Almost Christian

Then Agrippa said to Paul, "You almost persuade me to become a Christian." — Acts 26:28

Almost is an interesting word, one that we sometimes use when we are delaying something, when we are not quite ready to commit. Maybe you've been in a restaurant where the menu is the size of a small phone book. When the server arrived at your table and asked if you were ready to order, you said, "Well, almost."

We will use this word when are not sure about something. 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. I'm sure that our local Oklahoma Bible Academy (where I'm going to speak at chapel this morning) can relate to this as they lost 14-7 in the state championship for football this past Saturday. The winner is the winner, so you can't almost win.

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 the almost Christian.

I think 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.