By Rev. Dr. Dawn Weaks
Pastor, Connection Christian Church
How did you become a Christian? Years ago, when I was a college student at a Christian university, this became a regular ice breaker conversation. The right answer was something like, “I asked the Lord into my heart on July 28, 1982.”
Becoming a Christian was a decision, a clear cut before and after moment, which you prayed a specific prayer to make happen and could pinpoint the exact day and time of the transaction.
I believe such a moment in time is important. Can I tell you when I got married and made that transformative change in my life? You bet! Can I tell you when I said yes to the vows of ordained ministry? When I became a mom? You better believe it!
I think there is a “setting your face towards Jerusalem” as Jesus did in Luke 9:51 that is necessary when one chooses the way of Jesus. There is a definitive moment, a before and after. For people in my church’s tradition, baptism happens upon such an intentional decision.
But I was baptized into the Christian faith at age 6. Does one truly decide anything at age 6? Maybe I became a Christian when a lady at church asked me to serve to feed the hungry at age 12. Maybe it was at age 21 when I began to be a serious student of the Bible during my training for ministry. Or maybe I became a Christian in my 30s when our children were born and all I knew for sure is that I had just received some miracles. Or perhaps it was when I faced a cancer diagnosis when I was 44 and had to lean on Jesus like never before.
Maybe it was today at age 50, as I marvel at serving alongside a congregation full of people seeking to follow Jesus together. Watching God’s people serve this community fills my spirit. Yes. I think it was today, that I became a Christian.
I pray I am still becoming a Christian. Maybe it is something I choose every day. But it is also something that keeps choosing me. It turns out that we don’t just ask Jesus into our hearts, but that Jesus invites us into his heart, more and more, every day.
