When we moved to Indiana many years ago, I thought my dear husband had taken me to another country. Not only did I talk like a southerner (and they reminded me often), but I cooked like a southerner. They didn’t know what a casserole was. They didn’t eat turnip greens. In fact, when one of our members took me out to see his turnip patch, I mentioned how many greens he had. He didn’t know you could eat the greens!

I had no idea what they meant when they asked if I wanted a pop. They didn’t eat pinto beans, only white beans. They didn’t eat chicken stew like they do in Alabama; they ate chicken and noodles. Our ladies were not used to preparing food for families when there was sickness or death. If someone wanted to take food they did, but they didn’t know how to organize a meal after a funeral or take food to the home of the deceased.

I am a born southerner, and nothing is going to change me. I finally told them that I was born a southerner, and I would die a southerner. They just needed to understand that and stop making fun of me. They never did.

A lot of the way we are is because of where we were born or what our families believe. Our political views, our general opinions about many things, and our religious beliefs come from our families. So, do you think of yourself as a Christian because you were born into a religious family; or are you a Christian because you have been converted to the gospel?

I was raised in a home where we went to worship on Sunday mornings. We didn’t have a car, so we walked. Eventually, a couple came to pick us up, but I don’t remember going three times a week until I was in the fourth or fifth grade. We moved; we had a car; and we started attending regularly. In the new congregation we attended was a kind and loving elder’s wife who took a personal interest in me. She taught me how to teach Bible classes, and supervised the first class I taught. When I became a Christian, it was not because I was born into a strong Christian family. It was because I wanted to be obedient to the truth.

Paul, the apostle, is a great example of one who lived life according to his upbringing. He was a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. He was born into a family that lived the life of strict conviction, and he truly believed he was doing the right thing in persecuting the Christians. As a young adult, he faced the Lord of heaven and earth on a road that was taking him to more death and destruction for the Jewish Christians.

Paul was born into a religious family; and though his convictions carried him into adult life, he had to face the reality that what he had was not enough. In fact, it was wrong.

When Paul heard the gospel from Ananias, he immediately arose and was baptized. His life changed forever; and eventually he gave his life for the God he served.

There are many today that have Paul’s background. They were born into a religious family. They may have gone to “church” most of their lives. They may have been baptized. The big question is, “Were they converted?”

I am watching a generation of young people go through my Bible class that know very little about the Bible. They can tell me that they know they have to be baptized, but they cannot tell me why. They can tell me what we do in worship, but they cannot explain why we do it. Few carry a Bible, and likely they don’t use it from one Sunday to the next.

There is such biblical evidence of strong convicted converts in the New Testament. Stephen was so convicted in his beliefs that he preached a sermon that cost him his life. Those on Pentecost interrupted Peter’s sermon to ask what they needed to do to be saved. John the Baptizer preached repentance, and he preached against adultery. He was beheaded. Cornelius, the first Gentile convert, went to a lot of trouble to get to Peter to help him find the truth. Even a sorcerer was changed by the gospel.

There are others, but these are sufficient proof for the power of the gospel. Cornelius was religious, but it wasn’t enough. He was missing that true conversion, that change of heart and obedience of being buried with Christ in a watery grave and raised to walk a new life. Religious, but not saved!

When Paul was instructing Timothy, he gave this young man some sound advice. He said, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (Second Timothy 2:15). When we are obedient to the gospel and do our best to live our lives for the Lord, we will be Christians because we have been converted to the truth, not because we were born into a religious family.

Sandra Oliver