A Sacred Rhythm of Continual Conversion
November 4, 2008
Growing up in an evangelical church I routinely felt pulled toward the altar whenever guest speakers would visit. Pressuring their audience to make decisions for Christ their words made me grip the edge of my pew. I was consistently afraid that I would go down to the front of the church and accept Christ for the first time, again.
This experience had both negative and positive aspects to it. Negatively it created a creeping sense of doubt within me. I wondered if my salvation could be secure if I continued to feel the need to go forward? More positively it proved to be a reminder of the grave importance of taking Christ, and my soul, seriously. It was a reminder that my salvation was indeed “closer than when I first believed”.
That initial experience of conversion remains important and there is no point in diminishing it. Yet conversion must also be understood as that continuous process of transformation. Adopting a sacred rhythm assists us in this process of continual conversion.
We believe and trust in God the Father Almighty.
We believe and trust in Jesus Christ His Son.
We believe and trust in the Holy Spirit.
We believe and trust in the Three in One. – from CDP, Midday Office
A declaration of faith is conversion in miniature. Our natural inclination is to drift like unmoored boats down the shore loosed of commitment and security. Continuous conversion allows us, on a daily basis, to reassert our faith, to declare our it all over again. This declaration rights our boats, bringing them into harbor.
Each office in the Celtic Daily Prayer includes a declaration of faith. These declarations are:
1) Acts of repentance; we acknowledge that God is God, we are not and by restating that fact through a declaration of faith, both to God and to ourselves, we repent of our daily drift into idolatry;
2) Means of confession; when we acknowledge Christ as Lord we are implicitly accepting our own position of imperfection, brokenness, and sin;
3) Commitments to growth; the declarations of faith in the CDP are miniature creeds. Both our minds and hearts are trained by their truth. The basic truth expressed in them make room for the growth of the whole person before God.
To whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life,
and we have believed and have come to know
that You are the Holy One of God. – from CDP, Morning Office
What if, rather than being re-converted every few years, we instead entered into a life of conversion through our regular and continual declaration of faith in Christ. Not motivated by external pressures but empowered through our participation in a sacred rhythm we return to proclaiming Christ as both the Lord of our lives and the God of the universe.
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I was right behind you going up to the altar!!!
These are wonderful and liberating thoughts!!! - a continual declaration of faith.
Rhythms of prayer include rhythms of conversion … declaring and redeclaring our faith in Christ. A daily reaffirmation of faith expressed not out of fear of punishment but for a desire for closeness to God and is work in the world.
Great insight Paul. A pastor for over 20 years without “A Sacred Rhythm of Continual Conversion” I would have not survived the continual need to remind myself of God’s love for me. The pastorate is not glamorous for sure, but knowing a affirming daily God’s outstanding love for us empowers us to “finish the race!”