A CONVERSATION ABOUT CONVERSION
by Richard Burkard
If there's one thing many evangelical ministers want to do above all others, it's "win souls" to God by the acceptance of Jesus as Savior. But that was one thing Herbert Armstrong pleaded with the Worldwide Church of God not to do -- encourage instead (to use his phrase) the diametrical opposite.
"Now a passion swept over me to 'get our families converted,'" he wrote in his autobiography. But he determined "I was unable utterly to 'cram my religion down my relatives' throats.'... This is a universal mistake committed by the newly converted." He went on to say many marriages have ended in divorce "because the newly converted mate tried to talk the unconverted one into it.
"Of all things evil and harmful a newly converted Christian can do," Mr. Armstrong continued, "the very WORST is to try to talk your husband or wife into your religion.... NEVER commit this tragic sin. If you love your husband or wife, don't do it!! If you love your Saviour who died for you, and now lives for you, DON'T DO IT!!!" (vol. 1., pgs. 345-346, emphasis his)
Even today, some Church of God ministers extend this principle by applying Matthew 5:14 and saying: "You're a light, not a loudspeaker." Another article on this web site disputes that concept, by showing the importance of having a testimony. This article goes further, by examining one specific purpose of a testimony. Should we try to persuade others to accept Jesus as Savior and Lord of their lives? Or could converting someone actually be a "tragic sin?"
A Hard-to-Find Concept
For all the talk in Christianity about conversion, here's a surprise -- that word never appears in the New International Version of the Bible, and only once in the King James! That verse is Acts 15:3, where apostles go through areas "declaring the conversion of the Gentiles." As we go on, you'll see what that conversion means.
The word or a form of it shows up only 14 times in the KJV. One of the first mentions is a dominating one, in Isaiah 6:10. "Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed."
We'll resist the temptation to comment on big church dinners or boring preachers (giggle) - and point out this verse is instruction from the Lord through Isaiah (verse 8), for people to be told they will not understand what they see and hear (verse 9). They would get a message, but not grasp it. If they did, they might just become converted -- and God apparently didn't want that!
This section of Isaiah is repeated four times in the New Testament. Jesus quotes it to justify speaking to people in parables (Mt. 13:11-15; Mk. 4:11-12). Then John cites it to show how witnesses of Jesus's miracles didn't believe in Him (Jhn. 12:37-40), and Paul quotes it to show how some people did not believe preaching on the Kingdom of God (Acts 28:23-27).
The Isaiah 6 passage is stated so often and in so many different ways that it's easy to see how many Church of God groups reach the conclusion that they do. It's almost like God told COG's to "go through the motions" - preach the gospel because the Bible says you should, even though sleepy-headed hearers and readers are not going to get it. Yet conversion is mentioned even earlier in the Old Testament than this, in a very different light.
Why Clean Up?
"Create in me a clean heart, O God," David pleads in his famous Psalm 51 prayer. Why should God do this? David gives this reason: "Then will I teach transgressors your ways, and sinners shall be converted unto you." (51:10, 13)
The prayer for a clean heart is common among Church of God believers, especially in the Passover season. But do we stop to consider the purpose for that heart? According to this psalm, a key part of the purpose involves converting sinners to God.
If we follow the "WWJD" principle, Jesus promoted conversion among His disciples. This occurred through another act marked by most COG's every year - the blessing of little children. "Except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven." (Mt. 18:3)
After the resurrection, Peter combined the promise of David with the instruction of Jesus. He told a crowd of people marveling at a healing: "Repent therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out...." (Acts 3:19) It was part of a wider and seemingly spontaneous message promoting Jesus and the resurrection.
The Turning Point
If we work solely from the KJV usages relating to "converting," our Biblical evidence already would be almost over. But read the NIV rendering of some of the verses we've mentioned and you'll find a critical alternate word - turning.
For instance, Barnabas and Paul told a crowd of overzealous people after a healing in Lystra, "We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them." (Acts 14:9, 15)
The Greek word for turn here is epistrepho - and that same Greek word is used in all the New Testament references to conversion we've mentioned so far! So in some cases (but certainly not all; you need a concordance to sort things out), a "turn" can refer to the conversion process.
An angel told the father of John the Baptist his son would "go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children...." (Lk. 1:17) This verse is very similar to Malachi 4:6, which Herbert Armstrong's followers long have claimed he fulfilled. If Mr. Armstrong really did that, then he worked to convert families to be close to each other -- parents to children and vice versa. It's not quite converting someone to your religion, but it's a major step along that line.
Another English word which has its roots as epistrepho is "return." Peter uses it to tell believers, "For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls." (I Pet. 2:25) Thus, we could fairly say this group was converted to Jesus.
So we've seen New Testament ministers converting people to God - but from what? The "worthless things" mentioned in Acts 14 involved sacrifices to false gods, which the people attempted to bring the apostles. The crowd apparently wanted to put wreaths of flowers around Barnabas and Paul's heads, and offer bulls to them (14:11-13). Paul later wrote of believers who "turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God." (I Thes. 1:9)
Jesus gave Paul a more detailed list of things to turn away from. Paul recounted those words when he was on trial, in Acts 26:15-18. "I am Jesus.... I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God...."
A Mission for All
But wait, you may be saying - those folks were apostles. They're not me. Converting is something only ordained ministers do. It's their job, not mine - right?
Not according to the apostle James. At the very end of his epistle, he writes: "My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins." (Jms. 5:19-20)
James expands the concept here to all believers -- bringing any wandering brother back to the fold, especially one who's wandered off into sinful living. (You might want to review our article explaining with a "brother" is.)
Some evangelical ministers would put it this way: If you're saved and are filled with God's Spirit, you want as many people as possible to join you in that condition. Do you desire that? Before we explain how to convert others, ask yourself - do you want to take James's challenge? Are you prepared to accept the Biblical evidence that converting others is not a "tragic sin," but part of the Christian mission spelled out by Jesus in Matthew 28:18-19?
A Quick How-To
If you are, then here are some tips from Scripture about how to do it. There's one KJV Old Testament verse about conversion we haven't mentioned yet. "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul...." (Psm. 19:7) The Hebrew word for "converting" again means to "turn back."
From a New Testament perspective, we understand everyone except Jesus has fallen short of that perfect law (Rom. 3:23) - but "the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ...." (Gal. 3:24) As the NIV indicates it, the law leads you to the Lord, "that we might be justified by faith."
A miracle of God also can be used to convert people. We saw this in Acts 3, and it happened again in Acts 9. People in two towns saw a bedridden man back on his feet "and turned to the Lord." (9:33-35)
But if a physical miracle seems to be lacking, the miracle of Jesus is enough: "men from Cyprus and Cyrene.... began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord." (Acts 11:20-21) The gospel can convert people!
A Final Invitation
A classic 1960s rock song took its lyrics from Ecclesiastes 3 - with "a time to be born and a time to die.... a time to kill and a time to heal...." But do you remember the song's title, embedded in those lyrics? It was Turn Turn Turn. If you ever wondered why, perhaps this study has made it clear.
"We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way...." says Isaiah 53:6. Chances are that way is the opposite of God's way (55:8-9). So we need to turn to God, and to Jesus our Savior -- a turning known in Christianity as conversion.
Think logically now -- how can turning someone from the ways of this world to a holy God really be a "tragic sin?" If the sinners you try to convert don't want to hear it, are you the sinner? This clearly makes no Biblical sense (see Ezek. 33:7-9). Besides, the unconverted will have to answer to Jesus Christ someday for missing out on the opportunity you offered them.
I could end this article by encouraging you to follow Jesus's instruction in Mark 16:15, and "preach the good news to all creation" to convert people as you're able to do so. But I'd rather end by asking - are you converted? Have you turned to God?
If you can't answer yes to those questions, consider the daily miracles God performs all around us - from the weather and the perfect timing of the course of our Earth, to His healing intervention in people's lives in all sorts of ways. Make the turn to a better way. Jesus is the way (John 14:6), and that way leads to eternal life (Mt. 7:14). If we can help you along that way, please e-mail us; we'll be delighted to guide you as the Lord leads.
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© 2008, Richard Burkard, All Rights Reserved.