last night at our small group one of our friends asked the question, "Did all of you have a defining moment in your life where you can pinpoint the day/time/location you became a Christian?" an interesting discussion ensued. we all went around and shared our individual stories-- each as unique as our differing backgrounds-- about how we ultimately became Christ followers.
i found this discussion intriguing because a couple people (including the person who raised the question) never had a specific moment where they crossed over from being a total pagan to a radically-saved Christian. now i know of many people who, had they been in the room, would've said something like, "well you can repeat this prayer after me and have that defining moment in your life!" but i think this totally misses the point. those in our group who don't have a "defining moment of conversion" are clearly Christians... Christ followers. By (my)definition, a Christian is someone who is seeking to follow Christ in their daily life, understands that they are a sinner unable to redeem themselves (by good works or any other means), believes in Christ, the cross, the resurrection, and the redemption that has come as a result of all this. In following Christ, they have turned from a life of living for themselves (repentance) and are seeking to grow in and follow Jesus in their everyday life. by this definition everyone in our small group is 100% undoubtedly a Christian. the only difference between the two groups of people in our group is that some had a time where they said a prayer and others, over time, have acknowledged and made the exact same decision without a specific time to contain it.
i've been thinking about this a lot over the past couple years-- i'm not belittling the idea of having someone "repeat a prayer after you" for them to "get saved", but i'm not sure i feel comfortable with the idea that everyone has (or should have) a specific moment in time that they can pinpoint to when they became heaven-bound...
i have many more thoughts, but i'll leave it at this for now.
what do you think? i'd love to hear your thoughts...
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6 comments:
Whoa.. The Nicholsons have a joint blog account, I did not know that. Another blog to add to my list!
Lydia, thanks for the comment, it was really encouraging actually. And no, I didn't know we got second at the tournament! I have been waiting for Sunday to roll around so I could hear about the tournament.
In regards to your post Aaron, May 24th, 2002 was the day I accepted the Lord into my life. However, it took a long time after that to give myself up completely. I don't think I really knew how to. But I do know that after moving to Sarnia was the time I started to change completely. I can almost pin point the time actually. So i guess in a way, I've had two defining points in my life...
I am one of those people who never prayed the "prayer". I grew up in the Lutheran church, and Lutherans don't "get saved". It is something that has been a bit of an issue for some people who encouraged me to make up a date just to have something to hold on to. I don't need a date. I KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt who my saviour is, and I can't remember a time when I didn't know Him. My family left the Lutheran church and went to a Messianic Congregation which is where I heard for the first time about the "prayer". One night I asked jesus into my heart 20-30 times...nothing happened, so it was not a moment of religious awakening but simply a moment of folly. I don't think it matters how we know HIm, God is big enough to let us come as individuals as we are. I know some people have a moment and I think that it wonderful. Some don't, and that is just as wonderful...The point is not how you get there, but that you get there.
Sorry i've blabbed on quite a bit...It's a little bit of a hot spot for me...
i like to frame the issue in the idea of trajectory (or to use the buzz word "journey"). for me, it's more the idea of the dirrection of one's life... for some people it means doing a complete 180... for other's it means adjusting a few degrees... for all of us it means trying to live in and towards the kingdom, through the grace of Christ.
so you may have a "date" that you "got saved" like i have a date that i got married... but the truth is that there was romantic pursuit long before that moment. i don't think God is so much concerned about the "signing on the dotted line" as he is interrested in developing, on-going relationship that will be full of many conversions and a daily "turning towards."
ah... perspectivalism.
a thought came to me as I recall the gospels and the many unique ways Jesus challenged individuals to follow him. it was all about relationship and believing who he claimed to be, the messiah. no messing around. for the chatino people it's a process, they say i am going greatly in regards to Jesus, in other words, i believe.
eljefenellis
PHil I loved what you had to say about the wooing thing. In you heart you commit to your spouse (hopfully) long before the ceremony takes place. I think that is the same with God. We commit our hearts the moment that we believe, for some of us we have believed without recognition of that moment, for some there was a prayer and recognition of that belief right near the very moment the belief occured.
thanks for your thoughts guys. they only confirm my thoughts on the subject as i've been wrestling with the whole issue of salvation and "how" we are saved... (not so much in a spiritual sense, but more in the methodology of what i've been taught and raised with.) phil, i love the analogy you used re: marriage, commitment, and "direction of one's life". so true. and this is what i've always told my youth. case and point: i had a girl email me saying, basically, that she prayed a prayer when she was young but doesn't know if she's a christian (she's partying, etc, etc, etc) and the bottom line is that she doesn't want to go to hell. my response to her was that a prayer she said 10 years ago and forgot doesn't save you, it's a decision to follow Christ. so my question to her was "who are you following... yourself? your friends? Jesus?" the idea of following Christ still affords a person opportunities to mess up, to get side tracked, to sin, to stop walking, but there's still the idea of following Christ rather than being on an entirely different path.
this is how i've summed up what it means to be a Christian in its simplest form. and thanks, erk, for sharing your story. it, as well, confirms what i've been thinking and i'm thankful that you've shared it. any baby yet? just curious...
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