Conversion to Christianity is one of the biggest changes that can happen in a human life. Theologically, I would argue it is the biggest. Hands-down. Conversion reorientates loyalties, transforms demeanor, adjusts priorities. Other people notice, and it makes them talk.
Paul the Apostle wrote of how the conversion of a group of new Christians had made news in their region and beyond. These were the Christians of Thessalonica (in Greece). The story of the beginning of their church is horrid: it involved jealous antagonists and a riled-up mob hunting down the evangelists Paul and Silas. Paul and Silas were in hiding and couldn’t be found, so the mob seized other Christians instead (Acts 17:1–9). Despite this, some remained committed converts to Christ.
Paul wrote to them later and told them that their story had made news. Their reception of the gospel message had been “in spite of persecution”, and even more remarkably “with the joy of the Holy Spirit” (1 Thess 1:6). People far away from their town talked about the kind of hospitality they had given Paul and Silas (1 Thess 1:9a)––presumably of them hiding these men in their homes from the mob searching the streets.
Drama such as this aside, what is it about the act of conversion that is so noteworthy? Conversion implies a turning of direction, a change. It is quite drastic, even without circumstances such as those recorded in Acts 17:1–9. As Paul described it, there are three movements: turning, serving, and waiting (1 Thess 1:9–10).
First, they left something behind. These ex-pagans had “turned to God from idols”. The old gods of ancient Greece held no power or appeal. Family, friends, and neighbors notice when people give up their religion, their commitments, their habits. We might not have literal idols of wood or stone today, but we still know false faiths and the addictive quasi-deities of ambition, comfort, security, and pleasure. Christians are people who left these behind because they have found something better.
Second, they did this so they could take up something else. Rather than their old loves, they opted “to serve the living and true God.” Conversion involves committing to God, deeming him worthy not only of a switch in loyalty but of living one’s live in service to him.
Third, they were looking to the future. Their expectations lay beyond their life in the present because they had been taught to “wait for [God’s] Son from heaven.” Christian faith is an active and busy faith, but not one the supposes that everything God has promised us can be gained in the present. We wait––with endurance and patience––for the reward of our faith, the renewal of all things and the purging of all evil. These things are ours when the Lord Jesus returns.
Christian conversion shows our esteem for God. We have left old idols behind. We commit ourselves to his active service. We wait for the coming of his Son. These movements reflect the triad of Christian virtues of faith, love, and hope (see 1 Thess 1:3). When family, friends, and neighbors see these virtues active in our changed life, they see our high regard for our heavenly Father and bring glory to him. Remember Jesus’ words: “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).