Conversion and the "Sinner's Prayer"

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conversion, evangelism, mike king, youth ministry

Mike King, author of Presence-Centered Youth Ministry (one of my recent reads, and highly recommended!), recently pointed towards an article at Christianity Today titled "Jesus and the Sinner's Prayer," written by David P. Gushee. It took me a day or so to get around to reading it, but since I've been doing some thinking and scribbling (or typing, as it is) about evangelism and conversion lately, I made a point to read it. And there's some good stuff here. I don't agree with everything in the article, but it gives some Scriptural voice to how I've been thinking about belief, salvation, conversion, evangelism, etc. lately. It isn't a recent thought or topic for me; instead, I'm finding myself getting engaged with the topic directly and it feels good. Kind of like stretching the ol' theological legs.

Here are some clips from the article:

Is it permissible to reopen the question of salvation? If we do, how will Jesus' teachings stand up to our inherited traditions? ... In reading through Luke, I had discovered that twice (10:25, 18:18) Jesus is asked, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" ... [Jesus] offered a fourfold answer: love God with all that you are, love your neighbor (like the Samaritan loved his neighbor), do God's will by obeying his moral commands, and be willing, if he asks, to drop everything and leave it behind in order to follow him ... Jesus never taught easy believism. Whether he was telling the rich young ruler to sell all and follow him or telling a miracle-hungry crowd near Capernaum that to do the work of God was, yes, to believe on him (John 6:28-29), he called people to abandon their own agenda and trust him radically. Radical trust calls for both belief and action...

For clarification, the two passages in Luke are the lawyer questioning Jesus about what it takes to inherit eternal life and the rich young ruler asking the same question.

So, some questions: how does this interact with the use of the "Sinner's Prayer" and the evangelical understanding that all one must do is "believe on Jesus" to be saved? Many people claim (and I believe them) that they have an over-the-top, incredible, one-time conversion experience that causes them to believe, repent, and "get saved." But what comes next? And is that the real question - have you said the Sinner's Prayer and accepted Christ into your heart? The Gospels seem to be saying that's not the only question.

Comments would be great - perhaps we can get a decent discussion going!