verse4today: "How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you. We have never even heard of another God like you." (II Samuel 7:22)
Posted on 2012-04-30 via Twitter
It has been a long time since I read a book that I couldn't put down until I finished it, but that happened to me while reading The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University, by a remarkable young author named Kevin Roose. In this book, written while Roose was a student at Brown University, the author tells about his one-semester experiment as a Liberty University student. The book is filled with remarkable insights, humorous stories, and illuminating conversations. I don't recommend many books, but this one is special, especially for those wrestling with how Christianity connects with our post-Christian culture.
In one chapter, Roose points the reader to the work of anthropologist Susan Harding, who believes that conversion is a two-step process. In the first step, you pass into the "membrane of belief," and then in the second, you pass out of the "membrane of unbelief." Roose's experience at Liberty leads him to affirm this two-step process. First, you "absorb the language and mannerisms of a religious community and begin to frame your thoughts and actions the way the community does." But that's not the end of the process. Then, "you decided to abandon your skepticism and make the community's creed your own, becoming a true believer." And here's another difference between the two steps: the first step often happens without knowledge or even consent. The second step is a conscious choice.
Reading Harding's two-step process of conversion through the reflections of Roose reminded me of my own experience. I was raised in a God-fearing home, nurtured in a church, even enjoyed the benefit of a Christian day-school. That triangle of home-church-school pretty well took care of step one - even without my permission. I, as well as most of my friends, pretty much absorbed the language and lifestyle of my religious community.
But it would be a mistake - and a common one - to think that just because I talked "right" and acted "right" that I had indeed experienced conversion. There came a time in my life, and in the life of many of my friends, thanks to the work of the Holy Spirit, when I passed out of the "membrane of unbelief." I became a true believer. I decided it was no longer just the faith of my father or mother, but my faith, my church, my Lord.
It would also, then, be a mistake - though a common one - for the church or anyone to assume that those who have passed into the "membrance of belief" are true believers. Then, consequently, it would still be a mistake to fail to invite them to "pass out of the membrane of unbelief" and, thereby, neglect to make a decision for the Lord. In so doing, we may end up with congregations filled with religious people, but few disciples.