WHAT WOULD IT TAKE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE TO BECOME CHRISTIANS?

There has been much discussion recently on the growth of religious unbelief among young people. I have been asked what it would take for young people to become Christians. Here are some of my answers.

1. A sense of guilt. The “requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.” (Romans 2:15) There is a moral law of right and wrong written into the universe which we can acknowledge or deny according to our circumstances, the hardness of our hearts or our openness to the Holy Spirit. We can become conscious of sin: of things done which we ought not to have done, or things undone which we ought to have done; and seek forgiveness and the need for a Savior.
2. Despair. There is a sense of coming to the end of ourselves, of hopelessness, of realizing that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves. We feel failures. This can lead to depression and even to suicide if we cannot see beyond the darkness to the light. Jesus comes to us as the light of the world.
3. Encounter with Jesus. In the midst of either the confusion and meaninglessness of life or the exhilarating experience of material and earthly success Jesus, the Lord of the Universe, confronts us with a choice to follow him as Savior and Lord or reject him. This has nothing to do with our sense of need but God’s grace and mercy to us at a time of his choosing. He gives us freedom to choose life or death; self-obsession or service; self-indulgence or self-denial.
4. Desire for fullness of life. After trying to find fulfilment in earthly success and relationships, sensuality and fame, life seems empty, shallow and unsatisfying. Living for oneself, without accountability to anyone else is like the Rich Fool in the parable of Jesus who found that his soul was required of him unexpectedly and he had to leave everything he had worked for behind. The book of Ecclesiastes is the manual on this condition: “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” Awareness of this condition can lead a person to throw himself on the mercy of God and seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.
5. Eternal Life. The promise of the gift of eternal life which Jesus brought and bought through the Cross and the Resurrection is compelling to anyone who is realistic about the certain prospect of death. Welcoming Jesus who is the Resurrection and the Life into one’s life takes away the fear of death and hell. Heaven becomes a future hope and goal.
6. The birth of the Spirit. When the Holy Spirit touches us with his new life we become a new creation, the old has passed away and the new has come. We repent of our sins, we turn around our life and we trust in the power of the Spirit of Christ to make us into new people. Our sinful nature continues to plague us but we have the new nature, filled with the Spirit to strengthen us to overcome the old. We are given the armor of God to protect us and to give us victory.
7. Love in Action. When we see godly love in the lives of other people we are convicted of our selfishness and lack of generosity. We see Christian men and women giving their lives for the sake of others, loving their neighbors, caring for the sick and suffering and note their motivation as a response to the call of Christ to do it for the least as for him. We compare their lives with our own and commit ourselves to live for Christ and others instead of for ourselves. We want to make our lives count for something worthwhile that will last.

I realize that there are as many answers to this question as there are people. What are yours? What do you think it would take for someone you know to become a Christian? A tragedy? Sickness? The fear of sudden death and the prospect of hell? Losing all their money? Going to prison? Pray for that person that they may come to know the love of God in Jesus.