One surprise I had about the church in Romania was that evangelicals are called repenters. I think there is something to be learned here. Let me explain...
I have friends, mostly younger than me, teenagers whom I met through the church or that I taught guitar. Some of these have gone off to university and have wandered away from following Christ. The very sad thing is that I expect it. Because it was true for me I expect it to be an experience that most will bear. Kind of a testing time. A time of sewing "wild oats." Even the Amish have the time of Rumspringa. I wondered about that in Romania.
I worked with some unusual teenagers. These boys were there for translating mostly but David, Alex, Dani, Cosmin, Narcissus, and Roland spent a good bit of time being wheelchair mechanics. I liked them all right away. "Narcheeze," as I called him in my poor Alabama dialect, showed me around the local mall and spoke easily in very good English about his plans for medical school. Roland is moving to Seattle and wants to become an architech. David loves computers. They all knew the Bible. In our down times I would drill them. Easy questions at first, "what was King David's great sin?" and then harder ones, "who was the disabled boy King David brought into his home and why?" These fellows knew most of the answers. They were respectful to elders and opened doors for ladies. On one night's hike Dani walked slowly, away from all of his friends who were up ahead, to assist our writer Jody who had no idea she would be walking up and down a hundred steps in the dark to witness a Stephen the Great fortress.
I worry about teenagers. I wonder if all of them have to walk away from God to see if their faith is real. I spoke to Sammy on my last day about this. Sammy is with Evangelism Explosion and lives in Bucharest. He helps with Joni and Friends events as well. Bucharest Sammy told me the Orthodox church is like the "state church" in Romanian. Almost to the extent that to be Romanian is to be orthodox. I heard many problems with the orthodox church. A different Sammy, Suceava Sammy who helped us with translation, told me that many years ago his father started to read the Bible. He was orthodox like all of his friends. When he found things in the Bible which didn't line up with orthodox tradition he went to the priests and asked questions. They told him, "that is not our tradition. If you believe that you are pentecostal." Suceava Sammy's father said, "I don't know pentecostal but if they believe the Bible I suppose I am one!" Both Sammys told me that when someone comes to Christ they are called repenters and face ostracism right away. Some face it in school with their peers and some face it on the job. To be Romanian is to be orthodox. To walk away from orthodoxy is, to some extent, to declare allegiance to another besides Romania. Exactly what Jesus calls us to.
Both Sammys helped me to see that for Romanians to embrace the gospel of Jesus involves some hardship and persecution. Bucharest Sammy said this is why they don't fall away when they go off to university. They have been tested. They know what is required. They have repented.... they are repenters.
If God should bring difficult times upon America I believe repenters will stand, only by God's grace, and nominal Christians will fall away. There are so many thorns and not a lot of depth of soil in the hearts of people who experience abundance and ease. To be challenged about our faith, even a little bit, is at that time a crisis point. Will we speak the truth and testify to Jesus Christ as the light of the world or will we keep our mouth's shut? We will exclaim humbly yet with boldness that Christ Himself said he was exclusively the only saviour?
Repenters. Difficult to be one but oh so necessary.
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