The Crimson Cord
My Conversion Chain
It takes 24 contacts with a Gospel witness before someone accepts Christ. I don’t claim that number is iron-clad. It just means you have a part to play in someone eventually coming to Christ.
Here is my “conversion chain.” [I am posting this so soon after a previous post because I just had an amazing conversation with a guy who wanted help understanding evangelism. There is a lot more to tell for later posts, but the gist was I was telling him there are many styles of evangelism, and you have to be ok with some of the styles you think are wrong or don’t work…because sometimes, for some people, they do work.]
These are the moments of witness that I remember, times and people, that when I came to Christ, I realized were the people whose words and actions added up to the moment the Holy Spirit had His way and I came to Christ. They are not in chronological order. It's close though. I do this for two reasons:
There is no pastor on this list. That's a good thing, not a slap against pastors. I was hostile to Christians and church so there would be very little chance for a pastor to reach me. You lay people have to do this!
Your seemingly small things, things you probably do not remember, have worked with others to bring a harvest of repentance and salvation that you won't know about this side of glory. You won't always or often be like Larry Isitt, Dane Conrad, James Sims and Drew Barnes and get to see that I came to Christ after they witnessed to me.
Ed Higginbotham, my dad's commanding officer when I was 4 or 5, invited us to a service at a Presbyterian church
C.S. Lewis, “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. No lie, in third grade, the idea that Aslan—an innocent—died for the sins of others stuck with me, even tho someone very important and influential in my life told me that was a ludicrous idea. I could not let it go.
Father Keating at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, Paso Robles, CA. In first grade, I folded a napkin into my Catholic schoolboy uniform collar so I could look like a priest. I served communion after lunch on the playground. The nuns wanted my hide, but Father Keating looked stern until we got in his office and he did not punish me, just said maybe I should let him handle serving communion, and maybe I should think about if God was calling me.
Kids playing basketball in my subdivision in Texas. I knew one of them, Van Givens, from Germany (Air Force brats...) I cussed while we played. The boy said simply “we don't talk like that here.”
FCA group playing flag football on a weekend at my high school. I was on a long bike ride and stopped to play, too. Same story. I cussed. They said please don't. Older kid tried to tell me about Jesus.
Kathy Kedzierski. Open about going to church.
Tim, from Governor's School. Just told me about salvation and asked me if I wanted to accept Jesus. He was totally ready to pray for me right then and there. But I really had no clue what he was talking about.
Guitar player at a party. He shared with me about the blues and Jesus.
Abortion protesters on a street in San Luis Obispo, CA.
JoAnn, my cousin. She invited me to church with her a lot while I was in college in Mississippi.
Anastacia Feldman, history professor.
Audrey. Can't remember her name. Would not go out with me because I was a rank pagan. Sounds like a bummer, but what a witness.
Erwin Burt, a friend who let me hunt on his land, and took me to church with him.
Tommy Blanton, boss. He had been a student at Harvard’s Divinity School, and he let me borrow his books, which blew me away by how deft and intense the scholars were. I started thinking, maybe God is the ultimate subject to know about…
Stan Hauer, English professor
James Sims, English professor. Dr. Sims and Dr. Hauer made me realize being a Christian had a strong intellectual component.
Larry Isitt, fellow college student. A true evangelist. He stuck with me as a friend even when I knew I was obnoxious and insulting to him. He constantly witnessed to the inerrancy of the Word of God and the need to repent and believe in Jesus.
Two girls from 37th Avenue Baptist Church who asked me if I knew where I'd go if I died.
Dane Conrad, fellow college student. He did not live with his girlfriend, because they were Christians.
Drew Barnes, fellow college student. He was a Christian in a squared-away marriage, and he had been through some rough stuff but was still a believer.
Buddy Pittman, co-worker. I am sure you will hear his influence on me in a sermon. Too much to tell here.
Robert Allen, co-worker. He was in a real bind financially, but said, “Man does not live on bread alone.” I was kind of freaked out by that kind of faith.
Barry Burruss, co-worker. Worked a manual labor job until he had enough money to go back out street preaching. And put up with my atheist insults.
The Gideons. Getting that Scripture in October of 1994 led directly to me getting a Dose of the Ghost on the Coast, and believing in Jesus.
There are 24 items on this list. There are no doubt some I do not remember. The point is, will you be intentional about telling someone about Jesus, and be ok with always being number 19? Never knowing that the person you share with will come to faith or not? And trusting that who you are, and what God has done in you, can work to help another sinner know where to find salvation?