It was a warm spring evening in the city of Jerusalem. Two men were engaged in serious conversation. Nicodemus had come, secretly at night, to talk with Jesus whom he had come to revere as “a teacher come from God.”
Here was a ruler of the Jews, respected and held in high esteem by his community. Surely this man could be of great asset to Christ’s cause. And yet, Jesus said to him, “Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
When we take time to think seriously about it, we realize that Jesus was right. For until a man is born of God the power of God is not in him no matter how good he is. That is why conversion is essential.
Some years ago, speaking to a group of ministers, Dr. John Westerhoff of Duke Divinity School told about his own conversion experience. It took place in Paraguay. Dr. Westerhoff was taken blindfolded to a cave one night to meet an escaped priest who had been a political prisoner.
Two days later, on Sunday, he went with a group of peasants to where the escaped priest was to celebrate Mass. It was held in a cane field where they would not be seen. A little boy carried a handmade cross at the head of the procession.
Suddenly, without warning, the police arrived looking for the escaped prisoner. They spied the cross moving through the cane break. A shot rang out and the 10-year-old boy fell to the ground. Then it happened. The boy’s little sister reached down, picked up the cross and carried it forward. The priest, knowing what the problem was, ran to the front, stood up and called out, “Here I am!” No one else would have to die.
Dr. Westerhoff said, “There that day, in a cane field in Paraguay, I saw first-hand what it means to witness. My life was turned around, changed. That day I determined in my heart that henceforth my life would be different; it would be lived radically for Christ and his kingdom.”
That is why conversion is so important. You see, you do not have to be converted to be a Christian, to be a member of the church; but a Christian has to be converted to be a mature Christian. Conversion means to be changed from a self-centered existence to a Christ-centered life.
Has it happened to you and me? Let us ask ourselves the question: “Have I ever given myself wholly to God, all that I am, all that I have?”
That is what it means to be a converted Christian, and only converted Christians can convert the world.
Clyde Nichols is a retired minister, having served First Christian Church in Temple for 27 years as senior minister. He is the author of three books of devotionals and writes a religious column for several Texas newspapers, including The Reporter.
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