Three Essential Elements of Christian Conversion

Last updated on: January 2, 2018 at 5:28 pm by Carl "Skye" McColman

Three Essential Elements of Christian Conversion 2018-01-02T17:28:41-04:00 Carl "Skye" McColman

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What is Christian conversion? In other words, what does it mean to truly respond to the love and call of God?

Is following Christ merely a commitment to learn about Jesus, what he said and what he taught? Or is there a deeper dimension: how does following Christ make a real difference in our lives?

To answer these questions, I’d like to share some thoughts on conversion that come from William Johnston’s lovely book “Arise, My Love…”: Mysticism for a New Era. Johnston was a Jesuit priest, originally from Ireland, who spent most of his ministry in Japan, and who became an authority on both Christian-Buddhist dialogue but also Christian mysticism. In this particular book, he’s exploring the role that conversion has in the mystical life, and to make sense of conversion he turns to some ideas from the Jesuit philosopher, Bernard Lonergan. Lonergan speaks of three “movements” in the conversion process:

Intellectual Conversion
Ethical/Moral Conversion
Religious Conversion

Lonergan’s language may be philosophically precise but not always useful for spiritual seekers in our day. So I would propose thinking of these three elements of conversion in this way:

Conversion of the Mind
Conversion of the Heart
Conversion of the Spirit

Here’s what I see each entailing:

Conversion of the Mind ties in with the concept of repentance which literally means “changing one’s mind” but in its Greek original, metanoia, has the added connotation of expanding one’s mind, or even going beyond the limits of ordinary thought. The task here is keeping an open mind, and choosing to engage with the sacred stories and wisdom teachings associated with Christ. Following Christ means learning a new way of thinking: a way that is merciful rather than judgmental, that is inclusive rather than dualistic, that is trusting rather than suspicious. This essential first step of conversion requires a willingness to encounter the wisdom, teachings, and stories of the Christian tradition with what Zen Buddhists call “beginner’s mind” — an openness to see things from a new perspective.
Conversion of the Heart follows a willingness to accept the Christian way of thinking. If conversion of the mind opens up our understanding, conversion of the heart transforms our will. Here we discover that following Christ is more than just a “head trip” — it requires immersing our entire life, our bodies and behaviors, into the Divine splendor of Christ’s values. This means adopting a life based on the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) and the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23): a life anchored in faith, hope, and love: a life of living forgiveness, of embodied compassion, of enacted mercy. It means choosing joy and peace over grasping and aggression. It means continuing to deeply listen to the wisdom of Christ, and to continually seek ways to embody that wisdom in our character. It is a path of growing humility, reverence, and above all, love.
Conversion of the Spirit is the most purely mystical of the three elements of conversion, which means it is something God enacts deep within us and not just something we decide to do, or can consciously control. Of course, we may (and should) decide to be open and receptive to the Spirit’s action in transfiguring our souls — but always with the recognition that, while we can continue to strive for ongoing conversion of mind (seeking to more fully understand Christ’s wisdom) and conversion of heart (seeking to more fully embody a Christlike way of life), this third and deepest dimension of conversion: embracing the splendor of the mystical life — is always a pure gift, given sometimes in darkness and unknowing, and often in ways we may not fully understand. This conversion requires silent, contemplative prayer, because it happens at a level deeper than our thoughts and our will. We pray silently, consenting to God’s action not only in our minds and our hearts, but indeed in our very souls. Conversion of the Spirit means receiving the fullness of union with God. This is an ongoing, and really cannot be fully realized this side of eternity. All three dimensions of conversion are ongoing, and this one has the longest arc of them all.

So how do we choose the life of Christian conversion? We keep an open mind, seeking to continually learn the teaching, wisdom, and stories of Christ and the saints and mystics. We commit to a loving heart, slowly being formed and reformed in the image and likeness of God, through God’s grace and our cooperation with that grace in choosing, again and again, the way of life characterized by the Beatitudes and the Fruit of the Spirit. And we consent to the never-ending transfiguration of our very souls, by the patient activity of the Holy Spirit who seeks nothing less than full union with us: mind, body and soul.

Three dimensions of conversion. Thankfully, we have a lifetime — and beyond — to respond to God’s call.

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