While it may be true that generally speaking it takes a long time for a completely "pagan" person to come to a genuine saving faith in Christ, I think that quotation is looking at conversion from an entirely natural standpoint and is failing to take into consideration the power of the Holy Spirit. Some people may take 5 years, some people may take 50 years, but some people may take 5 hours. We have biblical precedent for fairly speedy conversions, such as the story of the Philip and the Eunuch. While God has chosen to work in and through human beings, ultimately it is the Holy Spirit that moves hearts to Christ, and the Spirit can work as quickly or slowly as He wants.

A great defense for a church with a lack of converts. Kind of like the Pharisees who Jesus said traveled over land and sea just to make one convert. I believe that a healthy, New Testament church should be growing steadily, if not dramatically.

As Luke says: Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

That was 3000 people who repented, were baptized and received the Holy Spirit in one day, not 5 years. Now I suppose the Pharisees could stand off to the side and scoff, saying that no one can become a convert in one day, that was just a consumerist decision.

Here are a few more examples from Acts:

Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.

So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.

Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

Whether it is Jews, who knew the old Testament, Samaritans who knew a little of the Jewish culture, or Greeks and Romans who knew nothing of the Jewish traditions, they were added daily in great numbers. One could say, that was a special dispensation for the early church, but the fastest growing church in the world is in China today among atheists and Buddhists, people who have no background in the Bible. Heidi Baker shows the Jesus film in the Mozambique villages in the bush, prays for healing, and entire tribes come to salvation at once and are baptized. Perhaps David Fitch has a different meaning of the word convert, new tests to pass, language to master. But Paul and Barnabas defended the brand new Greek converts to the Jews saying:

They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith....(after defensing these conversion to the church) The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted.

The quote mentions discipleship, which, IMO, is something many if not most American churches don't know the first thing about. At least they don't act like it from where I sit.

But I think the question being asked here is indicative of a problematic understanding of our own faith, these ideas of "conversion." Even as a high schooler I began to question, while working at Bible camp, the way the church and camp — Evangelicals, basically — went about "saving" people. Too much emphasis was (and probably still is) on praying the sinner's prayer, which to my knowledge is not Biblically instructed in relationship to belief. A person does not need to pray in order to believe.

Certainly faith is a process. Ralph Winter has a very interesting editorial in the latest Mission Frontiers (read it here: http://missionfrontiers.org/20... where he cites Jacob Loewen, one of the foremost missionary thinkers in his day:

"He deplored the Evangelical
doctrine he called 'Instant Conversion.' It is not as
though things of great importance, turning points,
cannot happen in an instant. It is rather the fact
that the Bible stresses far more a salvation that is
constantly being worked out, as in Phil 2:12. We
Evangelicals are thus often impatient and insistent
on knowing only what God knows about the state of
any one individual’s life."

I've been thinking about this topic a lot lately. How can we effectively bridge the gospel to person who has no biblical background. we must discuss this as the church.
On a side note, i posted today about how t-ball and new christians have so much in common. We need to be as patient with new believers as we are with new Christians.
You can check it out at http://tinyurl.com/6oawyf

Hi Chris, it took me about 12 months all up to make an informed decision to follow Christ. I was searching for something, then I met two groups of friends who were very committed Christians who really followed Jesus, I started reading the Bible and finally read a tract that helped me make my decision. The journey started alone and ended with some friends helping me to follow Christ. In my case it only took 12 months from being a "pagan" to being a follower of Christ.

NO! A thousand times no! An example would come from Acts 17. When Paul addresses the men at Athens (for the first time - without five years of building), the Bible records that "some men joined him and believed" (Acts 17:34 (ESV)). God does not give any time frame that it would take for the ignorant to believe. For some, it may take years. For others, it may come instantly. For me, it happened suddenly and unexpectedly. The key is to trust God's timing and let HIM bring the results. We are to proclaim the gospel - God will bring the growth when HE is ready.

Well this is a deep subject and I can say that throughout my life I was in and out of various churches for various reasons. It was not until I was in my fifties that I finally came to Christ with an open heart. Then again I still have trouble with the church or should I say the some of the people in the church. Oh don't get me wrong my love for God and Christ Jesus is the one thing that keeps me going day after day. A short story, the Pastor lied to me and about me, the district super ignored me and the bishop felt my pain. Nothing was done and I mean nothing about the situation and I left my church home because of it. I never left God and I talk to him everyday for guidance and love, but I still have that hurt inside. So, do I need more training in the gospel, more dicipleship programs, or do I need the love of God in my heart; I think you already know. In God's Grace John

That's a very romantic thing for someone who has been following Jesus for years to say, but not entirely Biblical (or well thought-out?).

"It is made based on the perceived immediate benefit." What a horrible assumption to make of someone. When I made that decision, I perceived next to no immediate benefit. I knew I would lose most of my friends, and I wasn't sure I believed in hell anyway so that wasn't my incentive. Maybe the decision is made because the Holy Spirit strikes someone's heart at the hearing of a testimony, or the witnessing of a healing.

"It does not lead to discipleship." If someone's decision does not lead to discipleship, then no, there was no conversion. But the decision that leads to discipleship is different from the process of discipleship.

What of Jesus' own disciples? They weren't post-modern, but they were mired in the law and still "totally foreign to the gospel." He was only with them for three and a half years. Perhaps He left too early?

And what of the man crucified beside Jesus? He asked the Lord to remember Him and Jesus told him that he would be in paradise that same day.

Conversion is a person deciding - in spite of the unknowns - that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and he's going to spend the rest of his life figuring out what exactly that means. Discipleship is the process of immersion.

That's a pretty depressing idea for those of us who do college ministry. I would have to say that the 5-year time frame isn't quite a reality at that point in life. Perhaps it is the fact that students are LOOKING to change their worldview anyhow or it's that they really can immerse themselves in a group that is completely focused on discipleship...

Interesting thoguh.

yea...someone hasn't read the book of Acts very well.