You covered mark four very well. The thing that stands out the most concerning
conversion is the catalyst for change. When one experiences conviction of guilt
and repentance, God gives them a new spirit. When repentance and believing
the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ and accepting Him as Lord and
savior happens, the Holy Spirit begins to guide and regenerate the new creation
in Christ. “We turn because we are deeply convinced of our guilt, danger and
helplessness, and of the way of salvation by Christ."[1] Because of this
conversion is hard to understand from the outside looking in. When the
conversion takes place and the Holy Spirit moves in a person, profound life
change takes place. Sinners are set free from the chains that have kept them
prisoners in their sins. Those that have truly been converted begin to live their
lives for Christ and many times it is a radical change from their past. God
giving the believer a new heart and spirit during conversion is the catalyst for
change in the lives of the saved. Thank you for your post and the information
you shared about conversion.
I especially enjoyed your discussion about Mark 4, a biblical understanding of
conversion, because conversion is something that I had not really considered to
be an area of contention, but you effectively demonstrate that discrepancies do
exist. To me, when I read the Bible I believe that I understand its view on
salvation and it is clearly communicated to readers, I also assume that it is
generally universally understood, accepted, and agreed upon within the modern
church, but I now see that there is room for improvement regarding how it is
understood and treated; I have you and your post to thank for that. I completely
agree that conversion is a gift from the Holy Spirit and is done by God, but I
must admit that I do not fully understand what you mean when you argue that,
“Part of the problem with conversion is that so many people never experience
it.” Are you referring to people within the church or outside the church? Asked
another way, are you arguing that the majority of people are not Christians or
are you arguing that the majority of Christians in modern churches are not truly
saved? If it is the former, does this assume that non-Christians outnumber
Christians; and if it is the latter and the majority of Christians are not truly
saved, how do you know this and how do you know which Christians are true
believers and which are false-converts? Is it based on habits and lifestyles like
you hint later on? If so, how do you differentiate backsliders and false converts
who live in sin and carnality?
You also provide a good commentary around Mark 6, a biblical understanding
of church membership. I like your comment that, “People want to be a member
of a church so bad because they feel that, that is the only way they can get
the insights as to what the church is doing behind the scene.” I completely
agree. Do you think that the larger issue is that people misunderstand the
function and role of church? In other words, do you think people try to utilize
church attendance for things that it was never meant to accomplish? You talk a
lot about discipleship in your discussion on the church and you connect the two
topics beautifully, but I wonder, do you believe that discipleship is the primary
function of the Christian Church? If so, do you believe that the church
accomplishes discipleship effectively or do you think it is in need of certain
reforms?
You mention that "Church membership has always been an issue," and I
correlate that with church growth, as well. I mentioned in my post that my local
church was on the verge of death because there was no church growth, which
equals to no new church membership. Mark Dever wrote, "The New Testament
idea of growth involves not just more people, but people who are growing up,
maturing, and deepening in the faith."1 Unfortunately, as you alluded, people
have ulterior motives for joining a church, such as getting a "behind the scenes"
view. Once our church started to grow and acquire new members there was an
issue with discipline. Not corrective discipline but biblical discipline. There is a
lot more than just getting someone through the front door of the church and
into the membership book. This approach was an unfortunate exercise for my
local church for many years and an unbeneficial experience for the new
Christian. I recently developed a church program that helps to clarify the
seriousness of a new Christian's commitment. Mark Dever states, "If we are
more careful about how we recognize and receive new members, we will have
less occasion to practice corrective church discipline later."2 When a new
Christian can be counseled in this fashion then they can understand better the
preachings "about living right and doing the right thing."
You quote Isaiah for your discipleship discussion. Discipleship is vital for church
growth. Some Christians take the selfish attitude that discipleship is a pastoral
or missionary task. However, it is every Christian's responsibility, the Great
Commission. Another facet of the new program at my local church is to prepare
a person to go out into the community. Community engagement for discipleship
is not sitting on a pew listening to the pastor for two hours on a Sunday. It is a
twenty-four-hour and seven-days-a-week investment. Unfortunately, for some
churches, the urgency does not exist. As you state, "We do a lot of teaching,
but we need to teach more on the criticalness of discipleship in order for other
areas to grow and multiply."
Starting with conversion over the years it has become a very touchy and confusing
topic for me. I say this because sometimes it is very very very difficult to know if
someone is truly converted or not. I always thought that when a person gave their life
to Christ then eventually there would come a sensitivity to the Spirit and then a life
change born out of the Love of Christ and conviction. Unfortunately this is not always
the case. c Your thoughts on discipleship and growth were very passionate and
powerful. I can see everything that you said working if we practice this key area more
often. Sometimes I feel as though coming church has become just about coming to
church and that is it. Having the patience and faith to teach and train others is not
always in the forefront of our hearts. I do not want this to be my normal behavior.
As I look back, I can see that I was a pew filler, show up on Sunday, sit in the
pew then pray throughout the week but not turning completely away from sin. I
grew up in the Church and had a moral compass just chose to justify some
sins. As the Holy Spirit has moved in my life and I have felt the conviction of
sin more and more.
When we consider Mark 4, conversion, I think we as Church leaders need to
spend more time explaining the relationship with Christ and the process of
sanctification. The text states, "I fear that one of the results of misunderstanding
the Bible's teaching on conversion maybe that evangelical churches are full of
people who have made sincere commitments at some point in their lives but
who have not experienced the radical change that the Bible calls conversion."[1]
People start with the conversion process with their hearts in the right place,
seeking the Lord and this commitment but end up back on old paths due to a
lack of support or knowledge of remaining on the straight and narrow path. A
focus on building a solid foundation of c Christian community will assist
Christians to continue growth after the initial conversion process
[1] Mark Dever (2015). (p. 120). Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. Crossway.
Retrieved from https://app.wordsearchbible.lifeway.com
Bibliography c
Dever, Mark. Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. Wheaton, IL: Crossway
Publishers, 2015.
[1] c Mark Dever. Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. Wheaton, IL: Crossway
Publishers, 2015, 117.
