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The Sinner’s Prayer Is a Farce
And it's actively damaging healthy Christianity
Where will you go if you die today? This is a question that has been posed to countless people by well-intentioned evangelicals. If you are confident that you are going to heaven, they will ask why. If you waffle or are unsure, they will guide you into speaking the Sinner’s Prayer. The Sinner’s Prayer is a series of words designed to unlock salvation for the unsaved person. Once these magic words are said, many Christians believe that a person has been saved. Say the prayer, gain eternal life. Simple.
This belief has permeated all levels of modern Christianity. Altar calls, revivals, street preaching, televangelists, and well-meaning pastors have all used this device to try to get people over the line to salvation. There is nothing inherently wrong with wanting someone to be saved, but this method is completely bunk. There are numerous problems with the Sinner’s Prayer, not the least of which is the fact that saying a magic prayer doesn’t save anyone.
The Sinner’s Prayer is lazy and theologically dubious. Telling thousands of potential Christians that they have been saved just by saying a prayer is actively harmful to their actual salvation.
How can this be?
