. . . and by the way AppyPappy, I totally agree with you that people can be led by the nose to repeating a “prayer” that they don’t understand and have no real idea what they are doing. That can and does happen.
I also agree with you that it can create “false converts”. However, my question is, do you ever tell someone about Christ and how to become a Christian? If you had the opportunity to tell someone, what would you tell them?
I’m not trying to be argumentative, and I do see your point of the danger of not fully explaining to people what becoming a Christian means. But, explaining to people what a Christian is and what one needs to do to become a Christian is possible, isn’t it? If that is so, we tell the Gospel and then let the Holy Spirit do the converting. We cannot know what someone else is thinking or feeling. They can reiterate back to us information, but we have no idea what is in their heart.
Does that mean we don’t tell them about Christ? I think the so-called sinner’s prayer at least gives some simple idea of what you are asking a person to do, and, of course explaining what it means is an absolute prerequisite before ever attempting to help them pray.
I have been teaching Sr High Sunday School for 18 years. One thing I have learned is that teens know very little about Jesus, theology and sin. A few weeks ago, I taught the passage about “If your eye offends you, pluck it out” and they were aghast that Jesus would say such a thing.
We cannot know if someone is sincere which is why we shouldn’t assume the “sinner’s prayer” has accomplished its mission. One thing I like about Methodism is that we kinda assume that Justification comes after Prevenient Grace. God seeks and woos the sinner into a relationship. It doesn’t just happen. It’s part of His divine purpose.
We don’t tell them about Christ. We tell them about what Christ has done for us. They cannot argue with that.