Every year there are hundreds, if not thousands, of Thai people who pray to receive Christ but never become involved in a church.  Or if they do, it is only for a very short time and then they are gone.  Many people have suggested possible reasons, such as they need more follow-up or more encouragement in order to start and continue with the Christian life.  Granted, following-up new believers is important but what if a majority of these “new converts” were never converted to begin with?  What if they had received a superficial Gospel and were prematurely led to say a prayer of conversion that they didn’t understand?  Is it possible that the sinner’s prayer, which is supposed to signal conversion to the Christian faith, actually fails to challenge the animistic worldview of Thai people?  What if instead of helping them find new life in Christ, it confirms them in their basically animistic worldview, but merely adds a temporary Christian veneer on the top of their existing beliefs.

In Thai churches, it is almost universally accepted that the way to become a Christian is through reciting the sinner’s prayer.  By “sinner’s prayer”, I mean the practice of saying a short formulaic prayer in order to become a Christian.  The sinner’s prayer is usually some variation on “God, I believe that you exist and are holy but that I am a sinner in need of you.  I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross to forgive my sins.  Please forgive my sins and come into my heart to be my Lord and Savior.  In Jesus’ name, amen.”  In the thinking of many Thai Christians, it is necessary to formally say the sinner’s prayer in order to become a Christian.  Biblically speaking, there is no requirement that someone say a certain prayer or be able to point to a definite point in time when they “invited Jesus into their heart.”  Biblical salvation is by grace alone through faith alone by Christ alone (Eph 2:8-9).  Such faith will certainly be expressed in both a verbal profession of faith (Rom 10:9-10, 13) and good works (Eph 2:10, James 2:14-26) but there is no indication in the Bible that a certain prayer needs to be said in order to bring about salvation.

Some Thai believers realize that not everyone who prays the sinner’s prayer is genuinely converted, but many do not.  And in many places there is simplistic evangelism that prematurely calls Thai Buddhists to make a “decision” for Christ by saying the sinner’s prayer.  I have heard evangelism that goes something like this: “God made the world and he made you and me, and we’re all sinners.  If you want to go to heaven and not go to hell, then believe in Jesus because he died on the cross for your sins and can take you to heaven when you die.  He can also help you with your problems if you pray to him.  Do you want to believe in Jesus?”  And upon a nod of the head or some kind of verbal affirmation that the prospective convert wants to believe in Jesus, the evangelist then leads that person in the sinner’s prayer and declares them “saved”.  The new convert is then often assured of their salvation with verses like Romans 10:13 and John 1:12.  The outward recitation of a certain prayer is presumed to be evidence of internal change.

I have seen lots of this “sinner’s prayer” type evangelism in Thailand although it is hardly unique to Thailand.  You can find the same kind methodology on every continent, and probably every country where there are evangelical Christians.  I am embarrassed to say that the majority of this simplistic decision-point evangelism is imported from the West, originally devised by early 19th century revival preachers on the American frontier.  These perhaps well-meaning but confused evangelists didn’t trust the Spirit of God to convict and convert sinners in His own time, but wanted reportable results and big numbers now.  And eventually this instant decision type of evangelism won the day in Western Protestant evangelicalism and has been subsequently exported to the rest of the world.

In my next post, we’ll take a look at how most Thai Buddhists would understand the nature and purpose of the sinner’s prayer, and how they might decide to pray to “receive Christ” even though they don’t yet understand the Gospel.

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Comments (3)

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You're right, this is certainly not only in Thailand! I imagine it spans the globe. People have false security - going on their way thinking they're "saved" when all they've done is said some words. Words that have been "inoculated" against the Gospel...

Jim , December 01, 2009 | url

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Too true Karl. The sinner's prayer was first employed by DL Moody, but did not reach popular usage until the 1950s when Billy Graham produced the Peace with God tract. Later Campus Crusade put it to work with their Four Spiritual Laws booklet. There certainly is no Biblical basis for "measuring" salvation through the praying of a "sinner's prayer". If we really need an outward sign of salvation, I would suggest that water baptism would be a more Biblical and thus more appropriate indication of spiritual "rebirth". I would, however, even go so far as to question the need for "counting" converts and even questioning what "conversion" really means. To my mind, conversion is a process and at best we can possibly mark the beginning of that process. I feel that the whole conversion thing is just too "black and white" - and is more about suitability to be a church member than spiritual regeneration. Say the sinner's prayer, then be baptized, then you can become a member of a church. Then you can take communion and do all the other things that membership allows you to do (just don't forget to take your church membership certificate with you when you die, so that you can present it as your ticket to heaven when you meet Peter at the Pearly Gates). Its almost like membership to the country club - you're either in or you're out. Throughout the world, and certainly here in Thailand, the church has largely organized itself as a bounded set, those who share the same beliefs and values are in the set and those who disagree are outside.
A centered set, on the other hand, does not limit membership to pre-conceived boundaries. Instead a centered set is conditioned on a centered point. Membership is contingent on those who are moving toward that point. Elements moving toward a particular point are part of the set, but elements moving away from that point are not. As a centered set, Christian membership would be dependent on moving toward the central point of Jesus. A Christian is then defined by their focus and movement toward Christ rather than a limited set of shared beliefs and values and whether or not a certain formulaic little prayer has been prayed, or an "altar call" has been responded to a hand has been raised.

Nick Bekker , December 01, 2009

Even earlier than Moody

Even before D.L. Moody, the sinner's prayer was popularized by 2nd Great Awakening preacher Charles Finney who was thoroughly convinced that everyone had the ability to change his own heart and just needed someone to persuade him to make that "decision" by any means possible - and of course, this bad theology led naturally to a pressure-laden, psychologically manipulative type of evangelism.

If we need an outward sign of conversion, then adult baptism (or a profession of faith and admission to the Lord's supper for those baptized as children) would indeed be a much better (and more Biblical) signpost of conversion (or of a fundamental God-ward orientation and movement if you prefer).

Nick, you raise some important concerns and questions about the nature of church membership and conversion, and I hope to address those in this blog at some point but they are bit too big to tackle here in the comment section of this post.

Karl , December 02, 2009

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