The Journey (BCM)

In our first meeting I shared about how I met my wife April, some of the details of our relationship, and how we came to decide to get married. Like most people who eventually decide to marry, we have a story to tell. In some ways, each person’s relationship with God is like that of two people who decide to get married. Rick Richardson, in his book Reimagining Evangelism, compares marriage with conversion (or deciding to say “I do” to Jesus Christ; meaning to commit your life to following his lead):

“Marriage is the culmination of a process that includes friendship, courtship, meeting the family, engagement, a marriage ceremony and a honeymoon night….So conversion, like marriage, is best seen as a larger relational process with milestone events along the way. There is the decision to become intentional in the spiritual search. There is the decision to get to know more about Jesus and to begin to try to relate to Jesus. Often someone has to “pop the question” of commitment. And then there is a crisis moment of decision to trust and commit oneself to Jesus as forgiver and leader. But the parallels don’t end there. As in marriage, there is a public declaration of the mutual commitment before the community. In Scripture, this public event is always baptism. That leads to beginning to build the relationship and make a life together” (pp 132-33).

During our discussion time, the following question was asked: Anyone who is married has a story to tell about the start of his or her relationship that eventually led to the decision to say “I do.” How would you describe the “I do” moment in your relationship with Jesus Christ?

What was your discovery phase like? What was the ah-ha moment like when you realized “this is what I want,” not because anyone else wants it for me, but because I want it and I’ll do anything to have it? Coming to Jesus is like a marriage in this way. In romantic relationships, people are attracted to each other, they spend time together getting to know every detail of each other’s lives, they share stories and commit themselves to each other, they value and honor each other, and eventually one or both decides “this is the one. I’ll sacrifice anything to have and keep this treasured relationship.”