A word from heaven.

<$BlogDateHeaderDate$>

1st and 2nd Conversion

A little related to what i said yesterday about conversion. Today's post is a little bit more interesting. Hope it gives u a fresh perspective of ministry.

You see, whether you know it or not, everyone goes through 2 conversion.The 1st conversion is something we all know and recognize. It is when we know decided to say the sinners prayer and commit ourselves to God. When all those around you will congratulate you. When you become something called a new believer. Its not something foreign to all of us i guess.

My question to you is, how many of you really really knew what you were signing up for when you 1st said the sinners prayer? The truth was, when i said the sinners prayer, no one ever told me i had to serve the Lord! hahaaa.. They were telling me more towards things like God loves me and he really want to come to a relationship with me. Nothing wrong with that. But no one ever told me i had to attend caregroup every week when i first said the sinners prayer! But its ok, its what i call the 1st conversion.

The 1st conversion in my eyes is more of a deal with God to find out more about him. A decision to commit to a church so that we know more about Christianity. A decision to receive spiritual covering.

It is only after the 1st conversion, that you are ready to be taught more things about God, that you have the spiritual hunger to eventually find out more about the deal you are signing up for. It is only after finding out more, about eventually knowing the real deal, and seeing enough to say, i want to commit to this cause and count me on board. This is the 2nd conversion. It is where discipleship really starts.

It all falls together nicely. There was once i was in a Hope Kids service and they are really exciting people. I understand that they do have altar cal and ask primary school kids to say the sinners prayer. My point is they are sometimes really too young to know what they are signing up for. It is not any one's fault but it is just how things are. When these kids raise their hand and say they want to say the sinners prayer, they are in fact going through the 1st conversion which is all about a desire to want to know God more. It happens in all ministries. Even adults. The job of the church after the 1st conversion is move them towards the 2nd conversion. They need to provide the spiritual covering needed.

The 2nd conversion is about understanding. It is a little tricky in a sense that it is age dependent. It is probably towards the end of high school ministry, towards the JC, NS and Uni times that people are of age to make a solid decision to not only know God, but to know what they are signing up for and to take up Jesus' cause. It is not exactly a conversion that can be marked out clearly with distinguished traits. But i would say, when you reach an understanding of what the whole deal is about with regard to your future, to the world, to your family and you decide to take up the cross and follow God, you're somewhere near.

As you grow older, the time taken to move from the 1st conversion to the 2nd conversion will decrease accordingly as people make more informed choices but it is a route that everyone will go through. Some take 1 day, some take months, some take years before the 2nd conversion comes. The church needs to persevere in them. This may be also why you see the retention rate for the hope kids and the youth ministry may be abit low compared to the other ministries. There are many who signed up for the 1st conversion but never really survived to reach the 2nd.

However, this is NOT to say that because they are young in Hope Kids or high school ministry to understand, the ministry is not important. In fact, i think they are very very important. These are the ministries that have people commit in the 1st conversion and we give them proper guidance and spiritual covering until they are of age to decide for themselves. Some make it, some don't.

Having said that, can i challenge leaders to not just look at people filling up the seats as a result of the 1st conversion? To me, my end goal for my people is the 2nd conversion. The great commission asked us to "build disciples" Isn't this talking about the 2nd conversion? Jesus is not interested in merely building seat warmers or sunday Christians. He wants to build disciples. Use the 2nd conversion as the bench mark of growth in numbers. Not just the 1st conversion. How many of your people are still in the 1st conversion stage. How many are in beyond the 2nd? What's the percentage of them in the group? These are good questions you should be asking yourself.

When you set goals, don't just set 1 number - The 1st conversion. Set the 2nd number as well. How many people you want to see make a sound decision to commit their being to the cause and come on board the vision? And what are we doing to hit that goal?

If you are today hovering between the 1st and 2nd conversion, can i encourage you not to give up? It may be frustrating at times, it may feel guilty and condemning at times but those things are things of the devil. It is normal to struggle! Don't give up on the bible and seeking the truth from the bible. Don't rush yourself into a decision either. But in your own understanding and faith, make a decision that you know is the best for you. Jia you k?

Regards,

Jie Hui

Labels: Christian Living

The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.

0 Comments

Monday, July 28, 2008