{"id":19609,"date":"2024-05-15T20:35:47","date_gmt":"2024-05-16T00:35:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/?p=19609"},"modified":"2024-05-15T20:35:47","modified_gmt":"2024-05-16T00:35:47","slug":"conversions-and-reversions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/?p=19609","title":{"rendered":"Conversions and reversions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Conversion of Saint Paul – painting by Spinello Aretino (Spinello di Luca Spinelli) (MET, 1975.1.11)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is, I think, a function<\/strong> of my essential pessimism that I worry too much about celebrity conversions. Celebrity conversions, I\u2019m sure, ought to be treated like any other conversions. Good news. Pray for them. But do not impute to them too much significance. In the parable of the sower, for instance (Matthew 13), only one seed out of four survives to bear fruit. And that, in my experience, is a pretty fair (possibly generous) rule of thumb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest celebrity conversion I\u2019ve been hearing about is the English actor, comedian, and media personality Russell Brand. I knew nothing about him before this news, aside from hearing his name and seeing his face online. He seems, according to Wikipedia<\/a>, to have had a troubled life (imagine that \u2013 a comedian with a troubled life!), and has experienced drug abuse, sexual promiscuity, and dabbling in various religions. But now he\u2019s been baptized, and he claims to truly believe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m all for him. Less promising converts have proved out to be great blessings. John Newton<\/a>, for instance, was a foul slaver, insufferable even to other foul slavers. But God took hold of him, and he ended as a minister and a powerful abolitionist. He left us with the hymn, \u201cAmazing Grace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve reminisced about the 1970s before, the heady times we called the Jesus Movement. They made a movie about the Jesus Movement not long ago, starring Kelsey Grammar. I couldn\u2019t get excited about it, though, because my memories of that time suffer in retrospect. Of all the people I prayed and evangelized with in those days, only one or two (out of my own circle) have persevered in anything that looks to me like the same faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a cultural phenomenon, the Jesus Movement seems to me almost a complete bust. No doubt it suffered from the biblical illiteracy and theological ignorance of a bunch of young people gushing about their \u201cexperience.\u201d In the long run, my perception is that the Jesus Movement simply got swallowed up in the wave of subjectivity that is still washing the pilings out from under our civilization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my mind, the Jesus Movement was too cool, too popular for a season. Luke 17:20 says that the Kingdom of God does not come in ways that can be observed. Which means (as I see it) that it doesn\u2019t come in any way that we see coming. Jesus Himself didn\u2019t come as expected. The stone that the builders rejected becomes the cornerstone (Psalm 118:22). God loves to blindside us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve seen lots of celebrity (and other) conversions in my time. The most promising often fell short. The least promising sometimes amazed us. Russell Brand could go either way. It\u2019s not up to me, and it\u2019s not my place to judge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most remarkable celebrity conversion I\u2019ve observed was the one I expected the least from. I remember reading about Charles Colson\u2019s conversion back in 1973, while I was in college. I think I read about it in Time <\/em>Magazine. Congressman Albert Quie<\/a>, who came from my home area and to whom I have family connections, helped lead him to Christ. Colson said reading C. S. Lewis had influenced him greatly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh great,\u201d I said at the time. \u201cThat\u2019s just who we need on our team. Colson.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chuck Colson was one of the most hated men in America in those days. Beyond the general contempt being rained on President Nixon, there was special derision for Colson, \u201cNixon\u2019s hatchet man,\u201d the guy who\u2019d said he\u2019d run over his grandmother for political advantage. I remember a college teacher bringing it up in a class, and I cringed on behalf of all Lewis fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what do you know? Colson rang true. He served his sentence. He devoted himself thereafter to self-sacrificial ministry. He always spoke honestly, and he cared for the lost and the least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were plenty of people who never stopped hating him, of course, and he acquired new enemies as he went on. But he was a blessing, and he walked the walk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, let\u2019s pray for Brand and wait and see.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is, I think, a function of my essential pessimism that I worry too much about celebrity conversions. Celebrity conversions, I\u2019m sure, ought to be treated like any other conversions. Good news. Pray for them. But do not impute to them too much significance. In the parable of the sower, for instance (Matthew 13), only … Continue reading Conversions and reversions<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14],"tags":[5196,469,5195,5194],"class_list":["post-19609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-religion","tag-celebrities","tag-charles-colson","tag-conversions","tag-russell-brand"],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19609"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19609\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19611,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19609\/revisions\/19611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}