Reply #44: Exactly right--even for evangelicals, too. [View All]

I grew up in the Church of the Nazarene, a fairly conservative evangelical church. There's a lot of fear there, too, though it's more of the personal variety. There's a lot of thinking along the lines of: "I think I'm saved, but am I really? What I was just thinking the church says is sin, so if I'm that sinful, am I really saved? I had that time down at the altar, and I know what I decided then, but what if I was wrong, what if it was all just emotions? I need to pray harder, I need to be better, I need to stop sinning because what if I'm not really the Christian I think I am?"

They're scared of what their bodies want to do, what their minds think when the lights are off and no one else is around, and what their hearts tell them to do. They're scared everyone else will find out, and they're scared that, deep down, their faith won't hold up under pressure. I saw that fear in every church service, every college chapel service, and every time we had honest talks at night at college and at camp or on mission trips.