From: Rick Lindholtz ([email protected])
As a pastor in The Evangelical Covenant Church, I also serve as an evangelism associate.... there have long been two parallel experiences in the Church (and the Covenant): the moment-in-time conversion experience and the process conversion experience.

The really interesting thing is that Billy Graham is so associated with the moment-in-time experience; but his wife Ruth is from the process camp. Raised the child of Medical Missionaries to China, she would say she has always loved and followed Christ. Ironic, isn't it? If the narrated conversion experience really were a non-negotiable necessity, one would think that, of all people, Mrs. Billy Graham would toe the line. That she does not, expresses the equal footing of process and moment-in-time conversion.

Also interesting in The Evangelical Covenant has been its history; those Swedish revivalists who founded the denomination didn't ask the question "Have you been converted?" They asked "Are you alive in Jesus?", emphasizing present walk with Christ, not the circumstances of how it came to be so. And this was 112 years ago! Rick Lindholtz [email protected]

From: "James B. Keeton" ([email protected])
I identify. As a second-generation churchgoer, there never was a dramatic "turning from sin" point in my life. I cannot point to a definite time of conversion, but only an approximate time. ... The reason we do not see definite conversions like we once did is that we are limiting our fields of harvest to the church instead of the world. In our culture, there is a watering down of virtually everything - from patriotism to Christianity. We end up with a lukewarmness that stands for everything and for nothing at the same time. The world needs a radical Christianity to reform society, beginning with the heart of the individual. While the unchurched fields are white, we are just preaching to the pews and wondering why there are no radical commitments anymore. --James B. Keeton

From: Matt Guthrie ([email protected])
I personally applaud the "gradual conversion" model for two reasons. First, it extends to people a touch of grace. Having grown up in a community where some people got saved 20+ times, this is a refreshing view...Second, and very much related to the first, because I am a Wesleyan, gradual conversion seems to be a more accurate perspective. Wesley created his cell group structure because he believed people had to be nurtured into the faith. Christianity was more "caught than taught". -- Matt Guthrie

From "Name Withheld"
How do you keep your finger on what is really happening out here in the church so well? It is amazing! My senior pastor fits your description exactly -- he would say he believes in the "Born Again" experience, but he never preaches it as an instantaneous thing. We've abandoned that approach without ever thinking of the consequences of its loss... thanks for pricking us to think about the consequences of this change. Keep making us think about what is really happening in our churches. (Don't print my name or my senior pastor might lose his seat on the district board and I could lose my job!) -- name withheld

From: "James J. Lake" ([email protected])
...in the complicated or long drawn out birth processes the wonderful truth is ---It does not matter how long it takes you to get started or how complicated your birth process was. What is really important is how you're doing today and the difference you are making in the lives of those around you and how you finish the course and the fact that you were born into an eternal family that will live forever. The style, method and procedures may change from time to time in the way folks come to faith in God, but the One who gives both physical and spiritual life never changes. Sooner or later in order for spiritual life to occur, an individual must come to grips with the God-Man Jesus Christ and recognize that without Him there is no spiritual birth and there is no new life. Jesus said, and I give unto them eternal life......... (Slow , medium or fast birth--He's it.) --James J. Lake

From: [email protected] (Dan Reiland, InJoy)
...Actually, I do agree that the soft sell relational method is far better (for now) than the hard core, bible thumping, door knocking, belt notching method of the seventies. But my question still lingers, "when do we ask the question" that Jesus did? (Not to get overly spiritual, but He did.) I really think people's answer is the issue, which leads to someone asking a question! Discipleship may be the answer, but if so, it will be just one of many methods that work. I wonder if discipleship not based on a clearly understood commitment to be a "fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ" (thank you Bill Hybles) might lead to the following of ___________? The bottom line for me is that we all join together to do whatever it takes - to take with us - as many as possible - to heaven! --Dan Reiland

From: Brad Bergfalk ([email protected])
Your observations about the nature of Christian conversion moving from instantaneous to developmental are correct. I concur that there are sociological and perhaps even pragmatic reasons why we've moved in this direction. I for one, see the developmental approach to conversion more frequently in my parish than the radical conversion. And when I think about the miracle of conversion, I am always equally moved by the stories of faith where one cannot remember a time when they did not know the love of God. This is the conversion experience I hope for my children. Perhaps evangelicalism has become mature enough to see that we need not dramatize our conversion experiences in order to make them efficacious (I don't know where that word came from!?!). Thanks for your thoughts. BJB

From: Ken Long ([email protected])
Instantaneous conversions may be in the wane for some, but here at First Baptist Church in Deming, NM it is not. We don't insist that people remember the exact date and time, but they must remember the experience! Repenting of one's sin is a life changing experience. You don't just drift into it! -- Ken

From: Claude Reeder ([email protected])
Is being "Born Again" in an instantaneous conversion on the wane? Perhaps, but I think that you are looking in the wrong direction Keith. The trend in my "x" generation is not to be slowly converted but to question moral absolutes and anything that is "set in stone".

There are many people that come and go in the church today, I looked through a three-year-old church membership guide and did not recognize half the people in it. Where did they go? What were their absolutes? Were they born again? I believe in God, I believe in my salvation but there are times when I struggle with the reality of it because I am overwhelmed with the inconsistency that surrounds me.

From: "T. W. Douglass" ([email protected])
Keith, I recently read Oswald Chambers' October 28th devotion in MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST, working from Romans 5:10,[and] that really got me to thinking about how I have invited people to an altar to get saved. I have leaned heavily on 1 John 1:9 and I know people would have thought that merely confessing their sins saved them. Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. John 1:12 says that "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God." (He does go on to say "to those who believe in His name:"

I certainly experienced an instantaneous experience for salvation and for the "second blessing", and I appreciate so much your column about what evangelicals are giving up in that regard. Could it be that at least a part of the reason is our "fuzziness" about what constitutes being saved--exactly. -- Just thinkin' --Terry

From: "C. G. White" ([email protected])
There is some good and some bad in the trend about which you write. I think the need to have personal faith in Christ can easily be undermined. Infant baptism, and our Quaker "birthright membership", by the way do more harm than good. They cause many people to have confusion, identifying church membership with salvation. This is where the Anabaptists and "believers churches" are more on target than the rest of us.

On the other hand, Bushnell held up a scriptural and noble ideal to rear our children as always having believed. And I do agree that it is more important to know one believes than to remember when one came to believe. It would be analogous to argue that someone who had no memory of when they had been born had in fact not been born!

There is a middle way and it is "if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved." (Rom 10:9-10 NRSV) The emphasis should be placed on the One in whom we believe, not the point in time in which we came to believe. And by the way--we need to apologize to the mainline churches anyway. I think on the whole, that they are more Christlike by far than evangelicals. ---CG White

From: Rod Pickett ([email protected])
This is clearly an important issue and one I have been wrestling with for some time. I don't disagree with anything you said. I know that I have definitely moved in that direction in my ministry. I have done it for philosophical and cultural reasons. I was never very comfortable with revivalism. (I don't know if I should make such an admission public.)

While I've chosen this direction, I haven't done it without a sense of loss. With a revivalist approach you know who is in and who is out. A definitive conversion has more emotional impact on the person and on the church.

However, as you know, I have difficulty setting aside philosophy for pragmatism. The "Born Again" metaphor occurs only a couple of times (John 3 & 1 Peter 1) in the Bible. And in John 3 it may be a mistranslation. The emphasis on a definitive conversion tends to trivialize the growth before and after the conversion. It also creates and all-or-nothing mentality in evangelism. I'm sure you are familiar with the surveys that indicate that the number who consider themselves "born again" has risen but that their moral behavior differs in no appreciable way from those who are not religious at all. Maybe the bumper sticker that says, "I'm not perfect, just forgiven," should say instead, "I'm not different, just born again."

From a cultural and practical perspective, whatever value may have once been in the term "born again" has now been debased by its negative connotation in most people's minds. At best, it communicates only a caricature of Christianity. "Born again" may have become the "Hudson Foods" of Evangelicalism.

There are obvious dangers to be avoided. One danger in following the mainline denominations by sliding into a form of universalism. Another is losing the volitional dimension of becoming a follower of Christ. Still another danger is reducing Christianity to the Golden Rule and hereby making Christ's death superfluous.

The clear challenge to the church in this age, and in any for that matter, is to change our methods and means of communication without changing the message. Many of the mistakes of the Church throughout history can be attributed to confusion between the timeless and the cultural.

From: JoeWayWat ([email protected])
Defining what is "cultural addendum" and what is "scriptural necessity" when it comes to the "life" of a Christian, is the stuff of which Theologians, Scribes and Pharisees make their living. Trying to come up with a definition of what "becoming" or "being" a Christian really entails, so that everyone can be in agreement, is like trying to hang on to a bar of slippery soap by squeezing it harder. The harder you try the more you loose your grip!... Being born again is being made alive...why would anyone be afraid of looking, sounding, acting, or being alive? JOE WATKINS, VANCOUVER, WA

From: GENE SCHENCK ([email protected])
Perhaps this is precisely what is partly wrong with us evangelicals! Too much preaching is shallow, feel-good, majority of love instead of warning type messages. The altar calls are good if you have a problem or worry that you need to pray about. I've seen lots of people at the altar in recent years, but few seemingly definite conversions. The same people keep coming with their problems and needs; maybe a prayer is repeated of "help me," but no real praying for God to forgive me for my sins and I'm sorry for my sinfulness! People are taken into the church who maybe you will see some, but many weeks you may not even see them, and certainly not on Sunday night, Revivals, or Mid-week services. Yet we have great churches with good crowds, etc. Of course we need a Revival of Holiness, but probably we need to help people get genuinely saved first!

From: Wesley McCallum ([email protected])
Modern evangelicalism is a "form of godliness that denies the power there in". The pendulum has swung back and evangelicals have become the mainline church. The mainline church has become the sideline church. I am a missionary to the world famous WOODSTOCK community. We interact with cults, occults, gurus, seers, prophets, witches, warlocks, Witnesses, mystics, psychics, secularists, new age Jews, and "born again pagans". The pastor whom I followed became a Unitarian. Gradually, he ceased to preach the urgency of the new birth. THESE PEOPLE ARE LOST... LOST... LOST! They love to talk about their spiritual formations, but they are lost. -- Wes McCallum

From: "David Whittaker" ([email protected])
As a nation, we have a significant number of individuals who claim to have encountered a "born again" experience, yet our nation seems to be in a moral meltdown. The churched divorce and other sad statistics (out-of-wedlock sex, etc.) seem to be no different than the non-churched percentages. It seems to me that we have reduced conversion to just another self-improvement program. I coordinate the women's prison program for my church and I often encounter women who want to pray the salvation prayer again because it "didn't take the last time I prayed it."

I have grown to loathe the headhunter approach to getting a "decision for the Lord", and this is coming from a former headhunter. I recently saw a sign at a local church featuring the following on its marquee: -- David Whittaker

From: [email protected] (John D Howell)
Keith, you have hit the nail on the head! The very idea of a re-birth is gone from this generation; instead, what has become the norm is that Christianity is a natural process of growing up in the church, sort of like an added bonus. I think that probably the most important result is that now, parents and teens that have grown up with the idea that "of course I am a Christian, I go to church" mentality, lack the devotion and the commitment that true Christianity has called us too.

This shift of thinking has caused many to become the "Casual Christian" that they sing about. I think that if we as pastors, committed to preaching the Word of God, are going to address this issue of non-committal Christianity, then we need to stress the importance of a re-birth, of a time when everything changed. The issue of making a firm commitment to serving God, must come back into play, otherwise, the church will become a self-help organization with just enough scripture to maintain credibility. -- John D. Howell

From: Lynn Olibrice ([email protected])
Ah yes, I remember it well! That wonderful day when I asked Jesus into my heart and the elders laid hands on me and I was baptized in the Holy Spirit... It seems to me that evangelicals are abandoning everything they have stood for in the past and exchanging it for "sport talk" from the pulpit! We should have more of those prophetic sermons you covered in one of your columns Keith! I am puzzled as to how one can develop faith, or form a spiritual model, without having Jesus in his/her heart...and He comes by invitation only. The churches we are discussing are looking for big trouble if they continue in the ways they are behaving. One thing I know for sure...I would not like to be on step 11 when the rapture takes place! -- Lynn Olibrice, Winnipeg, Canada

From: Mark Atherton ([email protected])
It still happens! In some ways, I'm glad that I was 34 years old before I was saved. Even though I am a pk and always had a mental assent to the truth, it wasn't until I saw myself as a lost sinner that God deposited saving grace to my life. The old time conversion experience is still available. Praise God for August 29, 1994 when on the third stanza of How Great Thou Art God reached down and intercepted my life. IF it's happened to you, you know it and will PREACH it. As with most of our church problems, they fall at the feet of us pastors. When was the last time we heard or preached a naked presentation of the gospel? When was the last time we actually told the old, old story? God help us not to be ashamed of the gospel of Christ. --Mark Atherton

From: KEVIN GOWEN ([email protected])
We live in historically anomalous times. I believe the normal method of the transmission of our faith is for children to learn it from godly parents. Adult conversions should be the exception, not the rule. For the past hundred years or so, this has been completely reversed and I think it is foolhardy to base our theology on that which isn't the norm.

That's why I, an adult convert myself, am not impressed with conversion stories, altar calls, or the thoroughly wrong-headed practice of requiring a retelling of some sort of conversion experience for church membership. A conversion experience is not an indication of a genuine Christian (aren't charlatans enough of a plague on evangelical Christianity to make us realize this instinctively?). Rather, what indicates a genuine Christian is a life filled with holiness and Godly pursuits. Any fool or snake oil salesman can say "Hallelujah, I'm born again!" But to live a godly life for the rest of your life, well, that's something that's a little bit more difficult to fake.

Lastly, I think I know what's behind all this: that is, a desire for a pure church. We don't want our pews filled with a bunch of nominal, lukewarm, pseudo-believers. So we set up tests and hurdles to filter out the bad guys. But the trouble is, not only is there not very much biblical warrant for any of these tests, but they don't work, anyway. Nominalism is still a problem in the church and it crosses all denominational lines. No matter how many man-made tests we put up, Satan can always find a way around them.

So, if this model of conversion is, in fact, in "total meltdown", we should be welcoming this development. All it means is the demise of certain practices and beliefs that never should have gained such prominence to begin with. This is not to say I think that adult conversion experiences are invalid. Far from it, I thank God for each and every one of them. But they should be the exception, not the rule. -- Kevin

From: [email protected] (Mark E Reed)
Yesterday I went to a funeral service. As I walked into the Funeral home I saw, sitting on a podium just inside the door, a book. It was full of the names of those who attended the service. My name is now in that book. In order to get my name there I had to meet a requirement. I had to be there. That was the requirement. And once I met the condition (being there) my name was put into the book. It was written down in a moment. One minute it wasn't there... then I met the condition (arrived at the service) ... and after that my name was in that book. This is exactly the way the Word indicates the Book of Life will be. Whose name will be in that Book? -- Pastor Mark Reed

From: "Don & Lorrie Coffey" ([email protected])
Unfortunately Keith, you are quite right. The days of being "born again" have almost disappeared. A big part of the reason for this, I believe, is the message from the pulpit has changed. We no longer hear the "hell fire and brimstone" messages of the 60's and 70's. So many of our doctrinal teachings have been watered down so much, even some of the older more mature Christians have forgotten what this message was all about. We no longer visit in neighborhoods door-to-door just to spread the gospel. Why, someone might call us fanatics if we did such a thing. So, we as the "born again" hold part of the responsibility too. If we would get back to the basic principle of leading the lost to the Lord, and quit worrying about whether we are doing it in a "politically correct" manner, more souls would be saved and we would see more "instant conversions". We have made getting saved as difficult as refinancing a house. The Lord never intended it to be difficult! -- Lorrie Coffey

From: [email protected] (Tim Elmore)
I do think you are right, Keith, about the trend toward a relational process in evangelism, as opposed to what we did in the '70s and '80s when we did "confrontational evangelism". Relationships are almost a requirement today, if we are going to influence someone to step into the Kingdom of God.

However, I am a believer that the rebirth does happen at a point of decision. Like sanctification, there is process AND crisis. Even though someone may be in process toward becoming a disciple of Jesus--they will still eventually come to a point of crisis over the issue of Lordship: who will run their life. When they surrender, and allow Jesus to take the place of Savior and Lord (however they understand that at their maturity level), I believe it is at that moment that the crisis happens. Someone said that conversion is like crossing the Mississippi River: you can cross it down south, and it is a big deal--requiring a boat to get across. Or, you can cross it up north, at its end where it has narrowed to a small creek, and simply step over it. However, in both places it requires one to step across.

In my opinion, confrontational evangelism may be "out of season", but "decision" evangelism must always be "in" to be genuine. -- Tim Elmore

From: Gary Swyers ([email protected])
In the process of helping a new found friend, work through the reality of he and his wife being childless, I got swept into the friendship without asking the QUESTION, "Would you like to become a Christian?" I talked about my faith but never sprung the question. Missed opportunities fly by when maintaining a relationship supersedes eternal goals. Net result: an earthly friend. We (I) have bought too heavily into the notion of communing rather than converting. Osmosis works great in chemistry but lacks punch without exact recorded data. Thanks for the timely thoughts. -- Gary Swyers, Chaplain IWU

From: [email protected] (Norm Wilson)

There is no question, you are right. But we are wrong. "Born again" is not 19th century King James language expressing an outmoded idea. It was not invented by Chuck Colson. It is the language of Jesus. It is true that birth is a process; conception, gestation, labor, etc. But there is also an instant of birth. The birth cry must come soon after the delivery or it is called a "still birth," and the result is a funeral, not a life. When we gave up transformational regeneration, we began to accept "still births" as the norm. As a result we have a lot of spiritually dead members who have a form of God but deny the power thereof. John described them, "you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead." As you may be able to tell, you really pressed my button with this one. --Norm Wilson

So what do you think?

By Keith Drury, 1995. You are free to transmit, duplicate or distribute this article for non-profit use without permission.