What Does it Mean to be Converted?

Chuck Colson's death over the weekend has brought the "C" word back into public discussion: not "convict" or "criminal," but "conversion." And that is a good thing.

Yesterday, I wrote about the very public transformation of Chuck Colson from a Watergate criminal to a convert who exemplified Christian service and sacrifice for the marginalized in society: prisoners and their families. Washington Post op-ed columnist Michael Gerson wrote on Monday that Colson was "the most thoroughly converted person I have ever known."

Conversion is a mystery--Christian theology has never made the claim that conversion is man-made. One cannot just whip up a quick conversion, though many evangelists have probably tried. Christian conversion involves the Spirit of God convicting us of our great need to turn toward God and away from all that holds us captive: sin, pride, evil. The dictionary defines conversion in the Christian theological sense as "repentance and change to a Godly life."

Do you want to know if someone is a true convert? Look at his or her life! Let's look at our own lives! True repentance leads to a changed life. It won't happen overnight--though some internal and external change can happen instantaneously. My father, for instance, was miraculously healed of alcoholism. That was apparent to anyone who knew his circumstances: he never suffered the effects of withdrawal. But other changes within him happened over the long term. God's work in us is a life-long project, but His grace and love encourage us to keep turning to Him!

Colson was known pre-conversion for having few virtues--few people liked him, and many were afraid of him. It would be awful to leave a legacy like that--but God did not let that happen. Colson took no credit for the changes that occurred within him and his relationships--it was a work of God that allowed him to be so thoroughly converted and so thoroughly transformed. He, like every other person who turns to God and away from the prison of sin, became "a new person."

Colson reminds me of a certain person named Saul, who was greatly feared by the first Christians 2,000 years ago. He believed his destiny was to wipe out what he and the other Pharisees believed to be a blasphemous group. He was going to make it his life's work to throw every Christian into prison or to have them executed.

But God had very different plans for Saul, who was thoroughly converted on the Road to Damascus. He, too, was eventually thrown into prison for his crimes--the very crimes of the faithful he had railed against as a Pharisee. Colson was released from prison for his crimes after only seven months, but lived the rest of his life as a former prisoner truly set free. We don't jail people in the United States for preaching and living out the Gospel (there are countries who do!)--if we did, he would have served a life sentence, like Paul.

"This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" 2 Corinthians 5:17, New Living Translation.


Photo credit: Kairos Prison Ministry

Chuck Colson: A Very Good Work

Nicholas Kristof, New York Times columnist and author of Half the Sky, posted on Facebook Saturday a short tribute to Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship, who died at 80 April 21. What struck me is that Kristoff began the tribute with a disclaimer: "I know this will horrify some of you, but I had respect for Chuck Colson..." and then Kristoff describes the very good work Colson did in addressing the many problems in the prison system, including prison rape.

From the comments the columnist received, one would think Colson had been the devil incarnate, instead of a once-power-hungry human being who "sinned boldly," was convicted and imprisoned, and who, for the rest of his life, reflected the conversion and redemption that he claimed had saved him in prison.

Let me repeat that: Colson, for 40 years until his death, led a life of integrity, service, creativity, and commitment. He was not a hypocrite, a snake-charmer, an adulterer, unlike other "church-going" leaders we have seen take a fall in recent years; he was a sinner saved by grace who then served boldly.

He was "working out his salvation" for all the world to see--except that much of the Western world chooses to call evil, good and good, evil, especially when in disagreement with someone. The sophisticated world has trouble seeing good in Chuck Colson. The comments on Kristof's post were primarily shots at "evil" conservative politics, and the assertion that Colson's Watergate crimes and later political alliances were equally bad.

But evangelical Christians also had a problem with him in the mid '90s, because he dared to forge an alliance with Catholics. When the document, "Evangelicals and Catholics Together" was published, 100 angry evangelical leaders denounced it, and Colson's ministry lost one million dollars in funding. Apparently, helping prisoners wasn't as important at that moment as sticking it to a perceived pal to Catholics. 

But, it was only for a while. The furor died down, and many came to see that Christians working together, regardless of denomination, is much more effective than ripping one another apart.

I did not know Chuck Colson personally, but I ran into him a few times while I was working for Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He was a long-time Board member. I remember being in awe--geek that I am--because he was the rock star of transformed lives. I had read several of his books, and had been given his book, Born Again, many years before by my father when I first became a Christian. I remember calling my dad excitedly that I had just been standing next to one of his heroes.

But a glimpse into Colson's character can be found in a 45-minute car ride with my husband who was driving him to the airport. He asked Tim about his work, his plans for ministry. He wanted to hear his opinion about the seminary. Then, he apologized as his phone rang. "I have to take this--my daughter's calling!" Tim could not help but overhear a loving exchange between a dad and a daughter. A few weeks later, my husband received a signed book from Colson's office. Colson had said he would like to send him one and wrote down Tim's address. This very busy man, with much on his mind and plate, remembered to send a book to someone he had just met.


Like Kristof, I have great respect for Colson--yes, for the prison ministry, but more for his ability to actualize God's promises: that as a child of God, you can be set free from sin and shame--and then move on to do great things.

I have counseled people who had great difficulty in believing they were truly forgiven for the past, who had not committed ugly crimes impacting an entire nation. It takes courage and faith to face those we have wronged, admit our wrongdoing, then lay that shame at the cross (see Colson's book I mentioned earlier, Born Again).  Of course, there are consequences to our actions: some wrongs can't be undone. But if Colson had wallowed in self-pity, or worse, so much good would not have been realized.

Kristof was pandering to his more liberal followers in his post, but he, like Chuck Colson, is at least willing to stick his neck out and acknowledge that a life transformed can help transform others--calling what is good to be good.

Chuck Colson photo courtesy of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Click here to read the Gordon-Conwell memorial to Colson.
Kristof photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images.