Conversion looks different for everyone, and all stories are unique. That being said, there seems to be some general milestones which lead unbelievers to belief, conversion, eventual entrance into a faith community, and continued growth in the spiritual life. I've identified seven significant steps along this road that I think tend to be the marks of a convert to the Faith.
1) Curiosity
Grace provides the seed of faith that comes from God alone. It is the initial spark that nudges the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts to pick up the book of Isaiah and start reading (Acts 8:28). We may wonder, "what is this religion all about?" or "why do these Christians do the things they do?" It is what quietly nudges us to listen to a street preacher or sit with the discontent we feel when we build our lives around material things in the quiet of night or thumb through a bible in a hotel room.
2) Exposure
Exposure stems from curiosity. While a seed has an initial latent storage system inside it's shell, it is the air and water that helps with the conditions to sprout. Seeds buried in the ground initially sprout in darkness. When Philip encounters the Ethiopian, he asks him if he understands what he is reading. "How can I, unless someone explains it to me?" (Acts 8:31) This is an encounter-stage. It can come when we are taken aback at the beauty and reverence of a grand cathedral, or are humbled by the awesomeness of the natural world, or see a sister washing the puss out of a sick man's wounds.
3) Example
If exposure is the air and water, example is the sunlight which allows a to unfurrel. When a seed germinates and breaks through the soil, it soon needs light or it withers and dies." No one hides their light under a bushel basket, but put it out for all to see" (Mt 5:15). Paul exhorts the church in Corinth to "be imitators of me" (1 Cor 11:1)and sets himself as a visible example of what it means to be a Christ-follower because they had few examples to follow. We walk in the footsteps of the Lord, who is invisible, and follow the examples of those who follow him in Truth and Light.
4) Truth
I liken the Catholic faith to a heirloom seed company. They are in the business of Truth. The seeds are original stock, which have been passed down through the centuries through trusted hands, it's genetic makeup intact. GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) seed have been tampered with, changed, mutated. They resemble the original from the outside, but they are counterfit, adapted to achieve certain seemingly-desirable characteristics.
5) Faith
Faith is a free gift (Eph 2:8). It is a available to all. But it is a gift from God Himself, nonetheless. We cannot earn it. We also cannot please God without it, for "without faith it is impossible to please God" (Hebrews 11:6). It is the culmination of conversion, the fruition of its work. "I am the Vine. Apart from me you can do nothing" (Jn 15:5).
6) Sacraments
Sacraments are food for the soul that help us to grow strong in our faith. They are an outward sign, instituted by Christ, to impart grace, that help us resist sin and walk fearlessly on the narrow path to salvation.
"Unless you eat the flesh of the son of man, you have no life within you." (Jn 6:53); "Unless you are born of both water and the spirit, you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven" (Jn 3:5); "Unless you repent, you will likewise perish." (Lk 13:3)
7) Community
Community is the micronutrients, minerals, and trace elements in the soil. One does not live in a vacuum, the myth of complete self-sufficiency. We exist in a web of interdependence. We build on the strengths and talents of others to make up for deficiencies. There is a diversity in the church, and in community--real community--that is healthy and strengthens and encourages us. Without it, our fruits are nutritionally and spiritually deficient.
Like many converts, I am--even now, almost twenty years later--acutely aware of where I came from: ransomed from death by the blood of Christ on the cross, a slave to sin, a captive set free. I literally cannot imagine a life apart from the one who saved me, and now know what the Psalmist means when he says, "Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere" (Ps 84:10).
Nothing tastes like freedom when you have not been free, for "if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed!"
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