Hey Karl. Theologically, I agree with all you have to say about repentance and the absolute need for it. Practically though, I think we need to be careful that our "search" for "true repentance" in the hearts and lives of Christian brothers and sisters doesn't turn into a legalistic witchhunt, which though motivated by love and concern, may come across as hard and judgmental. We need to trust that the Holy Spirit, who indwells every new believer in full measure at the moment of conversion, is able to work in them and slowly change them from within. We also need to remember that sanctification is a process that takes place over a period of time and until they reach glorification, we may see people falling back into old patterns of sin again and again. This does not mean that they were never saved, or that true repentance never took place. Remember how many times the Lord told Peter that we have to forgive? God's grace and mercy and the atoning sacrifice of Jesus is sufficient to cover all the sins of every person for all time.

Another thing to consider is that behavior is a learnt set of patterns or habits. Habits, as we all know, take a while to form and a very long time to break. So even though there has been an inward, heart-change, it may take a while for behavior patterns to follow and it would be a mistake to measure the extent of the "heart-change" by the external behavior patterns, especially initially. This is particularly applicable in our Thai context where people coming out of a Buddhist background may take a while to adjust their lifestyle practices to bring them in-line with inward change and what we may consider to be appropriate Christian behavior. If we push too hard for outward change initially, we may actually push them away from the church (something that I have seen many times in Thailand).

Another aspect that comes into the mix is what we consider to be "appropriate Christian behavior". This is a potentially sensitive subject because it is culturally conditioned and informed by our theology. So for instance, some people consider smoking to be a sin and require new Christians stop smoking the instant they believe (a very hard thing to do, ask any ex-smoker). Some Christians consider meeting with old friends over a few beers to be sinful behavior in the life of a new Christian. And there are many other examples.

So, yes, true repentance is essential. I merely want to caution that we don't become the overly harsh judges of that and that we don't try to assess the heart condition of believers based purely on what we perceive to be sinful behavior - and please don't get me wrong, I am in no way condoning sin!!

It is a good word of warning Nick and in practice I try to be very cautious in not making a hasty judgment. The reason, as you pointed out, is that it is difficult to judge the heart, almost impossible. I too see lots of folks here in Thailand define conversion by "no drinking, no smoking, no prostitutes, and no idols" which is a sad form of legalism even though has the appearance of godliness.

Part of the reason that I bring up the issue of true repentance is that sadly enough, so many Christians are satisfied when new converts conform to these minimum outward changes without regard to other areas of life, particularly attitudes of the heart. I don't want "just" the outward change and in fact, I don't care about the outward change that much if it doesn't come from the heart. The heart is what God wants and if God has someone's heart than the external changes will come with time. A primary concern that I have is that too many Thai believers do not question whether true conversion has taken place as long as someone has "prayed the sinner's prayer (รับเชื่อ)" and conforms more or less to avoiding the "biggie" sins like drinking, smoking, idols, and prostitutes. We need to be looking at a person's whole life and help people look at their own hearts, be honest with themselves, and see if their fundamental attitude is one that wants to love and obey God or doesn't. I am not out to beat anyone over the head in a selfish and impossible quest to know with certainty if they are truly converted but rather, when there are serious sustained warning signs that they may have never really understood the basics of the Christian life (repentance and trust in God), then it is time to go over the Gospel once again to help them look at their hearts in relation to God. This is the loving and pastoral thing to do. It may be less awkward and less social risky to leave them in a potential state of false assurance but it is the loving thing to help them come face to face with themselves as God sees them.