What We Call It . . .

Have you asked Jesus into your heart?

This isn’t a gospel presentation; it’s a question about verbiage.

If you grew up in an evangelical church (or any church that does not baptize babies), I’m guessing there’s a good chance that it was explained to you as a matter of “asking Jesus into your heart”. Am I right? Particularly if you are at least a Millennial or older.

But a recent podcast made me wonder about that language. They were making the valid point that young children are very literal; this description of the concept may not be very clear. One of the podcasters said she’d gotten a question from a kid about whether Jesus can taste the food she eats if he’s living in her heart. Cute, yes . . . but maybe a bit concerning.

My kids told me that “asking Jesus into my heart” was the language they remember from their own particular decisions of faith (probably because they heard it from me and their dad). And they don’t remember being confused by it. But whether it’s confusing or not, I still doubt that it's the best way of describing this decision.

Because it is a decision, what we’re talking about here. A conscious choice, at least for most of us. I suppose there are some who were so steeped in the church world as they grew up that they’ve always lived in that relationship with Jesus and don’t remember making an actual “decision”. But even if you are one of those blessed few, I still think we all come to a point in our lives where submission and faith are hard, and we have to make a specific choice to make him Lord over even this situation.

Of course, “make him Lord” doesn’t sound quite right either. He’s always Lord. Hmmm . . .

One of those podcasters suggested that a better choice of words for children to understand may be about Jesus being King – that we make a choice to acknowledge him for who he is and submit to his kingship in our lives. I can get on board with this. It’s similar to “accepting Jesus as Savior and Lord”, the other most common bit of evangelistic lingo from my growing up years. "Accepting" is more accurate than "making." 

The only objection I have to this phraseology is that it makes it all sound kind of negative. It implies giving in and giving up. But maybe that’s just because we Americans find the idea of bowing to any king rather abhorrent. We’re a pretty cocky, self-sufficient lot, we Yankees.

The story of C.S. Lewis speaks to this misconception. It’s been a while since I read his autobiography, but as I recall, his coming to faith was a reluctant admission of the truth of who God is and the right He had to authority over his life; Lewis was not happy about this decision he felt obliged to make. Yet as the title Surprised by Joy tells us, he ended up finding out that submission to God was the happiest place to be.

And that’s what I’ve discovered, too. Which is one reason why I’m concerned that we find the best way to articulate this concept well. It's too important! Too many people see this just as a necessary but unfortunate move they have to make sometime before they die (the later the better) so they don't end up burning in hell.

Oh, no, friends. It's the best choice you can make for your life right now. Honestly! It's a bloody shame that is has been depicted as anything else.