Why It Matters That Our Whole Lives Are Devoted to Jesus
By Anne Kerhoulas
What happened to Paul? This is the simple question that Church of the City pastor Jon Tyson asks in his sermon entitled, A Thorough Conversion. Yes, we know that Jesus met him on the road to Damascus and transformed his life from a murderous Pharisee to a super apostle. But what happened in his heart? In that encounter with Jesus, he was completely and radically changed. As Tyson says, Paul was thoroughly converted, there wasn’t an ounce left in him that hadn’t been completely given unto Christ. What happened to Paul? And can what happened to him happen to us?
Tyson quotes Walter Hooper, a friend of CS Lewis as saying that Lewis was the “most thoroughly converted Christian he knew.” Lewis's whole life, every aspect of his being, his decisions, how he spent his time, and the words he spoke all revolved around knowing and following Jesus. This is what is meant for us when we become Christians, a total reorienting of every aspect of our being. And yet for many of us, huge portions of our lives remain untouched by the goodness of God. We withhold parts of ourselves, not wanting to invite the Lord into certain parts—our dating relationship, our bank account, our free time. We think we can be in Christ partly, but we want to live for ourselves partly too.
Tyson addresses this kind of living head-on, calling believers to believe that a whole life committed completely to Christ is better than any half-life we could be holding onto. Tyson argues that to have this thorough conversion means we must commit time to be in the word of God, we must seek Him fervently, spend time with the people of God, and seek intimacy with Christ, resting in His all mighty presence.
Christian Union desires that all believers would be “thoroughly converted.” That their lives would be radically transformed by the gospel and that every Christian might live with bold faith in their spheres of influence. Through CU America, Christians across the nation are hearing about the great moves of God in our country, are being taught how to seek the Lord every day, and are invited into a thoroughly converted life.
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