Three’s a Charm

Some time back I was at a Christian conclave of sorts when a man stood and seized the moment with words that since have stuck with me like glue. Partly, I guess, because he verbalized succinctly what was true of me too though I hadn’t the wisdom before that moment to see it as clearly as he did. And partly because I think the same may be unconsciously true of many Christians — if the sudden hushed silence in that crowded room meant anything at all. He said loudly and clearly: I’ve been converted three times: I’ve been converted to Christ. I’ve been converted to the Church. And I’ve been converted to the World. As he went on to explain himself I found he was telling my story as well as his. I want, in short, to tell that story here because I think it needs to be told often. Why? Well, I’ll reserve that for my last sentence.

First, A Disclaimer (of Sorts)

As often as I’ve come up to it, skirted around it, and avoided it head on, I’ve not in these two years of blogs shared much of my experience of becoming a Christian. The reason I’ve not is seen in my very first blog exactly two years ago — that moment unforgettable because it was mid-March, the very week the WHO declared “Pandemic,” the very week our book was published, and the very week Mimi and I launched this website. In it I quote pastor, speaker, and writer Frederick Buechner who said he feared his writings may be “too religious for secular readers… and too secular for religious ones.” Those are my fears too as I also share Buechner’s “hope to reach people who don’t want to touch religion with a ten-foot pole.” If you’re still with me, here’s my story as per above.

Converted to Christ

I was thoroughly “Christianized” but not a Christian, even as I longed to be one and hoped I was. I thought of myself as a good (not perfect) person — virtuous, moral, lawful, principled, etc. I went regularly to church. I prayed regularly to God. I believed the Bible. But I still didn’t have a clue. Just before college it happened. It’s so well described by one who experienced precisely what I did that I’ll use her words even though there’s a century between us: I was intellectually convinced of [Christianity’s] truth. I [had been] baptized in the Church. But my heart longed for something better which I had not found. I had found the Christian religion but I had not found Christ. What was to be done? I had to at last come to an end of myself, and unconditionally surrender myself to the Savior… and ask him to take away all my sins. Only those who have seen themselves under similar circumstances, can understand what one feels when a great burden is rolled away from one’s heart. (Pandita Ramabai from being a seeker in India to embracing true faith in England.)

Converted to the Church

Being converted to Christ brought me a new problem — the Church. You see, it was a youth ministry, not a Church ministry, that awakened in me my need for Christ. I became disappointed in the Church. Why was it not there for me when I was so desperate to know God? So, I rejected the Church, not realizing that to do so was to reject God’s work in the world. Three revelations brought about my conversion to the Church. One, I discovered the Church in reality brought me to Christ. Young Life was the means and its leadership was made up of leading Church members. Two, a story I heard in-person from writer Philip Yancey says it powerfully. At a writers’ conference he chaired, Yancey asked the attendees to bring forward their manuscripts for his review and suggestions. One of the last to do so was a man afflicted with Cerebral Palsy. It was painful to watch him walk to the platform flailing his manuscript aimlessly as he took one unsure step after another. Yancey was shocked to discover this man’s writing was far and above the best of all. Yancey said it was golden. He said this was a picture of the church — so outwardly imperfect, yet so perfectly getting God’s work done in the world. Finally, I discovered that though becoming a Christian is highly personal, it is far from private. The Church is not a building. When Jesus came into my life I immediately became one with all those who belong to him, past, present, and future — the Church.

Converted to the World

Well and good, but I found I needed to abandon this world because I was no longer of it. I had been born into a new world — the Kingdom of God. This present world’s kingdom was Hollywood. So, movies became a no-no along with a lot of other “worldly” activities. One day I realized I was becoming a repulsive religious freak. Through the Bible I learned not only that I could be in the world and not of it but that God has deliberately sent me into this world and its evil to be his salt and light. For God loved the world so much he sent his only Son here to save it and Christ has sent us to be his reps. So I became converted to the world.

Are You and I Seeking to have Charming Homes?

Blessed is the home converted to Christ, to the Church, and to the World. Three’s a Charm!