Conversion (Tough Theology - Week 6)

When I was a university student, I did a one semester exchange program at European Nazarene College - a beautiful little campus on the Rhine river at the border of Germany and Switzerland. That spring, we had lots of holidays. Germans take almost as many holidays as Koreans. One of the holidays was Ascension Day, to which I said, “Thanks for the day off and everything, but what’s that?”
Ascension Day is the day when Jesus ascended into heaven - exactly 40 days after his resurrection. We had a special Ascension Day worship service, and the guest speaker was none other than Hermann Gschwandtner, the German missionary who is now the South Asia Field Director and was here in May.
I honestly don’t remember anything Hermann said, but I do remember the text: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
That day, that verse, that sermon - they changed me. I felt God clearly calling me to give my life for evangelism. Sitting in that little European chapel, I knew that the highest purpose for the rest of my life was to help people become authentic Christians.
About a year later, I began working on an MDiv degree in a special program focusing on evangelism. The English word “evangelism” comes from the Greek word euangelion or “Good News” or “Gospel.” Evangelism is Gospel-ism. Evangelism is to do the Gospel, to proclaim Good News, to bring Good News, to be the living presence Gospel. I am here standing before you today because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have given my life to transforming Gospel of Jesus Christ.
So today, in our last week on the Tough Theology series, we pick up a topic that is very dear to my heart: Conversion. What does it mean to become a Christian? When we talk about the gospel and evangelism and all of that, what are we really aiming at, and how do we get there?
Three people have shaped the way I view conversion. Three key thinkers have radically altered the way I think about what it means to become a Christian. Today, I want to walk you through each of these key thinkers, and I hope they will shape your thoughts on conversion as well.

 The first thinker who has changed my thinking is James Engel. He developed something known as the Engel Scale of Evangelism. It looks like this. This chart may look complex, but it has a simple movement. Everyone in the world is somewhere on this chart. As people’s thoughts and actions become more in line with the gospel, they move up the chart. Anything that helps someone move up - even just one step - is a form of evangelism.

Engel’s Scale of Evangelism expressed a whole new way of thinking about how we help other people become Christians. But another thinker took Engel’s scale one step farther - and made it simpler at the same time. Frank Gray created Gray’s Matrix.
One of the problems with Engel’s scale is that it is primarily related to knowledge. But attitude is a huge part of becoming a Christian. If you hate Christians or the church, you are probably not going to become a Christian.
 With Gray’s Matrix, the goal is to help people move up and right. Knowledge is still important. We still need to help people understand the gospel. But it’s just as important for us to help people feel good about the gospel, the church, Jesus, and Christianity. For some people, just believing that Christians aren’t a bunch of jerks is a big step. If evangelism is like farming, working for this kind of basic attitude change is like plowing the ground.
This has some pretty big implications for how we think about evangelism and conversion. Some studies show that adults who became Christians spent an average of three years in the questioning and searching process before becoming Christians. For more than 70% of these adult converts, the most significant factor in their decision to become a Christian was not information - not the Bible, not sermons, not books, not Christian flyers. The most important factor was having a supportive Christian friend. They saw Christ in their friends, and they wanted Christ in their lives also. But it took an average of three years. And three years is the average, that means that for half of the people, it took longer than three years!
It is very unlikely that “presenting the gospel” to a person we meet randomly will help that person really become a Christian. In fact, if they are on the left side of the chart (with negative feelings toward Christianity), this kind of approach is likely to push them further away from Christ. In a similar way, pushing people for an immediate conversion during a worship service may not be the most effective way to help someone put their faith in Christ.
Helping people become Christians takes time. It takes relationship. It takes real friendship. Becoming a Christian is a process. It’s a beautiful and sometimes difficult journey.

 OK, here’s the second thinker who has changed my thinking: Gordon Smith. He wrote a book called Beginning Well: Christian Conversion and Authentic Transformation. He says he wrote this book because: “the practice of evangelism is undermined by an inconsistent and flawed understanding of conversion.” In other words, we aren’t doing a good job helping people become Christians because we don’t understand what the process of becoming a Christian is really like.
I grew up with the idea that conversion happens by saying “The Sinner’s Prayer,” which is basically asking Jesus to forgive you of your sins. Now, Smith says that kind of prayer is part of conversion, but it’s only one part. The point of conversion is total life change. The point is a total reorientation of our lives to Jesus. Because human beings are so complex, completely changing our lives involves a complex network of changes in belief, attitude, and behavior.
Gordon Smith offers seven separate components of a complete conversion to Christ.

• Belief: The Intellectual Component. John says he wrote his story of Jesus “so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.” (20:31). A fundamental part of becoming a Christian is believing in Jesus and his power to give us new life.
• Repentance: The Penitential Component. Jesus’ essential message was: “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near” (Matthew 4:17). Repentance has three basic movements: sorrow, confession, and turning. First, we feel genuinely sorry for our sins. We stop making excuses, and we confess to God and to other people that we have done wrong. But that isn’t enough. We also turn from our wrong ways and turn to God. We change our ways.
• Trust: The Emotional Component. Wesley called this “the inward witness of the Spirit.” Joyful trust in God is an essential part of becoming a Christian. Some people call this “falling in love with God.” “Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong” (Ephesians 3:17).
• Commitment: The Volitional Component. Leslie Newbigin explains commitment like this: “There cannot be a separation between conversion and obedience. To be converted in any sense which is true to the Bible is something which involves the whole person. It is a total change of direction which includes the inner reorientation of the heart and mind and the outward reorientation of conduct in all areas of life.” Becoming a Christian means total commitment to Jesus. Jesus said, “you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own” (Luke 14:33).
• Baptism: The Sacramental Component. Gordon Smith says, “The New Testament does not speak of converted people who are not baptized.”5 Jesus said to make disciples, baptizing them, and teaching them. When the people asked Peter how they should respond to the gospel message they heard, he said, “ Each of you must repent ... and be baptized ...” (Acts 2:38). Baptism is part of what it means to be a Christian. It is a fundamental sign of our forgiveness and new life in Christ.
• Holy Spirit: The Charismatic Component. In Romans 8, Paul says, “And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all... The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.” Every authentic Christian has the Spirit. We have no chance of living as Christians without God’s Spirit living in us. But being a Christian means tuning in to the Spirit of God breathing in us.
• Christian Community: The Corporate Component. No one is a Christian alone. Listen to 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 in the Message: “Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you're still one body. It's exactly the same with Christ. By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. ... Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit ... We need something larger, more comprehensive.” Being an authentic Christian means participating and contributing in the community of Christians. There is no other way.

So when we look at all seven of these components together, we can make a few observations. Belief and repentance are central, but they are also deeply connected to the other five elements. When we focus on belief and repentance as the whole of conversion, the result is lots of half-way Christians. We need all of these components to become authentic followers of Jesus Christ.

 The other great thinker to change my thinking on conversion is Jesus. Jesus talks a lot about converting to his way of viewing the world. Matthew, Mark and Luke say the summary of his message is “The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the Good News.” This is a message of conversion - transfer of allegiance from the kingdoms of this world to the Kingdom of God. Jesus is asking people to entrust their lives to God and God’s love not to stuff and power. This is a radical conversion. But Jesus approaches this process of conversion in some surprising ways.

 1. For Jesus, conversion is primarily relational not rational. Jesus doesn’t deliver a systematic theology for understanding God. Jesus doesn’t explain four spiritual laws to have peace with God. Instead, Jesus speaks primarily in relational terms. He talks about a shepherd and sheep, a Father and children, a King and subjects, a Master and servants, a Groom and a bride. The key issue for Jesus is our relationship to God and God’s children. Are we trusting? Are we trustworthy? Are we living in harmony with God? Are we abandoning ourselves to the mercy of God?
Again and again in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus most important sermon, Jesus chooses relational language. In just three chapters, Jesus describes God as “Father” 15 times. When Jesus is telling people to trust in God rather than their money, he says, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:26). For Jesus the key issue of conversion is entering relationship with the Father that changes our whole way of thinking. For Jesus the key issue of conversion is trusting the Father so deeply that this relationship revolutionizes our whole way of being, our whole way of interacting in the world.

 2. For Jesus, sometimes indirect, unclear language is best. Many of us have been taught to be very direct people: “Mean what you say, and say what you mean.” But apparently Jesus’ mother didn’t say that to him. Jesus is sometimes frustratingly indirect and confusing. When people asked Jesus a question, his most common response was ... a question. When people criticized Jesus or complained against Jesus, his most common response was ... a story.
Jesus seemed to prefer interesting mystery over boring clarity. In the gospel of Mark, there is this interesting phenomena called “the Messianic Secret.” When demons shout, “I know who you are,” Jesus says, “Be quiet” (1:24-25). When Jesus starts to gather a crowd, he leaves them and goes to another town (1:35-38). Jesus healed a leper and “sent him on his way with a stern warning: ‘Don’t tell anyone about this’” (1:43-44). Again and again, Jesus almost runs away from the crowds (1:45).
Mark says that Jesus “taught them by telling many stories in the form of parables” (4:2). Later, Jesus explains why he keeps using parables. “Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding will be given - and you will receive even more. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given” (Mark 4:24-25). Jesus doesn’t actually want people to know that he is the Messiah yet. He wants them to keep wondering and keep searching. Jesus wants to draw them into the search before they make a decision because the search itself will change them.
Jesus wants people to be confused and questioning because then they can become like little children - ready to learn (Mark 10:14-15). And when they are finally ready to relearn everything, then the conversion process has truly begun.

 3. For Jesus, there are no half-way Christians. At the end of Matthew, in the Great Commission, Jesus sends his disciples out to “go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). Jesus’ goal is not for people to believe a few specific things or to say a certain prayer. Jesus wants disciples who obey everything he has taught. Jesus wants people who are totally committed - heart and soul and body - to his way of life.
Jesus said, amazingly radical things like, “If you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple” and “You cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own” (Luke 14:27, 33). Jesus is not really interested in partial commitment. Jesus wants people who are so forgiven that they live with forgiveness. Jesus wants people that so trust the Father’s love that they live with love. Jesus wants people who are so full of the Spirit’s life that they have no fear of death. Jesus wants total life change, and he won’t settle for anything less. He is always pushing, always pulling, always pleading for everything we are.

 So, when we think about all of this stuff about conversion, here is the gospel. God, our Father, the King of the universe, has loved us before the creation of the world. Our Father created us to be his children, but like the rebellious son, we left our Father’s Kingdom and tried life on our own. The only result was a messed up, broken world, full of violence and pain. Most of us have given up hope that this world and this life can ever be better than this.
But the Father sent Jesus to heal us and to heal our world. Jesus gave his death for our death, his life for our life. Beginning in the hills of Israel and continuing throughout all time, Jesus calls out, “The Kingdom of God is at hand - here, now. Repent; change your way of thinking; change your way of life, and believe this Good News. Rebels can come home. Sinners can be forgiven. The hopeless can be reborn. Our world can be healed.”
Believing and living this Good News is a long process of conversion. It involves our minds, our hearts, our bodies, our thinking, our faith, our emotions, our relationships - our everything. Being fully transformed by the Good News of Jesus Christ involves praying, and repenting, and believing, and committing, and being baptized, and participating in the Church, and the radical mysterious action of God that we cannot control. Authentic conversion changes every part of us. Nothing is left out. And that is good news because we all need to be deeply changed.
Wherever you are in the process of conversion today, take one more step. Look at these elements of conversion, and ask yourself where you need to grow today. Get out the prayer cards in your bulletin. Write your name and write which one of these areas you need to grow in. I’ll pray with you. If it’s OK with you, I’ll call you and we can talk about how to take that step.
Jesus asks for everything you are. This is the path of life. Give your life to the Father through Jesus. In exchange, he will give you his life through the Spirit. Your life for God’s life. That is the best exchange you’ll ever get.