I have been asked many times about how I became a Christian. What people really mean is, “Tell me a short tale of how you encountered the message of Jesus and how you immediately responded.” Since that is not my experience, I usually pick a chapter of my story based on the audience and then give them a short version of that part.
The truth is that my faith journey is a very long story. In fact it took over twenty years of events until I had my own personal faith. Some of these early events I discounted in my zeal as a new Christian but I now see how they all played a part.
Here is a roughly chronological list of the things that took place that led me to becoming a follower of Jesus.
- Birth (this is pretty much essential).
- Baptized/Christened in the Anglican Church.
- Raised in and taught Bible stories in the Anglican Church.
- Confirmed in the Anglican Church.
- Became an agnostic and left the Anglican Church.
- Became an atheist.
- Became a generic theist.
- Prayed that God would show me the true religion.
- Started working for some charismatic Christians.
- Started reading the Bible.
- Started attending the Anglican Church again.
- Spent a night in a Mexican jail and was released after praying to God.
- Started watching Billy Graham Crusades on television.
- Received a package from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and prayed the “sinner’s prayer.”
- Attended Heaven’s Gates and Hell’s Flames and responded to the altar call.
- Began attending a Pentecostal Church.
- Was baptized as a believer in the Pentecostal Church.
Do you see now why I usually say it is a long story?
At what point in this journey did I actually become a Christian? My mother was convinced that it was while I attended church as a child. I would say that it was sometime after I was an atheist and began to believe in God again. It did not rely on praying a “sinner’s prayer.” It probably was either in the Mexican jail or while watching Billy Graham on television (who can make a statement like that?).
What matters is that God was with me every step of the way and that I am now a follower of Jesus.
