Yes, it’s true. My conversion experience occured when I was nine years old, watching a televangelist named Rex Humbard on Sunday morning television, waiting for my mom to get ready for church. And yes, it did change me, and yes, it stuck. 🙂 It was a genuine conversion to Christ.
But that’s not really what this post is about. Because the truth is, I don’t remember one word of the message that Rex preached that morning. And it wasn’t anything he said that convinced me I needed to be saved. Looking back, the convincing happened before that moment, and the TV show was just the vehicle to guide me the rest of the way. And that’s what this post is about.
In my last post, I talked about how we over-market the gospel message, and a watered-down version of it at that. So it’s a bit ironic that my salvation experience occured when, after the TV sermon, the announcer did the if-you-died-today-do-you-know-for-certain-you-would-go-to-heaven? thing, and led the TV audience in the “sinner’s prayer”. Basic, generic altar-call stuff.
But as I said…that’s not really what led me to that moment.
I spent my early years in the Episcopal Church with my mother, but when I was maybe 6 or 7 years old, Mom had a conversion experience. She started getting “serious” about God–reading her Bible and praying, doing the stuff I considered religious. She never preached at me, didn’t start bringing the hammer down. But…her attitude changed. Her temper softened. She was calmer, more peaceful. Not perfect. Just…different.
I never said anything about the change I noticed in her. I just…noticed. It made me feel like she had something good that I did not have, and I needed. At nine years old, I couldn’t have verbalized it this way. But I felt it inside.
Enter the televangelist. I got in the habit of watching Rex Humbard before going to the Episcopal Church on Sundays, because there was nothing else on TV at the time, and because I liked the hokey music. Week after week, the announcer would pray the prayer at the end while I stared blankly at the screen. But one day…it hit. I didn’t really know if I would go to heaven. And I wanted whatever it was my Mom had.
It was time. I prayed the prayer. I meant it. And I felt an immediate difference in my young soul.
The televangelist was just the opportunity. But the influence that drew me to Christ wasn’t convincing words on the television, or the method the announcer used…anything like that.
The real work of conversion happened when I saw the change in the life of someone close to me. The influence that drew me was in watching another life being lived unto Christ.
If I were to poll the believers reading this blog, I’d bet a large percentage would have a similar story. If we look back to the time when God was drawing us, and the moment we chose to follow Christ, many of us will see that there were relationships involved…people in our lives that informed and influenced that decision. That’s not always the case, and I’m not boxing God in here–I’m just saying that seems to be how most of us come to Christ. Even if we responded to some altar call or invitation, it was a friend or loved one who brought us to the meeting, or we knew someone whose life had been changed prior to that moment of decision.
So when I challenge our marketing methods for evangelism, I’m not saying they never work. I’m just saying we’re missing the point. God can use what He wants to use; in the Bible, He used a jackass once to speak his message. What I’m saying is that this thing of evangelism and sharing the gospel is really a lot more grassroots than we’ve realized. A life truly aimed toward following Christ, in my opinion, has more to do with sharing the gospel than any persuasion methods we can teach ourselves. And this makes sense; people remember what they see more than they remember what they hear. Our life humbly yielded to Christ, lived in the sight of others, speaks louder than any televangelist someone might happen to watch–because it is the gospel demonstrated.
Yes, we should verbally share our faith when we have opportunity. But I guess what I’m saying is we don’t need new marketing methods for evangelism, because they don’t do it justice anyway. It seems to me that the best way to spread the gospel has been with us all along.
Wayward Son
Musician. Composer. Recovering perfectionist. Minister-in-transition. Lover of puns. Hijacker of rock song references. Questioner of the status quo.
I'm not really a rebel. Just a sincere Christ-follower with a thirst for significance that gets me into trouble. My quest has taken me over the fence of institutional Christianity. Here are some of my random thoughts along the way. Read along, join in the conversation. Just be nice.
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I think above all, I love the actual stories. You are right. It is about the relationship and that is what bothered me so much about Mcarthur’s presentation that I posted from Internet Monk the other day. It was all about TRUTH and nothing about the fact that Truth was a person in Jesus to show us the heart of the Father.
Thanks for the additions to my questions.
I agree.
Whether it is Peter preaching to the crowds on Pentecost and bringing 3,000 into the church or Paul who lived among the people to whom he witnessed… the glory belongs to God.
As Paul writes in his first letter to the Corinthians, every Apostle or Teacher is simply a vessel for the work of the Spirit.
Each man and woman must do what they feel called to do, but let God be glorified.
Hi Jeff,
Wow what a blessing to have saw that change in your MOM and to also have that happen to you at such a young age as well.
How did that affect other siblings, if you had any ?
It's true, what really affects people is seeing Him being lived in us. Especially His love. They may not exactly be able to understand what has happened (do we even) but they are able to see such a change in us.
I used to watch TBN when i was up in the wee hours of the morning with my kiddos, and I heard a teleevangelist on there one night (nothing else was on) and it was at that time I really understood what happened on the Cross for me. 1995
Thanks for this post! It is a great reminder of the importance of living out our lives real & genuinely, particularly in close proximity to those who are closest to us!
Substitute my first wife for your mom and our stories are pretty similar Jeff. The change in her life was simply astounding.
Maybe we evangelicals sometimes don’t get the idea that salvation is a process. I think of the sowing, watering and reaping aspects that Paul speaks of saying that God causes the increase.
When it comes down to it people are only vessels that God uses in this process.. no job is any more important.. without watering there is no harvest.
And I used to watch Rex and Maude Amie too.. proof that God can use anyone 🙂
Jeff,
Thank you for sharing how you came to Christ through this TV evangelist. I think your story is probably not unusual. As well, I don’t think this contradicts at all to your previous post.
I believe that whatever “way” someone comes to Christ, as long as it’s in a spirit of God, than wonderful! God will pursue, invite and offer Himself to us in all sorts of avenues. I think that He looks at the heart. If the HEART of a person sincerely is open to Him, He’ll “be there” and reception occurs.
Little children, generally, have such open and desiring hearts. Just like yours. I, too, came to Christ as a little girl.
As well, when I was teaching in the Christian school years back, I led a little boy to Christ. He actually asked me to. He was one of the “troublemakers” but I think what caused him to ask me to help introduce him to Jesus, was the fact that he knew he needed Him.
Blessings,
~Amy 🙂
Great follow up to the other post, Jeff. And really relevant for me as a missional mom. 🙂 Mission is inside the home as much as outside. Your story testifies of that so well.