Conversion
A decision to follow Jesus cannot be a decision to follow
him for one or two years; it must be for always. Jesus said, “No one who puts
his hand to the plow and (Luke. 9:62)
looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” But if we remain faithful
to him, he will wash us clean and give us unity with God and with one another,
and he will grant us eternal life.
Those who want to
follow Jesus must not only open their hearts to him and say, “Come into my
heart and purify me”; they must also be ready to say, “I am willing to do
anything you ask of me.” Jesus says, “Come, (Mt. 11:28) all who are heavy-burdened.” If you are willing to come
to him– to let him into your heart –then you must also be willing to let him
rule you and to give up your own will.
Discipleship demands that we drop everything, including
everything we count as positive in ourselves. Paul was willing to lay aside the
Jewish law, and we must likewise give up our good self-image, our righteousness,
and our kindness, and count it all as nothing for the sake of Jesus Christ.
The radicalism of Christ’s way must challenge us. He does
not want to win numbers but dedicated hearts. And he does not promise security,
either economic or otherwise. He seeks those who want to give themselves
unreservedly to God and to their brothers, without seeking anything for
themselves.
The decision to follow Christ must be a deeply personal one.
But it can never mean – as someone once said to me, “Only Jesus and I remain.”
Discipleship must always be related to one’s brothers and sisters. Therefore
Jesus brings together the two commandments “Love God with all your heart, soul,
and being,” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” These two commandments cannot
be separated. It is true that a personal religious experience must take place
in one’s innermost being, but it cannot be a lonely or selfish experience. (Mt. 22:37-39)
The essence of faith must become clearer to us. One may
accept the teachings of the whole Bible, but without meeting Jesus himself, it
will be of no value. Nor does it help to have a conviction if one has not
deeply felt and experienced Jesus’ character, his being, and his nature. Each
man must be personally confronted by Jesus himself.
If we grasp in our hearts the fact that Jesus died for us,
it will change us completely: it will mean revolution; it will make something
new out of us to the destruction of our sinful self so that we will no longer
be slaves to it.
Part of the experience of true conversion is the willingness
to suffer with Christ, the suffering One. I do not believe that true conversion
is possible without this.
Discipleship means complete dedication. It demands
everything –the whole heart, the whole mind, and the whole of life, including
one’s time, energy, and property –for the cause of love. Half-hearted
Christianity is worse than no Christianity.
(Mt. 12:33) Jesus
says, “By the fruits you will recognize the tree”; that is, by the fruits of a
person’s life we will recognize whether or not he is a hypocrite. “For not
everyone (Mt. 7:21) who says ‘Lord,
Lord’ will come into the kingdom of God, but only those who do the will of the
Father.” Doing the will of God means showing the fruits of repentance. Jesus
also says, “I am the vine, and my (Jn.
15:1-2) Father is the vinedresser, and every branch that does not bear
fruit, he cuts away. But those who bear fruit he purifies so that they may bear
more fruit.” Here we see that we cannot simply be converted, baptized, and
“saved,” and live from then on without temptation. If we are to bear good fruit,
we must repent and be purified again and again.
(Jn. 15:4) A
branch cannot bear fruit of itself – it must be connected to the vine. In the
same way, none of us can bear fruit without a personal relationship to Jesus.
Without such a relationship we will die inwardly and (Jn. 15:6) bear no fruit. And if we do not bear fruit, we will be
cut off the vine, thrown into the fire, and burned. That is the great challenge:
to remain on the vine –to remain in Jesus.
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