Converted

To change a person's thinking, and thus their patterns in life, is difficult to say the least. Major life changes are not easy to come by. We are creatures of habit. This week I had a person make it clear there are two things she does not talk about, religion and politics, and she was emphatic about it. Why? It seemed pointless to her. No one can ever agree on things so why talk about it? As Jesus used the word "converted" in Matt.18:3 in the context of the discussion on who is the greatest, he was expressing the essentiality of a person coming under His influence and being humble enough to be persuaded to change and to become like a little child. Someone who just will not discuss "it" or only politely listens but easily dismisses "it" as soon as the sound of our voice fades is playing a dangerous game, in my opinion. The elevation of one's self as the arbiter of knowledge and lifestyle carries with it the self-importance that Jesus was talking about. If I see myself as too "great" to consider the ideas or the needs of another, then I have become too "great." The "leave me alone" mentality and "let me believe what I want" attitude walls one off from others and from God. We become the king of our own little kingdom. Christianity is a teaching religion. It is about being persuaded to follow a Teacher, to sit at His feet and learn, and to turn based on what we learn. When we stop doing that we stop following Jesus.

The word "convert" is strepho. It is used in Matthew 5:39 for "turn the other cheek." Now think of this action in the context of Matthew 18:3. If I hear something that is painful, i.e. that I am a sinner and need to repent, and I strike back at the one who teaches me either aggressively or passive aggressively, then I will not be compliant. Accepting a slap and another may not indicate weakness at all. It may be a great sign of strength to be able to endure something that is painful or unpleasant for a greater good to be accomplished. Instead of being insulted when someone tells me that I am "wrong" and need to be converted, I should absorb the instruction, consider it, and listen more to what is said so that I do not perhaps miss the very word of God. But, to strike back causes me to miss a message that I need to hear. In John 12:40 Jesus says something similar when he says the blind if they really see will then be in a position to "turn" and be healed. Conversion first demands that we see, and seeing demands that we fully engage in order to get "it." Matt.18:3's "converted" is passive. It is "be converted." A force acts on a person and turns them. If left to ourselves we go our own way. We are like sheep without a shepherd. We are like a runaway stampeding herd that must be turned. Christ wants to get out in front of us to arrest our destructive progress and to set us on a safe path. But, what do we often do? We try to outrun Him. He's trying to cut us off, and we are pressing on the gas. Why?

The reason is found in Jesus' words of the same context in Mark 9:35. To follow Jesus we must become "servant of all." If conversion means I have to serve everyone--get that EVERYONE-then leave me out. I want to run my own life. I don't want to be subject to everyone else and what they want and need. Paul got "it" and explains it to us in 1 Cor.9:19ff. Read it, please. "For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all." Is this what conversion is all about? It is a big part of it. It is giving up my life for others in the same way our Teacher gave up his life for us. My life is not my own, I was bought with a price and I am not my own (1 Cor.6:19-20). Jesus paid to make me His slave. Conversion means giving up "my" freedom to gain "His" freedom.