Becoming a Christian, Part 1

Is conversion an event? Is salvation a transaction? Is becoming a Christian really a matter of making a decision or saying a prayer? Is it "crossing the line of faith," "asking Jesus into our hearts," or "accepting Jesus as my personal savior and Lord"?

Our church is currently doing a series on Sunday mornings with the "Becoming a Contagious Christian" material put out by Willow Creek and Zondervan (http://www.contagiouschristian.com/). I had the chance to go through this material with the author in the mid-90's when it first came out. I've also taught the curriculum as an adult class. I value it's emphasis on learning to share about Jesus in a style that is natural for you rather than giving a formula or cookie-cutter approach. BUT... there just has to be a but... I'm increasingly unsatisfied and even troubled by the way we're told to present "the gospel" and invite people to "become Christians."

The so-called "four spiritual laws" and the accompanying bridge analogy are the recommended means for calling people to respond to Christ. (See http://www.billygraham.org/SH_StepsToPeace.asp and http://www.godlovestheworld.com/) All analogies break down, and this one does too in some significant ways (e.g., it keeps sin as something separate from us rather than a part of us; it has no mention of community). But my biggest issue with it is that it implies that once you have followed the steps and prayed the prayer to "receive Christ," then you're done.

I'm reminded of this great quote by A.W. Tozer:

"The whole transaction of religious conversion has been made mechanical and spiritless. Faith many now be exercised without a jar to the moral life and without embarrassment to the Adamic ego. Christ may be 'received' without creating any special love for Him in the soul of the receiver. The man is saved,' but he is not hungry nor thirsty after God. In fact, he is specifically taught to be satisfied and is encouraged to be content with little." - A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

Tozer wrote that 60 years ago! Things haven't changed in many ways.

In the next couple posts I want to wrestle with some of the possible results of this approach to evangelism. Are we, as Tozer says, too easily satisfied and content with too little? I also want to explore some of the theology behind all this. What is it that we believe about what is means to be saved? And hopefully, somewhere along the line, some alternatives might emerge.