Unregenerate Church Members

 

Speaking to a man in his early thirties, he said something I thought was quite telling. He said to me that he was ardently attending church when one Sunday morning while in church, it dawned on him that the only reason he was there was because of family ties and tradition. He said for him church attendance had become robotic; he was physically present but spiritually absent.

Baptized as an infant, Sunday School as a toddler until he was a pre-teen, confirmed as a teenager, gave his life to Christ somewhere in his early twenties but from then until now, nothing. Going to church by rote but not living his life in Christ. He was an unregenerate church member.

It may surprise you to know that our churches are filled with unregenerate members. Persons who attend religiously but whose lives have gone nowhere spiritually – in church but far away from Christ.

For them, church has become more of a social gathering place than a place of repentance, conversion, and discipleship. They are members who have been over-churched and under-reached.

Mind you, these are in no way “bad” people, they have simply continued to be lost; they spoke the words of acceptance but never made an honest commitment to follow Christ, they did not go on to work out their salvation, they have never truly placed their faith in Christ or bothered to establish a personal relationship with Him and though they attend church regularly and are registered members, they aren’t Christians.

Even though they will make a show of being religious, their religion won't be real. (2 Timothy 3:5 CEV)

The thing is, church membership is not salvation. Being devoted in service and faithful in attendance cannot save you. Your contrived good works (see Isaiah 64:6) is not the same as good works resulting from salvation (see Ephesians 2:10).

Unregenerate church members are not “born again”, “reborn from above” or “reborn”, they are what theologians call unsaved members of the church.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life]. (2 Corinthians 5:17 AMP)

Some unregenerate church members cannot be blamed for their condition, as they have been deluded into believing that they are Christians via good works concept sermons or not receiving a proper understanding of the Gospel or never hearing a presentation of the Gospel that was clear. They have not been given the adequate spiritual guidance to properly lead them in the way they should go and no one in leadership ever asked them any pertinent questions concerning their beliefs and faith in Christ.

While others have deluded themselves by believing that church membership meant being a Christian or by confusing certain aspects of church ministry with salvation or by convincing themselves that church attendance was sufficient and nothing else was necessary.

Beloved, we cannot afford to conduct our spiritual lives on our own. Being a member of a church is supposed to be being a member of a family, and no one wants to see their family member go astray. So, why are we, as Christians, so reluctant to share our faith with our brothers and sisters in Christ?

You may just be the one to help unregenerate church members escape their state by sharing Christ with them.

Amen †

 

Shelley Johnson “Unregenerate Church Members” ©2026 May 4, 2026