The Almost Christian

Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. ACTS 26:28

King Agrippa sat in state and listened to a prisoner in chains tell how Christ had met him on the road to Damascus. At the end he said, half in jest and half in earnest, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. Paul answered that he wished Agrippa, and all who heard him, were not only almost but altogether such as he was, except for the chains. Whitefield took that exchange as the text of one of his best-known sermons, The Almost Christian, and in it he drew a portrait so exact that his hearers could hardly help recognising themselves.

A portrait

The almost Christian, says Whitefield, is one who halts between two opinions, who wavers between Christ and the world, and who would reconcile God and Mammon. He has an inclination to religion, but he is careful not to go too far. His false heart keeps whispering, Spare thyself.

How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. 1 KINGS 18:21

Toward his neighbour he is strictly honest — but not out of love for God or man. He is honest because dishonesty would spoil his reputation and hinder his business. He depends much on being negatively good, content that he has done no one any harm, forgetting that the unprofitable servant was cast out and the fig tree cursed not for bad fruit but for no fruit. He gives to public charities, when they are not asked for too often, but knows nothing of visiting the sick and imprisoned in private. He is sober, but because excess would harm his health or his standing. His religion, in a word, is self-love wearing decent clothes.

Whitefield ends the portrait with a gentle but deadly remark: he cannot claim to have described the almost Christian fully, but he fears that some of his hearers may see features in the picture that resemble their own.

Five reasons

Why are so many only almost Christians? Whitefield gives five reasons, and they have not aged.

The first is false notions of religion. Some place it in belonging to a particular church, more in morality, most in a round of duties, and very few acknowledge it to be what it really is: “a thorough inward change of nature, a divine life, a vital participation of Jesus Christ, an union of the soul with God.”

The second is the fear of man. Many have been awakened and have tasted the powers of the world to come, but out of fear of being thought singular they let the impression wear off. Like Nicodemus they would come to Jesus only by night.

The third is the love of money, as with the rich young ruler who went away sorrowful because he had great possessions. The fourth is the love of pleasure: they would follow Christ gladly if it cost them nothing but money, but not if it touches their appetites. The fifth is fickleness — those who take up religion as a novelty and lay it down when their curiosity is satisfied.

No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. LUKE 9:62

Almost is not enough

Then Whitefield shows the folly of stopping short. His first argument is the simplest and the sharpest: “almost to hit the mark, is really to miss it.” God requires the whole heart. He illustrates it with the story of Solomon’s judgement between the two women. The devil, like the false mother, is content to divide the child; “God, like the true mother, will have all or none.”

My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways. PROVERBS 23:26

His second argument is that the almost Christian does great harm to others. He persuades people that the way to heaven is broader than it is. He hangs out false lights, Whitefield says, and shipwrecks souls. Such people are greater enemies to the cross than open infidels, because they make half-heartedness look like faith.

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. REVELATION 3:15–16

His third argument is ingratitude. Christ shed His blood to purchase our hearts. Shall we give Him only half?

Where care is needed

The Almost Christian is one of Whitefield’s early sermons, and its closing exhortation leans heavily on effort: always watching, always praying, always aspiring after further purity. That is not wrong, but it can leave a tender conscience asking whether it has done enough to be altogether a Christian. The answer of the gospel, which Whitefield himself preached more clearly in later sermons like The Method of Grace, is that no one becomes altogether a Christian by trying harder. We become so by coming to Christ with nothing and receiving everything. The whole heart He asks for is a heart He Himself renews.

It is also worth noticing that the sermon compares the half-hearted believer to a purchased slave who gives his master only half his service. It is a vivid image of what Christ has paid for us, and Whitefield meant it so. But it is hard to read today without remembering that the preacher would later buy human beings himself. The metaphor was taken from a world whose cruelty he did not see clearly enough; chapter sixteen returns to that.

Altogether

The almost Christian is not a villain. He is respectable, generous in public, honest in business and kind to his family. That is exactly why the sermon is so searching. Whitefield’s point is not that such a person is worse than others but that he is near and not in, and that near is not enough. The call is not to more religion but to Christ, wholly.

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. MARK 12:30

FOR REFLECTION AND ACTION

1. Read Whitefield’s portrait of the almost Christian again. Which features resemble your own?

2. Ask why you do the good things you do. If the honest answer is reputation, comfort or habit, bring that to God.

3. Name the one thing — fear of others, money, pleasure or fickleness — most likely to keep you at almost.

4. Look for a private act of mercy you can do this week that no one will see or praise.

5. Read The Almost Christian in the Ochorus library, and then pray not for more effort but for a heart wholly given to Christ.

A PRAYER

Lord Jesus, I have been almost persuaded too often. I have wanted You and the world, Your approval and the approval of others.

You ask for my whole heart, and I cannot give it by trying harder. Take it, and make it new.

Deliver me from the fear of man, the love of money, the love of pleasure and a fickle spirit.

Make me not almost but altogether Yours, for You gave Yourself altogether for me. Amen.