Stage One - Conversion to Christianity (1992)

The beginning of an incredible spiritual adventure

Welcome to Tuesdays with Doctor G. where I am sharing the story of deconstructing and reconstructing my spirituality from a rigid and harmful Christian orthodoxy to a radical and open spirituality.

This is Stage One - Conversion to Christianity and where my life as a Christian began in 1992.

Introduction

I became a Christian in 1992, in a charismatic Foursquare church in Los Angeles, the church of heaven of course, and a denomination founded by a woman. When I came to Boston, and later entered seminary, I was shocked to learn there was a debate about the role of women in ministry.

What was the debate, exactly?

I had just come from a denomination founded by a woman, and a church where female pastors and prophets ministered routinely. I didn’t get it, where was the controversy?

Back to my story.

In 1992, I had what many would describe as a born again experience, like the one that Nicodemus couldn’t wrap his mind around in his encounter with Jesus one night (John 3).

I had a dream, and I was trapped in prison or some kind of military camp. I knew in my heart that everyone here was going to die later that night. As I ran away from my captors, and hid in a small office, I could hear my heart pounding in my chest.

And I was terrified.

Suddenly, I heard a voice call out, Gustavo, Gustavo, like we often hear about in those famous call stories in the Bible. In my dream, I immediately identified the voice as God’s. And the voice said something like, “Trust in me and I will save you from death. Do you trust me?” I immediately said yes, and when I woke up, I felt like I had been converted in my sleep. I also felt that something profound had happened to me, as if I had been rescued from a sure spiritual death.

At that time, I understood absolutely nothing about theology, the Bible, or doctrines. All I knew is “I once was lost, but now I had been found.”

My Spiritual Backpack

Every one of my priorities shifted after that.

I started attending church consistently and immersing myself in the faith. A few weeks in, I remember listening to Pastor Jack Hayford of the renowned Church on the Way in Van Nuys. He stated firmly, “If you are a Christian, you tithe. End of story.” From that day forward, I committed to giving 10% of my income to the church.

Here was the man of God, preaching from the word of God and I wanted to obey it.

Soon after my joyous conversion I was given a spiritual backpack; something I would need for my spiritual journey.

There were three important items in the bag:

The Holy Bible

The holy, inspired, perfect, and inerrant word of God composed of 66 books of the Old and New Testaments. I was later informed that this Bible was also my sword for my spiritual battle against Satan and his legions of demons.

This wasn’t in the fine print by the way.

Still, I learned that as long as I put on the full armor of God, and prayed fervently for spiritual protection, a la Frank Perretti (and for you youngsters, you’ll have to look that up), I could defeat the plans of the enemy.

Method of Interpretation

The second element in the bag was a particular approach to interpreting the Bible. In seminary we call that a hermeneutic. How do I read, interpret, and apply this Bible in a modern context?

My method of interpretation was more literal. God said it, I believe it, that settles it.

Orthodox Doctrines

The third element in my bag was a series of doctrines. I later came to know these as orthodox Christian doctrines. These were beliefs I had to accept if I were to call myself a true believer. This included the Trinity, the virgin birth, the divine inspiration of the Bible, and the belief that Jesus was the only way to God, among others.

I accepted these doctrines without question never once inquiring as to their validity or how they had developed.

At the time, I had no sense of the emotional and spiritual weight this “backpack” would carry. Over the years, the Bible—along with its interpretation and doctrines—became the defining measure of what it meant to be a Christian.

What Did I Believe About the Bible?

After my conversion, and for seven additional years, I was a strict inerrantist. The Bible was the perfect and literal word of God, without error or contradiction.

Thus, I believed everything in the Bible was literally true and that the events that were narrated there happened exactly as they were described.

In other words, God had formed the earth in seven days, he did send a worldwide flood to destroy all of life on this planet, and there really was a lake of sulphur where God’s enemies (and the unsaved) would weep and gnash their teeth for eternity.

I also believed in the worldview and in the picture of spiritual reality presented in the Bible. For example, the apostle Paul writes that every person on the planet is under the dominion of Satan, if they're not saved. Indeed, the whole world is under the control of Satan according to Paul and many other New Testament authors.

What Kind Of Christian?

At this stage of my spiritual development, I was a very conservative Christian.

I remember when I was visiting my future wife (Rochelle) in Boston before I relocated, and she was having a Halloween party at her house, complete with costumes and everything.

I had only been converted three years prior and had been taught that Halloween was a party for Satan and his demons. That’s why our church had a Harvest Festival instead, to give kids the treats, without the “Satanic tricks.”

That day I was helping Rochelle tidy up her apartment, and 5-6 five friends strolled in with big smiles, each carrying a six pack under each arm. I was incredulous. I was going to attend a party for demons, serving drinks for demons!

Rochelle and I disagreed so sharply on this issue that we had an epic argument in the parking lot of the airport as I headed home. It was the first of many clashes caused by my newfound and very strict ideology I had inherited.

Conclusion

For the first seven years of my faith, I didn’t reflect too much on the Bible, my Christian faith, or the conflicts that they engendered here and there. I loved hearing pastors preach sermons about it and I delighted in group Bible studies. Eventually, I learned to play guitar, and began to lead worship for our young single’s group and at a juvenile detention center sharing my testimony (since there were many hispanic youth there unfortunately).

I was happy and fulfilled. I belonged to a vibrant and outward focused community.

But within a few years of my conversion, all of that changed dramatically when I met a girl over the phone.

Til next time.

Gustavo

P.S. I would love to hear from each of you. Did you connect with any part of the post more than other parts?