadvertently, begins to love Jesus and to care about the needs of others. And all of this could happen without ever saying a sinner's prayer.

It is possible, and I believe it is likely, that people can wake up in the morning only to discover that sometime in the past they became Christian. They probably will not remember when or where it happened. They likely did not say a sinner's prayer. But they are committed and growing followers of Jesus, nonetheless.

Let's not limit God's ability to change lives. Likewise, let's not limit his methods.