This week welcomed The State of Origin back onto our TV screens in Australia for another year. This is Rugby League’s annual best-of-three Queensland versus NSW that started in the early 80s.
As a Sydney sider, I’m happy to report that NSW took out the first match.
An interesting point about the match was that there were no conversions. After the tries that were scored, the follow up 2-pointer kick went begging each time for both teams.
I always find the word conversion interesting. For me, it has a strongly spiritual connotation, for obvious reasons.
No conversions on the football field is one thing. But no conversions on the evangelism field is definitely another. And sometimes, in our current society it can feel like a lengthy drought in that department.
But I know that God is always in the business of bringing people closer to Himself, little by little even if it doesn’t seem like it.
Whilst it’s often hard to believe it, God knows exactly what he’s doing with his timing and plans and purposes. This includes when he brings people from death to life, from outside of his kingdom to inside the door.
Some conversions throughout history have had a dramatic impact on Christianity for the better. Think of Emperor Constantine, reversing the trend of the persecution of Christians and Christianising the ancient world. His vision that he attributed to God brought him success in battle, changing his spiritual compass entirely and the world around him.
Some conversions are rather expected. The person has been going along to church for some months or years and suddenly the penny drops. The Holy Spirit rushes in enlightenment, everything finally makes sense and the person is reborn. Whilst unsurprising, such conversions are still utterly amazing and worthy of celebration. For who knows what wonderful changes will be wrought to the world around this new convert? There are wonderful changes to their own life as well.
Some conversions are entirely unexpected from our human perspective. A person has seemingly shown absolutely no interest in Christianity, perhaps even been vocally outright against it. Yet suddenly they take a 180-degree spin and find themselves walking the path of Christianity. The Apostle Paul is one of them.
Alice Cooper is another. Known for his ‘shock-rock’ and the stereotypical lifestyle of rock and roll, Cooper had a complete turn around when he was miraculously healed of his alcoholism whilst in hospital. He credited Jesus for taking his addiction away and hasn’t looked back on his faith since.
Cooper’s perspective is a helpful one I think. He reportedly said the following:
“Drinking beer is easy. Trashing your hotel room is easy. But being a Christian, that’s a tough call. That’s rebellion.”
Too true.
We often think about the wonderful change in a person’s life when they take on Christianity as their personal belief system and decide to follow the teachings of Christ.
However, we should frequently remind ourselves that when we take on this spiritual conversion we have actually switched sides on a rivalry that is far greater than the one between Queensland and NSW (which is supposedly Australia’s greatest sporting rivalry).
The State of Origin is nothing compared to the spiritual battle between God’s Kingdom and the Kingdom of darkness.
That’s why it’s often a battle just to get from one kingdom to the other. That’s why all conversions are great.
And that’s why, once we hit the point of conversion we have to remind ourselves that the game isn’t over yet. We have to keep up the fight as the rebels that we have become.
Yours in rebellion,
Alison
