What does it really mean to be a Christian? One of the themes we are talking about in the Pastor’s Fellowship is how the form of our gospel presentation sometimes replaces the content. The assurance of being a Christian doesn’t come from knowing that a hand was raised or a prayer was said, but by the assurance of the Holy Spirit through what we know is true, what we believe, and how we live. Pastor Joel Taborga is a member of the Pastor’s Fellowship and his testimony reminded me that we need to be careful to remember what the substance of the Gospel really is.

Joel is from the small ranching town of Desengaño in the lowlands of Bolivia. Both of his parents are Christians and Joel attended church with his family as long as he can remember. When he was 6-years-old, his Sunday School teacher taught about the story of Paul’s shipwreck from the book of Acts. Joel remembers how the story deeply moved him—he decided that he also wanted to be a missionary like the Apostle Paul.

Six years later he attended a church retreat. Pastor John Suarez (another seminary graduate and a leading pastor in the lowlands) made an impassioned call for each one to receive Christ as his or her personal Savior, and even serve as a pastor or missionary. Joel raised his hand and indicated that he wanted to become a Christian and a missionary.

When Joel graduated from high school in 1997, the door opened for him to study medicine at the university. His uncle offered to pay all of his expenses, but Joel had no peace about it. He remembered his previous commitments to serve in Christian ministry and enrolled at the Bible Seminary. He soon was asked to pastor part-time at Iglesia Nueva Antioquía (north of the city in Villa Candelaria) while he continued his studies at the Bible Seminary.

On the outside Joel was excelling in ministry and at the seminary, but he had no peace in his heart. He felt defrauded and hypocritical. He knew how to preach the Gospel, but whenever he preached about a change of heart he knew that his own heart was not changed. He loved the things of the world and felt little concern about his sinful habits that he could not seem to get control over. He didn’t smoke, dance, or drink, so everyone considered him to be a good Christian, but he knew that he wasn’t.

It was at this time that one of his seminary professors spoke to the students in his class from John 10 about what being a Christian really means. This professor invited the students to his house to get to know the students better and spoke to them about the peace that comes from Jesus Christ and security of salvation for those that know him. When Joel returned to his room he got on his knees and with a broken heart asked God to forgive him for living a lie. Joel believes that although he himself had often repeated the words of the Gospel he never understood what they meant until that night. He says that was the moment he truly became a Christian. All that went before was just playing a part in front of others. From that day forward his life truly did change. His previous sinful habits brought him no pleasure and when he did fall into sin, he felt a conviction and sadness in his heart that he had never felt before. His sense of a call to Christian ministry became even deeper.

Since his graduation from the Bible Seminary in 2002 he has served as pastor in several churches in the Cochabamba valley. Today he serves as co-pastor in Iglesia Primero de Mayo (First of May Church, named for the neighborhood where it is located) and part-time religion teacher in the Primero de Mayo high school on the south side of the city of Cochabamba. Please pray for Joel as he juggles many different responsibilities that he would grow into a deeper and closer relationship with the Savior.