“Don’t preach the person into Heaven, and don’t preach them out of Hell.” That is advice I received from a pastor on preaching funerals. The funeral sermon is best executed when the gospel is preached to those in attendance. What the preacher should avoid is preaching an unsaved deceased person “into Heaven,” or preaching them “out of Hell.” Don’t fabricate faithfulness; preach the gospel to those who are there.

I think a trend in regular Sunday morning preaching is related. Because of the nominal Christianity in much of the American South, many preachers feel the need to convince their audience they are not truly saved. Classic videos of Paul Washer and Matt Chandler inspire other pastors to preach to the falsely converted. I believe this has led to an overcorrection of many pastors preaching their people out of Heaven.

The False Convert

Unfortunately, there will always be false converts. Those people who respond to the gospel, display faithfulness for some time, and prove later to not truly be converted. Jesus taught on this (Matt. 13:1-8,18-23). Paul experienced this in the life of Demas (2 Tim. 4:10). John comforted the church with this fact (1 John 2:19). The Deceiver loves to deceive, and he is often successful. There will be a portion of those who proclaim Christ at any given moment who will prove false later on.

In the American South, where I pastor, there seem to be false converts all over. Do any door-knocking evangelism and you find that everyone is Christian and member of a church (written with sarcasm). Of course, many of them have not been living the Christian life. Many have proven to have never truly understood the gospel, nor have they ever truly believed it.

If Jesus is right, you may experience in your church someone who leaves because they were never truly converted. This is a terrible reality that should motivate the church to do everything it can from membership to preaching to thwart the false convert.

The False False Convert

Knowing this reality, I think there has been an overcorrection particularly in preaching. The overcorrection has been this: “There are false converts all over the American South. I pastor in the American South. My church is likely full of false converts.” The pastor then looks out on his congregation and preaches the gospel from the perspective that many in his body are not truly converted.

What I believe has happened is the case of the False False Convert. This is a curious case of the believer, most likely older, who doesn’t have the same zeal for the faith as others in the church and is labeled as a candidate for false conversion. They are treated as a false convert, and the pastor begins adding sermon exhortation to those in the room who “think they are Christian but aren’t truly believers.”

This person is a False False Convert. They have been mislabeled but are now being preached to as though they are deceived. Now, the preacher preaches more and more toward having true belief. Increasingly he is becoming convinced that more and more of his people are falsely converted. All of the exhortations tend toward having “true belief” rather than resting in their faith.

Don’t Preach Them Out of Heaven

It is the job of the pastor to preach the gospel. That requires preaching about sin and death, and eternal life in Christ. It requires that forgiveness be offered to anyone in the room who may not be a Christian. It also requires preaching assurance to those who are just trying to make it to Heaven. The hope of the resurrection is what our people long for. We get to give them those snapshots of Heaven each time we preach so as to help them make it there.

I think the overcorrection has led many preachers to preach their people out of Heaven. If not literally causing their people to doubt, then it has led the pastor to doubting the salvation of his own people. Neither of these are good. Our time and resources as preachers are better spent encouraging our saints than casting doubt on their salvation.

Disciple Them Into Heaven

The cause of much of this doubt is a direct result of discipleship. We know a Christian by his or her fruit, but sometimes Christians don’t have very much fruit. Maybe their only fruit is that they have been attending your church for the last 30 years. They don’t know how to read their Bible and they don’t share their faith. Overall, they don’t know much of what it means to be a Christian.

This person has been, in my experience, cast into the “false convert” category. But most false converts do not attend church for 30 years. I cannot say none, but I am confident saying most. What this person needs is not to have doubt cast on their salvation, but to be discipled. What has likely happened is they have not had a pastor who was a discipler. That’s what they need. They need someone who will help them walk the Christian walk and display the fruit of their salvation.

Conclusion

Stop preaching your church members out of Heaven. Instead, go over and above to give them assurance of their eternal destination. Help them feel confident getting to Heaven, so that at their funeral you don’t have to preach them out of Hell, you can simply exalt the name of their Savior.