Conversion

I’m increasingly appalled at the lack of conversion I see in many churches. I think those who’ve presided in church leadership positions have fostered and even encouraged this anti-conversion atmosphere. When churches are about programs, activities, and services then the man or woman in the pew begins to sense that they, as a consumer, are in charge. The church quickly devolves from a fellowship of committed and steadfast Christians pursuing a relationship with Christ into a shopping mall full of idols. No, you read that sentence correctly! The church changes from a fellowship or gathering of family into a shopping mall. Fellowship to shopping mall.  The church changes from feeling like home to feeling like Victoria Street. Instead of meeting with friends and family and spending time with the Father, you hop from one shop to the next- sometimes you have a specific item you’re shopping for; most of the time you are simply window shopping having become dissatisfied with your current wardrobe, tennis shoes, or some other trivial commodity.

As a result, we see the grand migration of consumers from church to church in Kamloops whenever one church is no longer cool, or the pastor resigns and moves to another church, or the consumer simply gets bored with routine attendance. How interesting that the people whom Jesus looked upon and pitied because they were harassed and helpless [Matthew 9:36] like sheep without a shepherd have now bought into the lie foisted upon them that they ought to always be wandering and never content with any shepherd -ever.

I think that this perpetual discontentment with church and incessant wandering is nothing shy of non-conversion. They aren’t really believers.  1 John 3:14 puts it simplest: “We know that we have passed out of death into life [eternal life, i.e. salvation], because we love the brothers [other Christians in the church].” John says that if you don’t attend church you’re not a Christian. “They went out from us [our church gathering], but they were not of us; for if they had been of us [a part of our fellowship], they would have continued with us.” 1 John 2:19

John puts it simplest in 1 John. I’ve always loved John for his simplicity of expression, and simplicity of communication. But Paul writes on a much more technical and deeper level.  Paul prays in Philemon 6, “…and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.” Paul’s prayer is that Philemon’s understanding and ‘full knowledge’ would be brought about through his fellowship with other believers. There is this obvious sense in this passage that a full and deep knowledge of God can only be had in the community of church.

Specifically, it must be had in the act of loving service to the brothers in the church. And the scriptures condemn the wanderers in Kamloops as loveless, uncommitted, and un-converted. 1 John 4:8, “Anyone who does not love [i.e. the church, other brothers; is committed to a fellowship of believers; i.e. is a member of the church, and doesn't up and leave whenever the pastor resigns or whenever the church isn't so cool anymore] does not know God [i.e. is unconverted, does not have a relationship with God, still dead in sins and trespasses, and still destined for hell], because God is love.”

So you must be converted to Christ. What does conversion look like? It looks like a lot of different things: conversion is synonymous with routine church attendance; conversion is synonymous with active participation in a Life Group; conversion impacts your wallet; conversion impacts your friends; and conversion impacts your lifestyle.

Conversion does not look like church shopping for the church with the best kids program. Conversion does not look like going to church but living like hell the rest of the week. Conversion does not look like sitting on the back row every week yet not knowing the name of more than five individuals in your church. Conversion does not look like these things. You must convert to Christ to go to heaven.