Matt Greer

I grew up in a loving Christian home. At age nine I asked to become a Christian and join my childhood church after hearing a sermon on how I was destined for Hell if I was not a Christian. I was terrified, so I told the pastor I wanted to join the church and be baptized.

I spent the next nine years of my life acting like a well-behaved Christian. Even though I acted like a Christian on the outside, something just did not feel right on the inside and had not felt right for several years. Every time I would hear a minister or youth leader talk about “knowing that you are saved without a doubt”, I would get an uneasy feeling.

One Sunday during a service something just hit me and I realized that I did not truly understand what becoming a Christian meant. I realized that the uneasy feeling I kept having was the realization that I had never accepted Jesus as my savior by asking him to change my heart and forgive me for all my sins. I struggled with the reality of not being a Christian for weeks, because I was embarrassed that my original decision was not real. I prayed and asked God to give me a sign or some way to become a Christian and save my pride.

That next Sunday a very respected Deacon stood up in front of the whole church and shared how he had joined the church and was baptized publicly as a child but years later realized he never truly accepted Christ until adulthood. After he finished speaking several other church members stood up and admitted the same thing. I could not fight the truth anymore and later that day I tearfully prayed for Jesus to make me a Christian. The next Sunday I went up in front of the church and told my story and ask to be baptized again, now that I was truly a Christian.

Matt Greer