This post is a supplement to yesterday’s Rethinking How We Present the Gospel.
I believe the responses to today’s post will help us all in regard to yesterday’s subject.
As I converse about the things of God with various believers and non believers in different age groups, I notice dramatic differences in the way each group sees the world.
This isn’t my observation alone. George Barna has done a lot of work underscoring the varying features of differing age groups.
Those of you who are in your 20s are the next generation. Thus I think it would benefit all Christians to better get their thumb on the pulse of your age group.
That said, if you’re a Christian in your 20s, please answer this question:
We all know that the Spirit of God opened your eyes, awakened your heart, and drew you to Jesus Christ.
However, from the earthly, practical standpoint, what was it about Jesus specifically that attracted and captured you to the point that you decided to follow Him with your life?
I look forward to the responses. There are over 250 to date.
Christ is ALL,
fv
Psalm 115:1
Popular Posts:
Don’t Waste Your Time Being a Christian
The Art of Being a Jerk Online
Why I Gave Up Trying to Live the Christian Life
20 Reasons Why the Christian Right & Left Won’t Adopt Me
Four Divergent Groups in Their 20s & 30s
The Forgotten Beatitude: Part I – Getting Offended by God
The Forgotten Beatitude: Part II – Getting Offended by Others
My life has been a really gradual, slow journey toward Jesus. I grew up with Christian parents but I struggled throughout my teenage years (I’m 20 now) to figure out how to make my faith personal. The thing that keeps me coming back is how I am discovering, through Jesus, that I have total freedom to be the way he made me and embrace the gifts he’s given me. So I guess in one word that would be authenticity.
Simply the Gospel. I grew surrounded in the church, but the only way to describe it is that I didn’t have ears to hear or eyes to see. Someone faithfully presented the Gospel before my Senior year of High School, and I was changed. No stunts, no gimmicks, just the Holy Spirit changing my heart.
I initially got saved because I didn’t want to go to hell (I was 8). When I came into more knowledge, I decided to give my life because of love and it made the most sense.
I say love because I know there’s no one and there will never be one that will love me enough to die no matter how I treat them. I know at some point my husband might risk his life, but if I cheated on him and ignored his love daily, I don’t think he’d do it anymore. Jesus did and will.
I say it made the most sense because everyone that doesn’t have Jesus seems so hopeless and lost and you can tell they’re trying to make sense of things. Jesus makes all the sense in the world to me, and there are actual answers in Him. I understand the world and people better because of Him.
I grew up in a very legalistic religious environment but when I realized God is Isn’t waiting for me to be “good enough” or until I am doing enough for Him before He accepts me. When I had messed up big time and my life was a mess and broken and STILL he loved and accepted me, that is what won my heart over. It made me want to follow and God like that. He is the real deal.
I’ve always been surrounded by a Christian environment, but spent most of my teens rebelling and spiraling downward into substance abuse and full reliance on boyfriends which ultimately lead me to depression and attempted suicide. It wasn’t until my life had repeatedly been spared by Him that I realized he was keeping me alive for a reason. He has a purpose for me and it was about time I started living for him.
So, for me it was realizing that despite all of thing mistakes I have made and sins I have bared, that He was always there for me and that He forgave me of my past. He made me realize that even when there seemed to be no light at the end of the tunnel, I was never alone. He made me feel whole again.
His love gave me reason to love, and thus gave my life meaning and purpose.
Jesus knew the truth and it led to compassion. He was uncompromising on it yet this truth was not abstract but led to radical social compassion.
I think it was realizing what Jesus did for me and how God loves and accepts me in Christ unconditionally.
My answer in one word – grace. (btw, I recently turned 29)
Jesus was a manifestation of a way of life that gave me direction. As a 20-something, I struggle with discernment and knowing where to go. There is a lot of transition and a lot of decisions to be made. And Jesus, the person, in the way He prioritized compassion for others, but was centered in a prayerful relationship with God, gave me a living example to follow. This living example is crucial for decision-making when there are so many gray areas and when the world says that there is no right answer, that one should take the postmodern view of defining one’s own meaning.
I grew up in church and a christian household but it wasn’t until I was around a group of people who truly demonstrated what true joy, peace, and hope was that I became a Christ follower. The authenticity of who Jesus really was to them in their daily life was irresistible. Their world was not perfect, nor will mine ever be, but Jesus was, is, and will always be perfect in their life. They didn’t act like churchy/religious people I had been around my entire life. They acted like broken people before a perfect holy God. Jesus was real to them. Jesus is real. Jesus is Lord.
The Holy Spirit used Jesus’ constant talk of the “Kingdom” to draw me in. When I was 17 I finally realized that Christianity was about a lot more than a set of intellectual beliefs. As I read Jesus’ words about the Kingdom, I found myself craving that. Now I get to live in a way that reveals bits and pieces of this Kingdom to others.
I guess it was understanding that Jesus was inviting me to participate with him as he redeemed the world. I wanted that. I still do.
The initial appeal of Jesus was the ultimate relief that I no longer had to carry the burden of my shortcomings anymore, that I no longer had to seek acceptance, and that there was a plan for my life beyond pointless wandering. I was overcome by grace – not just in the vague idealism that comes with the term, but by the life-changing Presence that invaded my soul and filled me up.
That He loves me and that His love is consistant. It doesn’t change. he doesn’t love me less one day and more another.
Largely this was the influence of my parents and family, but it was also that I felt Jesus was safe…that he accepted me for who I was.
i chose to follow Jesus because that’s what i’d always been taught. The Spirit breathed life into me through the example and love of my parents. Christ was placed as the most attractive thing to be sought. As i grew in understanding and failed in aspects of life, my eyes were opened to be able to see His glory as the only thing to be pursued. He became the only water that could quench my thirst because i had dug my own cisterns and found them bone dry. He became more beautiful as the world became more ugly.
He loved me and chose me before I knew him while I was still his enemy.
For me, it was never anything BUT the spiritual that got me. I was born to a family who practised the Occult, and had “protection” rituals prayed over me on a nightly basis. My parents eventually gave it up and became Christians when I was about 7, but from that time we as a family and myself in particular, had lots of bad/evil spiritual things happen (which I won’t go into here, but am happy to talk about); and due to that, I became depressed and suicidal etc. To make a long story short, when I was 18 (I’m 27 now) I was at a Christian event and went up for prayer and received deliverance and healing and saw Jesus in a vision. God’s awesome power over everything physical and spiritual was displayed to me that day! My depression, self harm and suicidal tendencies ended in that moment and I was full of complete joy and all the bad spiritual things were gone. It’s only since then from reading/studying the Bible and doing my Theological degree that I have come to appreciate the “earthly” side of Jesus, and that I can sum up in 3 words:
Jesus is hardcore.
I grew up in a Christian household, knowing ‘of’ God and who he was from an early age. It wasn’t until I was out of college that I realized the fulfillment, satisfaction, and joy that stems from a relationship with Jesus. All other things on this earth attempt to make this promise of satisfaction and fulfillment but it’s short-lived. It’s a JOY to follow Jesus…and that joy is what keeps me going every, single day.
I grew up in the church, but had no strong desire to seek God. I shrugged God off as being a good story. He began doing things in my life that I could not explain apart from Him. He revealed himself in my life in such blatantly obvious ways, that I couldn’t question His reality. I had a new curiosity about God. I knew the stories, but when I began to pursue Him, He revealed new perspective. My life changed, because He changed my purspectives of life. When I could see the Love of God, I couldn’t stop, nor would I want to. He is life changing… that’s part of His nature.
I also received Jesus at an early age but it wasn’t until summer 2008 that my heart burned with His life. I discovered His power and LOVE was still very much alive and for this time. Funnily enough it was through the Lakewood revival out pouring in Florida that it happened. I didn’t go to the college group that night instead i stayed home to watch it on Todd Bentley on TV. I was a huge skeptic but the Holy Spirit was still able to break through the skepticism and i just wept. Idk why. I never really cried much before that but He softened my heart and I received His powerful love. It was amazing the healing that was happening in Florida. It just won me over i guess. I trusted Him.
After that i took sometime off school to see His power for myself. I began to see Jesus as revolutionary! That excited me cause my heart burns for that too. Then i read Frank’s book Pagan Christianity and got a glimpse of something so beautiful i have never been the same. His eternal purpose. Can’t go back now! Its all just too huge and I am caught up into this frickin amazing story. I am done in! Jesus is EPIC as Frank puts it.
I learned that the stories about Jesus healing and loving powerfully are still real, and that started my journey to eventually glimpse His big picture for us all. Now shared life community is my fav thing in the world. I could talk about it all day. Its also prob the hardest thing in the world too
But very worth it 
forgiveness. I had a lot of bitterness towards people that I didn’t know how to get rid of. I’ve learned a lot more since then but that was the original draw for me.
I wanted to be a man. A man of truth, compation, boldness, community and action. It’s as I set out to do and is slowly coming true.
God was hounding me down for quite awhile. I turned my back on my first “salvation” experience after only a few months. I later found myself intrigued with Eastern religions and often referred to myself as Buddhist. This worldview, of course, allowed me to have my spiritual cake and eat it too. Pot-smoking, drinking, and promiscuous sex were my flavors of the day. Then, one cold Michigan January, my wife (gf at the time) and I decided to do a dietary cleanse for a month. I had to give up alcohol and drugs. It was incredible how my mind cleared up and I could think more clearly about things. I also was able to sense God beckoning me towards a more solid truth, as opposed to the relativistic, anything-goes mindset of Westernized Eastern religious thought. I knew Christ had something to offer, so I began to explore the gospels again. I would get into debates about absolute truth (often defending it) and the origins of the cosmos with my roommates. This led me to watching youtube videos of apologists like Ravi Zacharias and William Lane Craig. It was during this time that God shined his light through the window of my intellect directly into my soul. Jesus’ claim to absolute truth could either be totally rejected or totally accepted. I surrendered. Malcolm Muggeridge has much more eloquent words to describe what happens when the hound of heaven comes after us:
“However far and fast I’ve run, still over my shoulder I’d catch a glimpse of You on the horizon, and then run faster and farther than ever, thinking triumphantly: Now I’ve escaped. But no, there You were, coming after me. Very well, I’d decide, if I can’t get away by running, I’ll shut my eyes and ears and not see or hear You. No good! One sees and hears You, not with the eyes and ears, but inwardly, with the soul, whose faculties can never be quite put out however gorged, stupefied, and ego-inflated we may become. Now I can flee no further; I fall. Mercy!”
When I was 17, I was given a small book, “Jesus with Dirty Feet.” It was the first time I really saw Jesus as a human being, not simply a religious out of reach God. The book talked about how he walked on the earth with those the earth despised, the prostitutes and rejects. Ten years later, and many years of religious programming that I have had to undo, I still am drawn to Jesus because of who he hung out with and how he treated them. He was truly a friend to the outcasts.
I had always grown up in the Church, but never really had the Gospel displayed to me from my church or family without seeing hypocrisy. It turned me off toward Christianity, but I continued in church because my friends and family all expected me to. It is here that God’s hand of protection is most evidenced in my life. I continued to live my life in my own strength doing the right thing in front of others, but my heart and spirit were dead. I joined the Marine Corps, and increased my depravity in pride and lust to new levels, much to my shame now. When I woke up next to a woman whose name I could not remember, I could hear the song by Switchfoot titled “This is Your Life” playing in my head and realized that if I were to go on claiming to be a part of the Church, the life that I had been living is the reason that I had been turned off in the first place. Hypocrisy. I was a dead man trying to live in his own strength. God had kept me under the teaching of His Word and even though I thought I had been paying no attention, to the glory of His name.
Being the stubborn, prideful, arrogant, and lustful person that I had been for 24 years, it took time for me to conquer my flesh. Mortification of these sins has lead to a battle that is fierce and dangerous. I continue to battle these sins every day, falling at times and learning that it is God who picks me back up again. Now having a wife and two children, I am seeing the depth and breadth of the Father’s love for me, and learning to show the attributes of a Holy God through a regenerated heart. It was God’s relentlessness that brought me to Him. His love for me revealed in the story of Abraham, Joseph, Israel, the prodigal son, Peter, and John the beloved. Relentless love for a man at war with Him. I am so unworthy of this love, but mercy compels me to show the same relentlessness towards my family, friends, and anyone else God puts in my path.
For me it was the unconditionality of his love and acceptance.
I grew up in church always looking for the “catch.” With my family and church, there seemed to always be a point at which love was restricted from an individual due to their actions or circumstances. I played the church game well, trying my hardest to hide the things about me that would merit the withholding of love.
One time, I saw a homeless man being booted from wednesday night dinner by a few angry deacons. Sure, he was smelly and loud. But then I knew that in the stories of Jesus himself openly embracing the smelly, loud people. He wasn’t afraid of their flaws or their germs. He mixed spit and mud and rub it into a man’s eyeballs!
When I was 19, I asked my brother to pray for me. He put his hands on my shoulder. He wasn’t praying for my salvation – just for my pain. I closed my eyes and saw a glorious Christ with arms wide open…looking at me, through me. He wanted to embrace me – all of me. During that prayer time I let myself fall into the unconditional arms of love that had no beginning and no end. I took all of me into Christ and found he loved all of me. The good, the bad, and the loud and smelly.
It’s always been his fierce, radical, unconventional love that has blown my mind. It crushes social norms and gives wings to the downtrodden and unworthy.
Jesus specializes in the freaks, the geeks, the broken. The fact that he claimed to come for the broken. It was like he had me in mind when he created his family.
I’m 26, so I make it in! And, I’m about to finish seminary – so I ought to know why I believe in JC.
It’s a strange thing, I was raised in a secular home and never really attended church or had any religious education as a child. And, I had really bad experiences with hypocritical Christians as a pre-teen. But, Jesus always compelled me. Not just as a rad social justice “moral teacher” type, but as the symbol of a God who loved creation so much, that God became what God is not – finite and beholden to death – to reach us more clearly. It was that kind of awesome love, and the community when, at it’s best, is an embodiment (albeit a messy embodiment) of that love which drew me to the Church and ultimate to become a Christian.
I love Jesus because he is my truth, my best friend, my lover, my daddy. It was not a decision I had to make. He was not something I had to believe in. I became enlightned and just knew it was the truth. It was like the Cat Stevens’s song..If you want to say yes, say yes!
If I’m being completely, 100% honest…
From a PURELY earthly, practical standpoint, it probably ha more to do with my upbringing. Now, as you said Frank, the truth is that, throughout my life, the Holy Spirit has opened (and continues to open) my eyes and my heart to THE Way, THE Truth, and THE Life that is Jesus. However, taking that out of account, what originally drew me was my family and my environment. I’m guessing that many of the other commenters, if they’re being honest with themselves, would say the same.
The funny thing is, I’m almost embarrassed or ashamed to admit it. Isn’t that crazy? I have a feeling that our culture’s version of Christianity has so romanticized and lifted up the conversion moment that people like me, who grew up utterly surrounded by God’s grace and love, are somewhat envious of those who had to (in some cases, almost literally) go through hell to find Jesus. We question our own faith, wondering if it is genuine or if it is just a result of our parents, rather than thanking the Lord for showing us such grace by allowin us to grow up in faithful homes. I can remember being at youth camps and they would be so focused around the big emotional cathartic moment at the end where you stand up in front of everyone and walk to the front of the stage to “make your decision” and “accept Christ.” But deep down, a small voice protested because God was already there.
AND, just to mess with everyone and likely drive our more reformed brothers and sisters insane – for most of my youth, I was a part of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, an offshoot of Mormonism. And yes, without a doubt, God our father reached out through the Holy Spirit and revealed to me our Lord. Yep. Even there.
Good question, Frank. I shall pose it to my organic church tonight.
I grew up in the Methodist church, so I consider my “come to Jesus” moment when I went through confirmation in front of my whole church. I had been mentored and taught for almost a year before that He had a purpose and plan for my life, that I was special to Him and that He had placed a unique identity, destiny and calling on me. I know this sounds very Millennial of me, but as a 12-year-old girl, that was exactly what I needed to hear. That someone wanted me and loved me just as I was. I didn’t have to be cool enough or wear the right clothes or speak a certain way. He wanted me for me and was going to work through me to change the world. That moment, when the pastor put the oil cross on my forehead, I said “yes” to that calling and plan. I told Christ that I would follow wherever He led me. It was a moment that set me on a crazy path of doing what others told me was “impossible.” Since that day, His plan has proved so right, I’ve never even wanted to look back.
I choose to follow Jesus daily because it is lifestyle with real life applications in the here and now. Other faiths, even some “versions of Christianity” teach that the goal is all about earning God’s love and escaping this world to be with him. That is not the goal of Christianity. Jesus’ goal is to establish His Kingdom in the here and now so that we might begin to experience real life, life as it was always meant to be experienced.
I think the initial pull for me was not unlike that of George Fox. I knew I that no matter how hard I tried or how well I hid my sinfulness I had an incurable disease. Jesus demonstrated to me that He was the one who could speak to my condition. I watched Him cure me and every day I see the symptoms of my former sickness melt away more and more. After I realized that His response to my disease was love and compassion rather than judgment I was pretty much sold.
That Jesus is for the here and now.
I grew up in the church and since I can remember, I have always believed that he is God and our savior. When I got older, I gained a desire to serve his people (the church) and give my life over to ministering to them and also to people outside the church. Also, like Peter said, “Who else has the words of life?”
I decided to follow Jesus because I came to the point in my life where I couldn’t live without Him. Simple as that. I reached the end of myself until I could finally find the beginning of Him. Nothing else in my life would satisfy and I came to the realization that only through His life could I find hope, purpose, identity, and meaning for my life. I was a hopeless wreck, and I learned the hard way what most people spend their whole lives figuring out: without Him I am nothing and can do nothing apart from Him, but with Him I can do all things. He is now my everything, and in Him I live and move and have my being.
The realization that his promise of a rich, satisfying, and abundant life is real and this worldly, not just in “going to heaven” as I was taught growing up. When I realized that Jesus’ commands were not rules that restricted me from living a fun life, but that they were guidelines to experiencing life to the full, I decided to take him up on his offer. He hasn’t let down thus far.
His healing. When I started college, I was plagued with depression and an eating disorder. I claimed to follow Jesus at this point, but I hadn’t really given my life over to him. I called out to him to heal me from these things, and he did. I decided to surrender myself to him completely after this. Who else could remove this much pain from someone’s life?
It sounds a little selfish to say that what attracted me to Jesus is what he could do for me, but he would not have healed me if he didn’t love me. “We love because he first loved us.”
Hey! You stole my testimony!
I was saved at a very early age, but when I was old enough to make a more informed decision I came to Him because of the unconditional love and complete acceptance. I never felt like I really fit in, and I was exhausted with trying to follow all the rules. I found contentment and peace in Him, and realized some of the extent of which He loves me. This complete, unconditional love was what captivated me, and still does.
Having grown up in a traditional Anglican church I went to university with a feeling I was a Christian. At uni I was given a bible from my girlfriend (now wife) and some worship music. I was touched by the music and lyrics, it led to read the bible more and explore my Christian faith in detail. I read lots on the internet about Jesus, faith and the bible and found the word ‘surrender’ everywhere. I understood that I was being called to surrender my whole identity and things I had built my life upon (heavy drinking and other performance orientated things in my life) to Jesus. I prayed and worshipped in my room at uni and met Jesus powerfully over days and weeks. I realised he was not just a religious figure, he was real, alive and loved me. That kind of blew me away and transformed my life.
The beatitudes. While I celebrate in his death, resurrection and ascension, it was his teaching (especially the beatitudes) that drew me to him. I wwas raised a PK in a pentecostal church, but I wasn’t really told much about Jesus’ life, but when I started to dive into the Scriptures, I was drawn to this amazing God-Man that lived among and really care about people. It was amazing and life changing. That’s when I truly began to follow Jesus.
Truth. I don’t care about interpretations, feelings, emotions, or “what works for you.” I care about what is true. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Therefore, I follow Him.
I came to Christ because I found the incarnation of God and the story of salvation beautiful beyond description. There was no other story like it in all the world and I knew I must give my life to become a part of it. And, not only a part of it myself, but also to tell it to others and teach others of its beauty. Now, I’m a theology Ph.D. student teaching university classes on Christianity. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else with my life and I’m still captivated by the story of God.
It’s been said, “you either come to Christ because of fear or because of love.” At first I came because to god because I was afraid of hell, and I wanted fire insurance;) Then I realized hell doesn’t exist to convince me to love god. Then the real Jesus made Himself so apparent through love that He was irresistible to me. When I got a mere glimpse of who He truly is, I wanted to submit everything I had for Him. “And then I saw His face, nah nah nah nah and now I’m a believer…there’s not a trace, of doubt in my mind, I’m in love…oooo I’m a believer.”
I just made the cut!
I had heard the gospel several times in my childhood and teens- how Jesus died on the cross to save my sins- yadda yadda. (obviously not saying that those items are not important to say)
What really captured me though- what really brought me to my knees and compelled me, what Christ himself. (literally, I heard him call my name in my bedroom and had to get down on my knees) What led up to that was the idea that God, specifically Christ, was an unconditional lover. He was pursuing me and could restore me. And I also had never heard how Christ was the beginning and end, the creator, the redeemer, and the mediator. I heard all of that within the 2 weeks before I accepted Christ. I had heard about his death, but apparently not his life after his death. How he lives and works today- not just 2,000 years ago.
“A true leader is one that serves”, I do not remember where I read those radical words, but as soon as I realised they had a direct correlation to Christ Jesus, I was blown away and told myself that is the kind of leader I want to be lead by. The humility of Jesus Christ captures me, it humbles me and gives me peace.
It was the hope that I could be loved. Jesus made it seem possible that unselfish love could really happen.
The best way I can describe it was that it was as if I had always known it was all about Jesus, but never presented it. The belief in God\’Satan or Heaven\Hell was always in my mind (even though I never had single spiritual conversation with my parents growing up). When presented with the Gospel, it was if I found something I never consciensly knew I was looking for but I was looking all along.
Initially I came to Christ because I knew my life needed a change in direction. I was involved in some things I had never before involved myself in and I was getting into trouble. Having grown up in a pentecostal denomination, I think knowing I wasn’t going to hell was also a big plus. But the zeal quickly diminished and I noticed an acute hunger for more than what I was being offered. My senior year in high school (about 2 years after encountering Christ), I was given this book called “Sacred Romance” by John Eldredge and I have never been the same. The fact that I could have a relationship with Christ, and even more so, that He WANTED a relationship with me blew me away and I have been captivated ever since.
His gentleness. And the way He talks about His Father in Heaven. I was not raised by a very understanding, gentle father, and I love how in the book of John, Jesus always speaks so well of His Heavenly Father. I want that kind of relationship with my own Heavenly Father since I couldn’t have one like that with my earthly one, and I knew that Jesus was the only way to get that.
Peace, peace, peace. The real Jesus wants wholeness and peace for individuals, believes in community and loves radically. I wanted the peace that He offers.
Also, I love the way Jesus deals with rich, pious assholes. Guilty pleasure, but an undeniably attractive quality.
I became a Christian at an early age. During my teen years, I had my share of adventures and sliding back. The gospel never really was practical and meaningful to me. When I was in my late teens, I had an experience with a relational God.
When I discovered God was relational and not just a metaphysical condemner from On High who doles out punishments and “challenges” to those whom he loves, is what truly captured my attention. The fact that this Almighty being is interested in who I am and loves me so thoroughly, made me rethink my path and truly started living a Christian lifestyle.
The thing that attracted me to Jesus was the fact that I no longer had to depend on myself. Before He reached down and saved me I was constantly being disappointed in myself and my shortcomings. Now I can identify with Christ and my own works are meaningless. Now I abide in Him and He in me and when the Father looks at me, He sees Christ. Knowing that He is strong in my weakness makes me want to glorify Him all the more!!
The life of Jesus helped me see the intrinsic value that God placed in all creation. I have never connected with the idea that “the gods are angry” and that God must be appeased. The stories of Jesus and the interpretations of his life have opened my worldview to understand that as we are made in God’s image, we are created with incredible worth, and we become whole when we can fully recognize that.
The death of Jesus revealed to me a hope in the midst of human suffering. It is incredible that the story of Jesus includes this awful aspect of the human experience and it shows me that God is not separated from our suffering. I don’t connect with the idea of God wanting or willing evil to happen. But I think that pain enters the world and it breaks God’s heart just as much as it breaks ours. Jesus’ death opened my eyes to that and gave me hope that God is truly present within every aspect of the human experience.
The most significant or appealing attribute of Christ that led me to dedicate my life to Him was a revelation of His power that I saw firsthand through miracle healings. I knew then that God was real…and real powerful.
There is something in the story and character of this peculiar, radical figure that I simply cannot find in any of the stories of the lives of other great people (or stories in general for that matter), a sort of depth or weight, and this essence transcends the mere accounts written in the Bible. It’s something living, breathing, vibrant, wild, compelling. It, and I gather by corollary “he,”is at or rather *is* the pulsating heart of all things, and there’s nothing else in all this world (and beyond, from what I’ve been able to discern) like him. He is the one true paradox. No where else can I find tenderness and severity so intertwined, the lion and the lamb, father-mother-brother-son.
Though I must disagree with Paul, were the account of him in the Bible untrue and completely fabricated or if the accounts had never been written, *he* would still be true. I cannot help but be continually drawn back to him, no matter where or how far I wander down paths unknown. He is the beginning, the end, and the very path itself.
I thought I was a Christian growing up in a Baptist church. I then heard Frank’s Epic Jesus conference talk and realized I never really knew him. I guess what drew me was his majesty and his mercy and compassion combined. The part about how he treated different sinners, it blew me away cause I could see myself in them. Epic is a great way to describe it!
I was raised by two parents who served God and shared with me about Jesus and what following Him meant. Although I saw many poor examples in church as a young child I always had my parents showing me a good example. Basically, I chose to accept Christ from watching my parents. I was young (7) and drifted from my walk throughout adolescence and youth but always had the right example to look to and God’s faithfulness is amazing by drawing me back.
I have been under the impression that I was a Christian for most of my life. It wasn’t until a a few weeks ago that during listening to a Timothy Keller podcast that I realized that I was still a slave to this world. Than everything I had been hearing and learning for 16 years all came together. Keller said something to the point of how many times do you say “If I only had this” or “If I only accomplished that” then would I feel fulfilled and happy. And how many times do you say that about a relationship with Jesus. And immediately I was overcome with the truth of being a slave to the world and how servitude in Christ was true slavery. So at the very base of this conversion, it took for me to finally understand that life under and with Christ is the only fulfilling and valuable life.
Christ appealed to me the same way the Marine Corps did. 100% committment to a cause that was not only bigger than me, but provided something I could literally commit my whole life to. I approach my faith like I approached my time in the Marine Corps. I signed up, knowing there are a lot of unknowns, but wholly committed to the cause.
I guess I have a unique perspective because I was saved as a young kid, then fell away around age 16, and came back to Christ at age 20. At 20, it happened when I went to a church body that was obviously in love with Jesus and the presence of the holy spirit was tangible in the place. That was so different from everything I had experienced as a kid.
I pretty much grew in Christianity from the age of 6 and had always believed it all to be true. However, I don’t consider that I truly became a follower of Jesus until my junior year in high school. It was at that point I became really close with one of my still closest friends. We read the Bible, prayed together and sought Jesus. A lot. It was then that I realized Jesus wasn’t just some religious figure. I saw Him as peaceful, loving, yet very real and honest person. I had finally seen Jesus as someone who loved me unconditionally and who was constantly with me. Even at school, home or work. I saw Him to be the God I always believed Him to be. But His true kingship became a little more real. After trying to find hope in other things, I had finally found hope and purpose in Him.
For me it was the fact that He wanted to KNOW me. I could not understand why the God of all the universe, the one who holds it all in the palm of His hand would want to know me. It blew my mind. And still does!
When I was in the 11th grade I had a serious flare-up from Crohn’s disease where I was hospitalized for 3 weeks and later 2 more weeks. During my first stay in the hospital I had a breakdown. I was completely broken by test after test and endless pain. The nurses and my stepfather pitifully witnessed me helplessly drowning in tears repeating “I can’t do it!” At that moment, for the first time, I recognized an inward strength and comfort and I knew it was the Lord and that He was with me. I was then able to get up and keep moving forward. That same day, I had the opportunity to encourage another Crohn’s patient in what I just experienced in the Lord and it ministered to him in a way that convinced me God was real. From that point on, the Lord continued to make Himself real to me through scripture and through being the strength, courage, comfort and love I needed in various situations in a way that no one else could be to me. That time in the hospital marked the beginning of my spiritual journey in ‘seeing’ Him.
That at the sound of his voice calling follow me the entire world was turned upside down by such few and as the bible says un educated men. . I like timothy was brought up in a Christian home so it wasn’t a dramatic conviction as some have had it was more to me like why wouldn’t i want to give my entire life to him
Ps. 34:5 Says, “Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.” Jesus was the first ‘person’ I could ever look at in this manner. What made it more amazing was the fact that He knows all my dirt and I can still look to my savior and understand that I’m forgiven and He loves me. Never in my whole life had I experienced an unfaltering love like this, so I had to pursue it.
I have to say it was the backwards, radical self-sacrificial loved of Jesus, which practically speaking, looks NOTHING like any human love I’ve ever seen! The radical message of total forgiveness and complete cleansing really knocked me to my knees. That is what drew me to Jesus, and it is what causes me to stand in awe of Him to this day. My past record of failure is gone.. My future is pure, my present clean In Him!
I first met him from being challenged to read the Gospel of Mark by my future wife. I was best described a deist at the time. Jesus revealed himself there, and he was real and true. That’s all there was to it for me.
To be completely honest, what first attracted me to Christ was my own guilt. “Jesus paid it all; all to him I owe” was kind of the theme. It seemed like such a noble cause to join the troops of the one who made it possible for me to feel safe from all the dark and scary stuff in the world. I turned to what I thought was the remedy: legalistic personal piety.
I accepted Christ as a child because it made sense to me, that I was a sinner in need of grace, and that was found in Christ. Acceptance by grace, not works is still something I come back to often, though in different ways. I also find a lot of joy and confidence in the uniqueness of Christ and the historical fact of the resurrection.
That he died for people the rest of the world wouldn’t give a chance. He put his neck on the line for the poor, the ugly, the downtrodden. He rejected the idea of bettering himself as a way to better others.
I initially was searching for an identity. I wanted to know who I was and why I existed. But when someone finally explained to me what Jesus did on the cross for everyone, and that I could be forgiven for all my mistakes, I was stunned and jumped in head first. I wanted a purpose to life, and I found forgiveness, grace, and a mission with it.
I was abandoned by my father when I was young and grew up hating him for it. When i heard about jesus and how I would be adopted into his family and he would never abandon me….that’s all it took. The Lord has also brought healing and restoration to my relationship with my earthly father. GOD IS GOOD! PRAISE THE LORD!!!
From the earthly, practical standpoint: In high school I decided to follow Christ, largely because the youth group and youth leaders at my new church were the most welcoming, friendly, forgiving group I had ever encountered. Their warmth and depth of friendship blew me away, as they took me in as a newcomer and welcomed me. As I saw their pursuit of Jesus and how it transformed their lives, I realized for the first time how important it was to follow Christ rather than simply giving a verbal assent to His existence.
The lack of bullcrap. He was real about who He was in His interactions with people, something that was missing from all of my other religious experiences to that point.
First, you need to know some things about who I am. From a young age, I didn’t want to exist, I would have been happy to have never existed. I hoped at that time, God was fake and upon death I’d be at peace and not existing forevermore. I was young when I turned to pascal’s wager hoping to avoid the less desirable Hell of the two if God did exist. At one point I lost consciousness, but remained fully aware and realized the undeniable immortality I had and that, now that I existed, I could not entirely cease to exist ever. God took my one hope and squashed it and I was unhappy wondering how a benevolent God would feel I needed to exist knowing how I would hate it.
Then after my grandpa’s death I cried out to God in desperation finally turning to him, hoping to find a sliver of hope to cling to. I opened my Bible, begging for a ‘why’. I landed in James and read through the entire book and I realized perhaps there was hope God could fix me or illuminate my mind to an extent that I can be at peace with existing. I wanted answers, so I began the quest of reading the entire Bible. I had little hope early on, but it grew further and further until I hit the NT and began to understand God’s true plan from day 1 and the pharisee the modern church churns out was put to death. There are things I am probably the only person who can get, because of my problem; it is a double edged sword.
To finally answer the question, numerous things. My last hope to be happy. When you reach Jesus, how can you not fall in love with God? You’ve grown up indoctrinated with religion and have carried the burden, then Jesus takes the burden and frees you from religion. To be told you are judged on what you want, rather than on your mistakes is liberating. To be able to set the past behind you and live for the future is so motivating. There isn’t a stiff, sadistic abuser blackmailing you with threats and you aren’t trying to appease his psychoses to avoid being tortured for his sick pleasure. Instead, Jesus reveals you have someone who realizes you can’t live up to his expectations and he accepts that and still cares for you, and you are now trying to live up to his expectations, because your knows he doesn’t have to care and you probably would have abandoned yourself if you were God. Jesus is all about love, something you can really get behind, and love of God makes you a better person, while fear makes you a worse person.