The fork in the road...

Today while completing my school application for Southwestern I was asked a series of interview questions pertaining to the field and study that I wanted to go into. One of the questions I was asked is what I will be discussing bellow. The question is as follows...

-Explain your decision to follow Jesus Christ as Lord.

Now, you are probably wondering what is the big deal with this question, I mean why is Chris writing the very first R3 post on this question right? Well to be honest I have no real reason for making this the first post other than the mere fact that I decided to. So you probably should not read too much into it...

But, I will say this...

I thought this question was a complete misrepresentation of what Jesus has so supernaturally done in my life. You see when the recruiters of the seminary asked me about my decision to follow Jesus I could only assume that they meant, why did I decide or choose to trust in Jesus? Now before I go off on a tangent... I would like to note that their might be a slight possibility that the school was referring to after my salvation. But if this was the case they really should have clarified (now back the point). I feel that this was a complete misrepresentation to what Christ has done in my life and it belittles God himself. You see, I guess I could have answered the question by stating that every day I wake up and do my Christian work out starting out with a hardy bowl of Fruits of the spirit loops followed by a set of righteous push up's, a nice couple of laps around the neighborhood and a firm sturdy decision to follow Jesus because its the right thing to do here in America but this just is not the case. I could say that everyday when I come to that Fork in the road were one has to make the decision to do the right thing or the wrong thing, to sin or to serve God that I muster up enough strength to do the right thing. But once again this just is not the case. This "decision" to follow Jesus really is not a decision at all and to say it is just takes away from, steals even, from the most wonderful event that has happened to me in my life. To be honest with you when I come to that fork in the road of life and need to make a decision to be a sinner or a servant, to choose God or Satan I unrelentingly would always default to sinner instead of servant if it were not for the irresistible glory of God. If this magnum decision of choosing Jesus or the world was truly up to me I would never do what was right. You might say then that I am just too weak willed and I honestly would have to agree with you, I am. If it was not for the Holy Spirit in me ever drawing me closer to the finish line I would never make it to the finish line. It is because of Him inside me; it is because He turned my heart of stone into a heart of flesh that I am able to see Him. You could say that it was a true act of God.

I also desire to make it clear that when you claim that your salvation is a decision made on your own account you have belittled God's most amazing display of love which was Christ's sacrifice on the cross. If Jesus’ act of sacrifice to reconcile man was made for just those who made the right decision, how trivial would it have been? Would if no one chose to, or would if one day I did and the next day I did not. Would we just have to hope that the day I die I chose God...? And these are simple surface level questions...

To answer their question directly I would have to say that the reason I decided to follow Jesus was because I had and still have a deep burning conviction to do so. It is because my heart has been captivated by the most compelling Truth of all existence.

Thank you and may God cause you to have a deep hunger for the things of righteousness

C.Sortini

If you would like to read my actual response to the application question I have added it bellow.

1. I feel that to properly answer or to explain my decision of following Jesus Christ one would have to look into the recesses of my heart and soul and from there you will be able to really understand this decision. You see my decision to follow Jesus was and is in my opinion less of a decision and more of a supernatural event. I found that before I served Jesus I had a desire for the things of the world. I was concerned with money popularity, my future and how I would make all these things come to pass in the way I wanted and saw fit. I was materialistic consumed with how I presented myself, how I looked and what people thought of me. If I would have been honest with myself I would have seen that life was about me and what I wanted. Although I knew Jesus and did proclaim Him as my savior serving Him was not my priority. Presenting my body as an instrument of righteousness was not always my first concern. I put other things first before God they were Idols and in a place of preeminence. But God had His way in my life.

Even at a young age I had always felt and heard God’s call on my life to be in the ministry, to be a servant of God and specifically a preacher. Although I ignored this call and pursued my own dreams and aspirations there was nothing I could do to escape the providential hand of the Almighty God. In the midst of my sin and arrogance he captured my heart squeezing me dry of all the things that did not glorify Him. With love, faith, hope and the testimony of His son I was left wanting nothing else but Him and more of Him. Stuck in this paradox of hunger and satisfaction I desired and desire still nothing else other than Jesus and Him glorified. So ironically my decision to follow Jesus was not really a decision at all I was pulled out of the fiery pits of hell by the mere mercy of God. Every day I wake up compelled with a conquering irresistible conviction to serve God and although I am a sinner still I cannot and will not ever serve another. So to answer the question directly I would say that my decision to follow Jesus Christ is due to the fact that I can serve no other and do nothing else but serve Him.