I was recently called up for my 16th-year review where I work as a financial adviser. My regional manager was doing his job to get involved in talking about family life and amenities, when I casually mentioned that I would be preaching at my local church below. Sunday.
As if it were a sign, my manager smiled, reclined in his leather chair and began a monologue about how wonderful financial advisers can be because they have a ‘path with words and with people’ Are preachers the best storytellers?Etc.
- Unfortunately.
- I noticed his conception of preachers as “storytellers.
- ” but I politely nodded and genuinely recognized his desire to connect with me.
- So he cried for the poor.
- The preachers.
- That he had heard in his reformist Jewish context.
- He added that he was convinced that I had done a better job of “motivating others to be better people” because “the question is really about that.
- “.
Not wanting to miss the opportunity to preach the gospel (and perhaps despite this notion of preacher as mere storytellers), I have tried, albeit timidly, to make an analogy between what I seek to do in preaching and what I seek to do in finance. Council. . . On the council, I analyze the financial situation of the person, evaluate the dangers and possible difficulties of the person’s current situation and then try to direct them on a path of financial security. “The task of preaching can be similar, ” I noticed. ” I help you see something about God and the precarious position in which you are far from Him. So am I directing you to the good news of the gospel in Jesus Christ?
My analogy didn’t have the desired effect, or maybe she did, because he quickly replied, “You’re not trying to convert people, are you?”
I can say, by his reply, that he had crossed the line and confirmed his greatest fear: I was one of those Christians, you know, those who do not respect the beliefs of others, who insensitively interfere in the lives of others. And who arrogantly assumes that you have to think like them?Almost.
He didn’t say all that, but it was written on his face. With a smile, I said, “Of course I do, does that surprise you?”
I didn’t know how to respond, so in the next few minutes I tried to help him understand that the gospel isn’t just about making people behave better on the outside, but on the outside. born again from within (John 3). A Christian is someone who repents of his sins and believes in Christ (cf. Mark 1:14). Unfortunately, what my Jewish friend found so unpleasant was not that Christ needed his life and repented and believed, but that I really preached this message of conversion to others.
What is the purpose of the story? Conversion is a bad word, it is scandalous, in today’s relativistic and pluralistic world, to fight for a higher and contrary religious truth, it sounds like pride, arrogance, disrespect, perhaps hatred or even violence.
This is the consensus among many secularized elites. Bill Maher, the personality of popular television, believes that Christianity can only be explained as a “neurological disorder. “therefore, especially since that faith is Christianity. This is absolutely what the modern man does not need.
And Maher simply represents what secular humanism as a movement has said for a long time. Quote your own manifesto, “Traditional theism?And salvationism?” Based on simple claims it is harmful, and diverts people with false hopes from heaven into the future. Other means of survival? [2]. Reasonable spirits?You can even hear the condescending drop coming out of the pen.
Some go further, of course. They say such diversion attempts (i. e. conversion) actually lead to violence. In an open letter to Pope John Paul II, Hindu scholar Swami Dayananda Saraswati argued that “religious conversion destroys secular communities and incites public violence. Is it violence and does it generate violence? [3].
In a sense I agree with Saraswati, the forced conversion of a sword?In modern Islam or 9th-century Christianity?incite violence. But it is clear that for Saraswati and the liberal academic establishment, it is no less violent, humiliating and despicable than simply saying the following words aloud: ”Devils, there is and people will suffer. consciously for eternity alone mismos. de your sins?. It’s the confusing world we live in.
Of course, a Christian should not be so surprised when the world despises or ridicules his message (although we must not generate unnecessary opposition to the gospel and then glorify ourselves in our persecution as Christians as a medal of honor). The message of the cross is madness to the lost (see 1 Corinthians 1:18). However, there is a sense of shame, in some circles called Christians, regarding a “convert” theology. Embarrassed by their heritage, those who call themselves Christians try to open a new (i. e. better) and more respectable path.
In recent months alone, the Vatican and the World Council of Churches, which includes more than 350 major Protestant, Orthodox and other churches, began working on a ‘common code for religious conversions’. Muslim leaders were also required to enter.
The fact that many of the delegates in this group embrace different gospels should make us immediately suspicious. However, his hope is “to distinguish between testimony and proselytism, making respect for the freedom of thought, conscience and religion of others a primary concern in any encounter between people of different religions”.
The specific definitions and recommendations of this committee will not be complete until a few years from now, but some things are clear, for beginners respect is celebrated and rewarded in everything, including the truth, and the way to show respect for others is not by proselytizing. them (seeking their conversion), but to bear witness to a person’s truth while appreciating their own truth.
In short, what was once understood as a radical need for regeneration and conversion has been torn apart. We can say that this common code of religious conversion is actually just a common code of non-conversion.
In addition, it seems that conversion is being attacked even among some who call themselves evangelicals. This should surprise us as something completely meaningless, our Portuguese word for?Evangelical? comes from a Greek word meaning “good news. “What’s the good news? It is because we, who are enemies of God in our sins, can now reconcile with Him because of Christ’s death and resurrection. It is at this moment that we repent of our sins and believe in Christ. We are required to live and think towards Christianity, and all of this must be clearly evident.
However, Brian MacLaren, perhaps the most prominent leader in the emerging church movement, calls for a reconsideration of conversion, if not total rejection. He writes in A Generous Orthodoxy:
“I must add that I do not believe that making disciples is equivalent to making followers of the Christian religion. It may be desirable, in many (but not all) circumstances, to help people become disciples of Jesus and remain in their contexts of Buddhism, Hinduism or Judaism. “Will it be difficult?” you can say, and I agree. But, frankly, it is certainly not easy to be a disciple of Jesus in many “Christian” religious contexts [5].
They tell us to adopt other beliefs, voluntarily, not unintentionally. To be righteous, McLaren affirms the uniqueness of Christianity as a religion distinct from the others. However, his belief in “a gospel that is universally effective for the whole earth,” his reluctance to “put limits on God’s saving power?”compared to the un evangelized, and their belief that we should continually wait to “rediscover the gospel” by finding other religious traditions,” which brings us to this new place where no one of us has ever been before,” this raises serious and significant questions [7]. Frankly, I find it hard to see him recommend something that is somehow Christian, let alone Orthodox. In any case, their proposals are unsettlingly similar to those established by the Vatican and the World Council of Churches.
Since conversion seems so intolerant and uncompromising for the modern spirit, should we fight for it as Christians?
Yes, completely. Although the word is rare in the New Testament (see Matthew 23. 15; Acts 6. 5; 15. 3; 1 Timothy 3. 6), the idea of conversion is at the heart of the script of the scriptures.
The common Hebrew (shub) and Greek words (epistreph) that appear in the conversion are regularly translated as “Convert”, “Back”, “Back?Yes
Also, in Isaiah 55. 7: “Leave the wicked his way, the wicked, his thoughts; Turn to the Lord, who will have compassion on him, and turn to our God, for he is rich in forgiveness. “
In the New Testament, Paul says that Christ sent him to the Gentiles, to open his eyes and divert them from darkness into the light and power of Satan toward God, so that they may receive the remission of sins and inheritance among the sanctified. By faith in me? (Acts 26. 18). It also reports on the church of Thessaloniki: “By leaving idols, have you converted to God, to serve the living and true God?(1 Thessaloniki 1. 9).
Luke said of John the Baptist, “And he shall convert many children of Israel unto the Lord his God” (Luke 1:16).
This conversion figure like, coming back?Returning? We also see it in Jesus’ regular call to “follow me,” as when he says, “If anyone wants to come after me, give up on himself, take up his cross and follow me” (cf. Matthew 16:24; Mark 8. 34; Luke 9. 23). Yes:? And the one who doesn’t take his cross and doesn’t follow me, isn’t he worthy of me?(Matthew 10:38). Following Christ is expensive. Taking your cross means giving up everything. For this man, slave of his own wealth, for example, Jesus said, “Go, sell all that you have, give it to the poor, and you will have a treasure in heaven; Come and follow me?(Mark 10:21). For the disciple who wanted to bury his own father, Jesus commands, “Follow me and let the dead bury their dead?(Matthew 8. 22).
So what exactly does conversion mean?
First, this figure of conversion such as turning one’s back on oneself and humbly following God can be reflected in two words: repentance and faith. Conversion is equivalent to repentance and faith. During conversion, we change our minds, our emotions, and our will to serve an idol (i. e. , the self) in the service of another idol (God). Through faith, we trust in God and His word, believing as Abraham and all. the other saints of God who the one who promised is faithful; in this sense, conversion and repentance are intrinsically linked, as an author very usefully says:
Repentance, the abandonment of sin, and the culture of a new hope, and faith, to turn to Christ with faith and trust, are linked to each other as the two sides of a coin; both are interdependent responses, each being incomplete without the other. , conversion involves faithful repentance and contrite faith. [
Second, the call to conversion is both radical and costly; it’s expensive because he needs to deny himself; to follow Christ is to subdue all earthly pleasures and desires before his will; ourselves, even our family, in short, everything is in the background in the face of this firm commitment of our king.
It is radical because it changes darkness by light, idols killed by the living God, the short-lived wealth of this life for the eternal riches of heaven. Facts (see Paul in chapter 9; Raven in chapter 10; The jailer of Philippi in chapter 16. Although the process is slow and we cannot indicate a time when the Lord took us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light, it does not mean that change has been less dramatic or less different. Someone is no longer the son of the devil, but has been adopted as a child of God (see 1 John 3:10).
Third, conversion is not just a dialogue or a conversation; unfortunately, this is something that is often misunderstood. Dialogue is generally presented as almost an end in itself. I share my Christian experiences, you share your Buddhist experiences and we both improve for that, because “we are all beneficiaries of the same mercy, sharing the same mystery”.
But dialogue is not the end, conversion is, it is clear that there is no conversion without respectful dialogue and no conversion is possible unless God initiates supernatural change in the heart; However, we are not happy to leave a dialogue if our friend still rejects Christ. On the contrary, like Old Testament prophets, like Christ and paul, we we weep and weep for those who remain in their sins and refuse to follow God (see Matthew 23:7).
Fourth, conversion is not a journey. When traveling, someone can wander and never get there; you can learn, but you never come to any conclusions. Many now say that traveling (just learning) is enough in itself.
But making the trip isn’t enough. We must enter the kingdom of God, we must reach the final destination, for there will come a time when the groom will come and those who are not with him will be expelled from the wedding banquet (Matthew 25. 10).
Fifth, the conversion call is neither optional nor negotiable. Biblical writers not only encourage, but in the clearest terms that all must become and follow God in Christ. Notice how many of the above commandments are accompanied by a corresponding warning. Repenting and converting to God is no less trouble; is to be confided in his life and receive death, judgment, and hell.
However, the call to conversion will never be accompanied by physical force, manipulation or coercion. Christians should persuade and argue with words and nothing else (2 Corinthians 4:1-2). The only one? They are the word of God and the testimony of their lives. Nothing can be more accurate and effective (see Hebrews 4:12).
So what is the biblically necessary conversion like?When Paul and Barnabas were in Lystre and Derbe, people witnessed the miracles they performed and mistook them for the Greek gods Zeus and Hermes. Paul and Barnabas’ response is quite instructive:
But when they heard this, the apostles Barnabas and Paul, tearing their clothes, leaped into the crowd shouting: Gentlemen, why are you doing this? We are also men like you, subject to the same sentiments, and we preach the gospel to you. You so that of these vain things you become the living God, who made heaven, earth, sea and everything there is? (Acts 14: 14-15).
There should be no syncretism or fusion of the Christian gospel with Greek mythology (neither with Buddhism, Hinduism or others). Paul and Barnabas insisted that everyone turn from these useless false idols to the living God. They insisted on nothing less than a radical conversion. , Without reservation.
Conversion is at the heart of Christianity. To sacrifice it is to sacrifice nothing less than the gospel and the good news it promises to all, this is certainly reason enough to defend a clear and solid understanding of biblical conversion, God willing, we will think more about this doctrine and its implications in our next article.
But do we have to say anything else? Here are only two reasons why an adequate understanding of conversion is important not only to God and to those who are not converted among us, but also to our own spiritual well-being as Christians.
First, the correct understanding of conversion fosters humility and gives meaning to grace. Paul writes:?And to you too, that you were once an outsider and an enemy in understanding your evil deeds, but now he reconciled you in the body of his flesh, by his death, to present you before him holy, unspotted?(Colosssenses 1. 21-22ss).
Or consider what Peter says: “For Christ is also dead once for sins, only for the unjust, to lead them to God?”(1 Peter 3. 18).
What were we? Before conversion we were transgressors, separaters and enemies of God, and it is neither a hyperbole nor a figure of any other style, we are concerned about terrorist attacks, we are investing in expensive alarm systems for our homes, we are concerned whether or not. Our cars have side airbags, all in an attempt to feel safe. But imagine for a moment what it would be like to have the God of the universe itself as an enemy. The Bible says that we were really enmities with God. There was enmity with us (see James 4. 4)!
How else can we explain the pain, agony, and wrath of the cross, but the fact that God is provoking his own anger that must come to us, enemies of his holiness and righteousness?
If conversion is not necessary, neither is the cross
We must preach the gospel over and over again, humbly remembering what we deserved and then rejoicing in the extraordinary grace God has shown in reconciling with him through the cross of Christ.
Second, a correct understanding of conversion fuels our missionary efforts. The world is in danger. There is a spiritual battle in which the souls of men meet. Satan will be content with nothing less than seeing the church today in silence in complacency to suggest that a radical conversion to Christianity is ultimately not necessary. “Of course, the voices of inclusion and universalism will say, “Is there better to have a call to conversion, but is it really necessary?A first-class seat on the plane is preferable to a bus ticket, but both will eventually arrive at the same destination, right?let people stay where they are?. By definition, the inclusive (who says that some “anonymous Christians” can be saved by Christ, even if they have not consciously repented and have not believed in him) and universalism (which says that all mankind will be saved) destroys biblical witness and our will. for global missions.
Instead, we do well to remember these words of Christ
The kingdom of heaven also resembles a net that, thrown into the sea, collects fish of all kinds, and when it is already full, fishermen drag it to the beach and, seated, choose the good ones for baskets and bad ones. They’ll throw them away. The same will happen with the tisis of the century: the angels will go out, separate the wicked from the righteous, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there will be weeping and cracking of teeth (Matthew 13:47-50).
Only in Christ are they all enviified and reconciled with God (see 1 Corinthians 15:22). It is therefore the responsibility of every Christian to preach this call to conversion by imploring all to reconcile with God through Christ (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:17-21).
“You’re not really trying to convert people, are you?” That moment with my boss was very awkward. No one wants to share the gospel just to have that look of death and horror that shouts, “Do you honestly believe this?How can you?!?.
More than anyone, I don’t like to sow discord. But even so, the gospel presents two dialectically opposed forms of life: either we are saved, or we are unused, converted or unclaimed, sheep or goats, worshippers of God or idols, children of God or children of the devil, on the narrow or wide path, in the kingdom of light or darkness, destined to heaven or condemned to hell. We neglect or reject this doctrine at our own risk.
Robert Duncan Culver put it very well
Conversion is also important for the experience and ministry of any Minister of the Word and for the testimony of every true Christian that birth is important to the baby and oxygen is important for fire. Without this, we are nothing in the kingdom of God and They are, as Jesus said, destined to be discarded, like the straw that is collected in the harvest, and they will be removed from the field and burned into the fire, where there will be weeping and grinding. Teeth? (Matthew 13:36-42) [10].
Don’t be like those who need to regret it, be one of those Christians. Conversion may be a bad word, but if that is the case, then it is the only bad word that the Christian must preach with all boldness and passion.
Besides, what’s the alternative? Tell people that this world is enough, that your vain, vain, selfish and addictive lives go as they are, isn’t everything renewed in God’s image?
I can’t imagine anything more daunting and overwhelming
The broader context is as follows: “We are a nation obscured by religion. I really do. I think religion prevents people from thinking. I think that justifies madness. I think planes crashing into buildings are a religious initiative. “Do you think religion is a neurological disorder?In an interview, Maher goes on to say, “I don’t hate America. I love the Unidos. Me it’s embarrassing that people like evangelicals have taken it, people who don’t believe in science and rationality. We’re in the 21st century and I’ll tell you, my friend, isn’t it the future of evangelicals?