Some Thoughts on Religious Conversion

By Marvin J. Parrish

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     I am a Christian, but I have never been converted. Do I need to be? Or is my continued adherence to inculcated childhood teaching enough? Before one can be converted into something new one has to be something old first. I have not been converted at all. When I was "converted," I did not change or transform or turn from anything. I have done far more changing--hopefully for the better--since my "conversion" than before it.

     Some would argue that I have just never been converted--period. I am wondering if a child can be converted when he has been "brought up in the way he should go." How, why, and when could he be converted under such circumstances? Does conversion necessarily precede commitment, obedience, and the receipt of God's grace? I think not. The New Testament is replete with accounts of conversions because Christianity was a new religion. Most of the converts could not have been brought up in the Christian faith because there was none when they were being reared.

     We take the "conversion" of our children for granted, but other religious people are a tantalizing population. These others believe in the basics, but have not grasped the finer points. (Or, depending on one's point of view, they

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have the generalities, but not the basics.) At any rate, we have been challenged by a heterogeneous group of people who call themselves Christians but need to change their rituals and dogma if we are to call them Christians. Thus, our "converts" are often Christians already--at least they thought so until we "converted" them. Hence, it appears that all too often we convert to ritual and dogma and not to Christ.

     I think our attitude toward conversion in the Church of Christ often amounts to a religious game. Questions like "Is he a Christian?" and "Is he a member of the Church?" (both really meaning "Is he a member of the Church of Christ denomination?") are a part of this conversion game. These questions have nothing to do with how a man behaves or whether he has truly been converted from sin to sainthood. On the contrary, they almost always mean "Has he been converted to our religious dogma and rituals?"

     If the concept of conversion is misapplied in referring to the religious development of our children and dubious, at best, when referring to the "improvements" we impose on our religious neighbors, then with what population can we truly satisfy our conversion needs? The vast world out there could use a little converting now and then. Go away world! We only convert believers!

     (Editor's Note: Marvin J. Parrish is currently at Washington University, and can be addressed at 325 Mueller Avenue, St. Louis, Mo. 63135.)