I remember speaking with one person about their testimony many years ago. They told us all about how they loved the church and its people. They told us about all the help the church had given them. They told us about bits of spiritual input they found helpful from the pastor. As we went on, they told us about how they went away from the church when they were at university. Or, rather, that they didn’t go to any church. When we asked what drew them back, they told us how they were drawn again to our church and its people. They told me all about how they felt the church was really important for them and they really did want to go and that was their own decision. And that was about that.

I was told repeatedly by some folks that this person was a Christian. So, I was keen to hear their testimony. But I wonder if, reading that, you have the same sense of unease that I did. The testimony of faith, their story of how they became a believer, didn’t include anything about Jesus. Nor did their story of salvation include anything about the sin they’ve been saved from nor the saviour who bought them. Their story was, start to finish, about the church. And the fact that they didn’t even go to church at university, but were drawn back to this church, tells me it wasn’t even the church they were drawn to, but our local church in particular. The sad thing about this person is, even apart from their testimony, the closest thing they ever got to in terms of speaking about spiritual things was telling us about the church they attend. I came to the conclusion this person wasn’t a believer.

Sadly, this is a story I have heard more times than I wish I had. We meet people who love the church. They love the people they have met and the support they have been given. They love the community. They love the bells and whistles that come with being in a church. Whenever you ask them about their spiritual life, they will tell you about the church but never do they tell you anything about Jesus or their personal walk with him. I have come to believe they don’t tell you about Jesus and their walk with him because, ultimately, they haven’t got anything to tell. They have been drawn to the church, love some of the things of church and have no relationship with the Lord Jesus himself.

Don’t get me wrong here. I love the local church. I think it is vitally important. I am similarly sceptical of those who tell me all about their love for Jesus but don’t seem to have any love or concern for his people. The Bible certainly has something to say about such people and their standing with Jesus. But a love for the local church, our particular local church, but with no love for Christ will not bring you into the kingdom. The church is not your saviour; only Jesus is. Those who have no love or concern for Christ cannot belong to his kingdom, it really is that simple.

But I think there is an undue charity afforded to such people in many churches. Look, they say, they do come faithfully. Look, they do want to serve. Look, they do seem to sing the songs and join in the prayers. All that is well and good, but none of that saves a person. Just because they like us does not make them a Christian. Just because they enjoy what we do together doesn’t make them a Christian. A Christian is somebody who has repented of their sin and put their trust in Jesus Christ alone for their salvation. If they have nothing to say about their sin or about the Christ who has saved them from it, they cannot be a believer. If that is not the core of their story, if it is a fringe matter if it is mentioned at all, in what world are they Christians? If all they’ve got to talk about is the church or their activities or whatever fringe thing it may be, but nothing about Jesus, about their sin, about how their faith in him has affected their lives, they cannot be named Christians because they don’t seem to believe in Christ or have much to do with him!

At the core of being a Christian is Christ. It is not a side matter. At the heart of the Christian faith is the message of salvation: that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. The beginning of our relationship with him is repentance from the sin he came to save us from and faith in the person of Jesus who died to save us from it. The reality of true discipleship is an ongoing relationship with the Lord Jesus himself and a desire to glorify and enjoy him forever. If we have nothing to say about him, or he plays only the most fringe part in our story, then we cannot be called disciples, we cannot be called believers and we are not in any credible sense Christians.

As churches, we don’t do anybody any favours pretending otherwise. Indeed, we do them great harm by suggesting they are safe from the wrath to come when there is no evidence that they know the only person who will save them from it. We need to have the courage to say to people that we do not think they are genuine believers. Not because we want to upset them but because our mission as churches is to make disciples and we have not made any disciples if we are telling people who are not disciples really are. We are actually comforting them with false assurance all the way to a lost eternity. If they don’t know Jesus, they aren’t heading for Heaven. If they aren’t heading for Heaven, we should be moved to help them realise the danger they are in so that they might change course and get to be there with us. It is not kind to tell people they’re believers when they’re not; if they don’t say anything about their sin or about Jesus who has saved them from it, we need to help them see their fundamental need for him and not comfort them as believers when they give no sign or evidence that is what they are.