I Got Saved!

What is salvation?

Growing up I viewed salvation as my golden ticket to an afterlife version of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. I sang song’s like, “This world is not my home, I’m just a-passin’ through…” Experiencing the New Birth was a result of the ultimate cost-benefit analysis: ‘Get Saved = Go to Heaven, Refuse = Go to Hell.’ The Christian life was composed of an act of Salvation, followed by adhering to all the rules; then riding out the rest of your life, holding on to principles of holiness, maturity & evangelism until the end. Why? Because that’s what it was all about.

It never surprised me when people waited till their deathbed to give their “lives” to God. I, for one, made it my periodic goal to get into Heaven with as much Hell in my life as possible. I gave because it was supposed to multiply my cash-flow. I prayed because I needed to have relationship (I didn’t want God to tell me “Depart from me, I never knew you”). I witnessed because it was the right thing to do & I did not want people to go to the lake of fire. Life was built on black & white suppositions. Life sucked.

I lost my faith at Seminary, I left my God shortly after.

After a while, by God’s grace, and the love & prayers of the incredible, true Christians in my life, I came back around. But I had to reassess this approach to salvation. When I did, I realized some things.

I realized our system is broken. It’s not working. Divorce rates are much higher among Christians than any other group, religious or not (1). In general, our souls might be saved but our lives are not. This raises a question. Is this the Gospel Jesus went everywhere preaching? A gospel that ‘s good for later, but not right now? A gospel that saves the soul in eternity, but leaves the life here & now in ruin?

This approach is strikingly similar to that of the Gnostics, who believed that we are souls and our flesh & bodies are merely vehicles of sorts. Their idea was grounded in Greek Philosophy, not Scripture. If you listen closely, this same idea saturates much of our preaching. This doesn’t sound like the words of Jesus to me. Isn’t this gospel Jesus preached, good news for my life here & now, as well as Eternity?

There are other areas that showed me our approach to salvation is weak. Firstly, because it was not how Jesus approached the subject; secondly, because salvation had come to mean something entirely different to us than it did to the early church.

Today, we approach things from a consumer-individualistic slant. We hook people with a gospel of personal salvation built on self-interest, lure them (along with their time & finances) into our churches to be involved in ministry, and hope & pray they see a need for world missions.

Jesus’ approach was much different!

According to Scripture, Christ enters human history with saving love for the entire world. Out of that love he calls a people, then invites you & I to be a part of it. Redemption. Reconciliation. Recreation. This is the point. And we wonder why it’s hard to get people passionate about doing gospel work…

In the creation poem we see a world of harmony, in which relationships between Humanity & God, Humanity & Creation, and Humanity with Each Other, are fruitful and self-sustaining. The poem goes on to tell how these relationships were broken. Mankind rejects God. Man seeks his own and ignores his neighbor. We destroy creation. Things are falling apart.

Into this broken world, God sends His son to bring change. The central message of the Gospel that he preaches is Love & Otherness (but if we are not careful we center it on self). The aim of Christ’s Gospel is reconciliation: “To wit God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself….And has given us the ministry of reconciliation…” (but if we are not careful our aim is celestial-escapism) Our calling is not just getting people to stand in line for their tickets to cross Jordan; our calling is bringing order to chaos, healing to pain, reconciliation to every relationship: God, Others, Creation.

This goes to the very core of the issue.

Step outside of modern America for a moment & think of salvation from a Hebraic mindset. When salvation was spoken of in the OT, it was referring to salvation from enemies, sickness, and oppression. This is not to say they had a low view of resurrection. Resurrection is a very real hope & reality for every believer. This IS to say that the EMPHASIS on salvation was more focused on the here and now: Salvation that begins in this life.

We see this exemplified in the fact that Jesus taught on things like how to use our money more than Heaven & Hell combined. We see this in His prayer for God’s Kingdom to come & His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven. We see this in the testimony throughout Scripture that Gospel Proclamation, received in faith, resulted in tangible, drastic life-transformation.

Salvation works here & now...

Our definition of salvation…our self-defined “Whole Gospel” simply does not.

We are guilty of malnutrition. We feed our children their daily dose (& sometimes more) of Vitamin C, but we neglect Vitamins A & B, Iron & Potassium, Phosphorus & Calcium. Then we weep for them as their lives & marriages fall apart before our eyes and attempt to comfort them with visions of a better life in heaven.

We take the “whole gospel to the whole world” in places like Africa, where hundreds of our brothers & sisters receive Christ and are filled with His spirit, and then we leave them in their poverty & pray they stay strong in their faith. Doesn’t the good news have something to say about their poverty as well? Didn’t Gospel proclamation always accompany salvation with healing and attitudes of sacrificial giving? Are we really delivering the whole gospel to them?

And isn’t salvation a process? Doesn’t it begin at faith & end when we have made it to the other side and hear the words, “Well Done, my good & faithful servant”? Yes. It’s a process of growth & maturity, identifying more & more with Christ, taking up our cross & following Him until we trade it in one day for a crown. Salvation is as much about this life as the next.

I got born again, again.

This time it wasn’t an emotionally-charged tongue-talking experience (although, I must admit, nothing compares to that marvelous moment when humanity touches deity and that relationship is restored). This time it was a rebirth of purpose; a reckoning of my previous ‘Christian’ lifestyle with a new direction – a new focus – a new life. For the first time, I began living this abundant life I had heard so much about. I tasted and saw and wanted to share that God was good.

Salvation became tangible, palpable, and dimensional. I saw it at work in my hands & feet. I could hear it in my speech & feel it in my heart. I saw it march boldly into my relationships. I was a better father & husband. I cared about things like obeying the speed limit. I felt pricked in my heart when I started to litter. I felt a drive toward social justice…not just giving money, but getting involved physically. I wanted to change my world, to help relationships, to restore & rebuild. I was a new creation that wanted to re-create. I had been reconciled & now I wanted to reconcile the world around me.

I was saved.

I am still being saved. God is still at work redeeming parts of by life. My eyes are being opened to areas that have long been blind-spots. God is taking me back to places of pain & failure in my past that I have tried to forget & He’s redeeming those moments. He's redirecting my future. He’s bringing all things under His rule & reign. Each day He’s becoming more & more my God, and reconciling more & more of me to Him. Life is new, free & abundant.

All that to say this: Salvation is holistic. It is for your whole person. It is for your whole life, past – present – future. It is for everyone you come in contact with. It is for the whole world and should spill-out, everywhere you go, from your overflowing vessel. Salvation is God at work in time redeeming all things to Himself. Jump on board & enjoy the ride!


*1) Study by The Barna Group: http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_dira.htm