In yesterday’s post, I posed the question as to how the “sinner’s prayer”, which has only been in practice for the last 150 years or so of the church’s history, has become such a doctrinal necessity in the evangelical church, to the point that we essentially measure conversion by whether that prayer has been prayed.
Thanks to all who replied, for your thoughtful responses. (And feel free to add yours, if you haven’t.) It’s time now for me to put in my two cents’ worth. 🙂
Actually, the inspiration for this post came to me about a year ago, when I was having lunch with a friend of mine who pastors an institutional church. I was sharing with him some of what I’d been learning about missional and incarnational forms of church, and I could sort of tell by the questions he was asking me about it that he wasn’t too comfortable with the direction I was taking. At one point he asked me to clarify my views on the doctrine of salvation (code for: are you still saved?). But once I assured him that I was not an apostate, that I still held that salvation was through Christ alone…he asked another question:
“With this way of looking at church, how do you determine who is saved and who isn’t? What is the criteria by which you measure who is part of the church and who is not?”
Well, then… 🙂
I guess we start looking at that question by asking another: “How do we typically measure who is saved and who isn’t?” And for evangelicals, the obvious answer is: We consider someone “saved” when he/she has prayed the “sinner’s prayer”–or stated more generally, has specifically gone through the motions of receiving Christ as Savior.
Okay…so using that criteria, only the Christians of the past 150 years are actually saved. 🙂 Hmm…maybe we need to re-think that one….
For the record, let me say without doubt that I do believe there is a point of conversion, and that I think the Bible is clear on that point. A person can investigate the faith by reading the Bible, asking questions, trying to pray, hanging out with believers, and so on…but the Holy Spirit draws us all to an inevitable place of decision: Will we follow Him? Will we submit to the Lordship of Jesus? Even if that person doesn’t have those particular phrases in his/her vocabulary, the invitation is there. And I believe when we take that invitation, there is a “crossing over” into that “new creation” Paul talks about in 2 Cor. 5:17–that place where we are “in Christ.”
So IMHO, this is not about whether conversion is real, or whether we need to be saved…but more about how or when that moment occurs.
And as many of you indicated in the comments…that “crossing over” really is a work in the heart, not a specific combination of words to pray or a theological formula. Yes, Paul did say we are saved when we confess with our mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in our heart that He was raised from the dead. But Paul also told us, “We believe, therefore we speak.” I think the “Jesus is Lord” part of that really comes as an outflow of what is already happening in the heart. The confession doesn’t create the faith; the faith creates the confession.
Part of my deconstruction has involved a quest to re-examine what it actually means to be a Christian. I mentioned the apostle Paul because so much of our evangelical theology goes back to his writings. But we must remember that Paul was following Jesus, and Paul’s words should actually be interpreted through Jesus–not the other way around. So in my quest, I’ve looked past the theology of Paul, before the actual birth of the church, to the gospels, when Jesus walked the earth. I’ve pondered the dynamic between Jesus and His disciples. Not once do we see Jesus breaking down the specific theological process of how or when a person is saved. Not once in the Scriptures did Jesus specifically tell people to receive Him as their personal Savior, or invite Him into their heart–not even after He went to the cross.
Rather, His call took a much simpler form:
“Follow Me.”
A very basic call, with very profound implications. But that was basically it. And I think these two words form the heart of our faith in Christ. No matter how we try to describe it, no matter what form of the “sinner’s prayer” we use, and no matter what wording the apostle Paul or St. So-and-So or anyone else uses to describe it…being a Christian basically boils down to following Christ. And I believe that ultimately the work of conversion occurs as we respond in our hearts to that invitation and begin that journey.
Does the “sinner’s prayer” work? Sure it does; it worked for me. 🙂 But I think it worked because my heart was already responding to Jesus, and repeating the prayer just helped me form the words to say. At the same time, as some of our commentors mentioned, sometimes overemphasizing the prayer has backfired, giving us a false sense of salvation.
So finally, back to my pastor friend’s question: How do you measure whether someone is saved? And my answer was–and is–I don’t feel the need to measure. That is to say–while I believe conversion needs to happen, I don’t think we need to be concerning ourselves with whether a person has met our criteria–nor should it make any difference in the love we show that person. If we are following Christ, and encouraging the people around us to do the same, we are creating a great environment for the deep work of salvation to occur in people’s lives. We can take opportunities to help lead people to that point, and we should celebrate when someone makes that choice. But when Jesus walked among us, no one was “in” or “out”…everyone was just invited “in.” And that’s the heart I think we need to have.
But if you really feel the need to determine whether or not someone is saved…Jesus again gives us the answer, and it has nothing to do with whether the “sinner’s prayer” has been prayed:
“You will know them by their fruit.”
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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Great post Jeff…
I agree that we shouldn’t be concerned about who is “in” or who is “out”. That is not our problem.
It is, however, a concern for the leadership of churches who measure their success against other churches (and in their own eyes) by these exact statistics. How do you boast about the number of “conversions” you have had if you don’t have altar calls and crowds of people saying “sinners prayers”?
Hi Jeff. You are raising important questions with your series of posts. These are things that we ought to think about. Going to the gospels was a good way to see how God brings us to Himself. Also in the Acts of the Apostles you will find many examples of how the Holy Spirit convicts and opens hearts.
Like yourself I said a sinner’s prayer. My sister had been witnessing to me for several years, to no avail. Then one day I found myself absolutely sick at heart, convicted of my sin. It was a dreadful couple of days, let me tell you. Then my sister called on the phone. She never said one word about Christ (which was unusual for her), but all the while I was talking with her, I was thinking to myself “oh please, ask me to say that prayer. I want to say that prayer with you now. I need to say it.” I was desperate to be relieved of the burden of my sin, and I KNEW with all my being that only Jesus could deliver me. Then out of the blue, my sister said “Maureen, do you want to say the sinner’s prayer?” So I did, and I was released from the guilt of my sin. That was 13 years ago, and I have never looked back.
So, I can only say, after looking back at that time, and studying the scriptures, that God gave me the faith to believe. He convicted me of sin, and revealed Jesus as my much needed Savior. Did the “prayer” save me? No. I was saved by faith. When was I “born again”? BEFORE I said the prayer. God changed my heart, opened my eyes, made me alive to Christ. Before, I was dead in my trespasses and sins. He must quicken us, He must draw us. On our own, we will never choose Him. It goes against our sinful nature.
You come to the same conclusions as I have about deciding who is saved and who isn’t. It is our job to spread the good news, love people, show them Jesus by our lives and in Scripture. The rest is up to God. We cannot convince anyone, or stir up their emotions so that they will “choose” Christ. Some plant, some water, but He alone gives the increase. And then, exactly as you say, we will know them by their fruit.
Rainer,
Seems to me we have been using the wrong criteria to measure our “success”, haven’t we? 🙂 Thanks for the input.
Maureen,
Thank you for sharing your story here. It underscores what we are talking about. I think the point of this exercise has been to put things like the “sinner’s prayer” back into perspective, and remember what true conversion really is, and what it looks like. When we start leaning on a formula, inevitably we lose sight of the heart behind our actions. And as you said…the prayer was a response to something already occurring in your heart.
Jeff,
Outstanding post (as well as yesterday’s)! Truly excellent! I couldn’t agree with you more…of everything you mentioned here.
I actually did say the typical Sinner’s prayer verbatim, but it was actually over the course of weeks and one time in particular when I received Christ as my Lord.
As you know, I was raised Catholic. From being a young child, I had accepted God as my God. However, it was when I was a Freshman in college, when Karen, a gal about 10 years or so older than I, took me under her wings when I joined a non-denominational Protestant Bible Study, with her as the leader. It was over the course of weekly visits, chats and conversations at a Muffin and Coffee shop where she explained the Grace and Love of Christ and also introduced me to what it is to have a relationship with Him. Up to that point, I had no concept of a “personal relationship” with Him.
It was during both a conversation with Karen inside her car, right before we headed into a Homeless Shelter to serve them a meal, when the “lightbulb” finally went off in my head and heart about everything she had been telling me prior. I knew something big happened in my heart there in her car.
Then, that following week, during our Bible Study, when Karen said the Sinner’s Prayer aloud and I followed along in my mind and heart, speaking it directly to Father Son HOly Spirit. After everyone left for the evening, I hung back and told her I had prayed that prayer and felt new and different and also told her about the car experience.
So, indeed, as you mentioned in the post, I do believe a person definitely experiences a conversion moment, but I don’t believe it happens with any particular types of wording verbatim, although I think many of the “basics” within the “Sinner’s Prayer” are offered up to God in whatever form or design flows out.
“Follow me” and the “fruit” in which we produce….these things…I believe help us determine whether someone has given their lives and recieved His in return.
I love this paragraph of yours, Jeff:
“And as many of you indicated in the comments…that “crossing over” really is a work in the heart, not a specific combination of words to pray or a theological formula. Yes, Paul did say we are saved when we confess with our mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in our heart that He was raised from the dead. But Paul also told us, “We believe, therefore we speak.” I think the “Jesus is Lord” part of that really comes as an outflow of what is already happening in the heart. The confession doesn’t create the faith; the faith creates the confession.”
Blessings,
~Amy 🙂
Jeff,
Great post. When Jesus said, “follow me,” he didn’t make it easy. He said some pretty hard things that caused many to turn back and leave him. We’ve turned following Jesus and owning him as Lord into saying the magic words and accepting him as someone who is going to make your life better here, and then give you a nice mansion in a far away place called heaven.
“By their fruit you shall know them” carries a lot more weight than walking down an aisle, shedding a few tears, and repeating a formula prayer.
On the other hand, there will be those who say, “Lord, we did all this stuff in your name,” and they’ll hear, “depart from me.” So we, with our finite minds can’t really tell who is “in” and who is “out”. That’s not our job anyway. To paraphrase the old military slogan, “Love them all, let God sort them out.”
Jeff,
I couldn’t agree more!!
Blessings,
Gary
“I guess we start looking at that question by asking another: “How do we typically measure who is saved and who isn’t?”
It is not the place of any man to tell any other man whether or not he is saved. That question is between the professor and God alone. You have no idea whether any particular man is saved or not because salvation has nothing to do with what you, he, or anyone else SAYS.
RZ