Salvation.

In all of my experience with Christianity, no other single word has been so misunderstood than salvation. I'm sure there are plenty of other concepts that just get the living spirit beaten out of them, robbed of meaning and stripped of their significance. But, from almost every encounter I've had with unchurched folks, salvation tends to be the most rejected of them all.

Alright, so, people get confused or don't care to understand salvation like I do. So what? I think it's more than a so what. It's a real, pertinent matter that affects quality of life, which is really just focused on the individual, and quality of society, which does extend beyond the individual but remains limited in its scope. Here are some reasons why.

• Salvation is about protection. This is far and away the most important truth. One of the fundamental questions in philosophy rests on this premise that one must decide whether they are the most powerful being in the universe or they are not and there is at least one or more more powerful beings in the universe. Now, most people would defer to the latter, but there are circles of thought which prove otherwise.
  
  If you think you are the most powerful being in the universe, I have to defer to God on that logic because only power can shake that deception and even in that case, deception may persist. On the other hand, someone who acknowledges a higher power at least leaves room for discussion. They acknowledge something greater than themselves. That is often a matter of identifying what they subscribe their fears and hopes to and working from there.
  
  In either case, salvation addresses the issue of protection. When Jesus offers salvation, he offers protection from God and our judgment for sins as well as the attack of the enemy in our daily lives. Many people who do not accept salvation basically reject the notion on the grounds that they don't need protection. They think:
  
  
  
  1. there is really nothing to be afraid of
  
  
  2. they can take care of themselves or
  
  
  3. nothing can be done about it anyway.
  
  
  
  
  In each of these cases there are specific responses that can deliberately and logically respond. But, I don't want to apply logic, I want to apply love. What is is about this person that they live in fear, the opposite of love, which prevents them from accepting there is something to fear. Is it because the illusion thre is nothing to fear less frightening than the reality itself? Or in the second case, is the idea of one being incapable of dealing with something too much to handle? Lastly, does resigning oneself to powerlessness justify it in their minds because they are a victim?
  
  There are a great many responses, lies in reality, people try to offer in defense of rejecting salvation, but, many of these are based on temporal perspectives. We all need protection. There are forces, visible and invisible, we have no control over. But, in accepting that God has control over them and He is willing to guard us, we are able to find safety from these powers. As clever as many of today's "secular" thinkers are, it's never very stylish to realize one day that you are in the middle of a field with no one around, completely vulnerable, waiting for attack. That's one of the most horrible feelings I can think of.



• Salvation is not lip-service. Salvation is a matter of actually living in such a way that one honors their beliefs. In another frame of reference, we have to line up with what God says about his ways in order for Him to protect us. In the gospels, Christ talks about people who know his name but who will not be accepted into the Kingdom. I don't want to be one of these people rejected for loving God with my lips and my lips alone. This means feeding the poor, being the last, willfully and joyfully praising God in all things, loving the unlovable, preaching the good news to the poor. Not a single one of these things is popular, easy or normal in today's world. We have to go out of our way to find Jesus in our lives, but, by going out of our way, we begin to get close to where the spirit is. He isn't in the middle of the TV most of the time. Why do you think sister Teresa was considered such a powerful force even though almost nothing she did made television.
  
  If it's public, it's often not something God is paying attention to. We need to help those in shame, in guilt, in pain, in lost, deceived places. How many people want those things to be exposed? How many people want to be ridiculed and rejected? Society frowns upon such things. It's the very nature of social life. People generally only meet to deals with needs and desires. Typically, common gatherings of needs and desires are exchanges between different groups. People in need, like the needs mentioned above, don't have anything to give, so, society, in the "social" sense, isn't interested in them. They require giving without expecting anything in return. Society, in its most basic tendency, aims to give in expecting a comparable or superior return to the thing given, whether it's time, energy, thought, entertainment, etc.
  
  Lip service is often the way of most society, the church being no exception. So, I have to ask myself, what do I have to do in order to really love? In my mind I think of things that require me getting in people's lives. Look at Jesus, he went to people's houses, ate with them, spent time with them, told stories, listened, shared. They built experiences together. Jesus was invasive. I want to be invasive with my love because most people will not show you their woundedness unless you make it known that you want to help. At best, I want to do as Christ called me to do in Matthew 28:18-20. And I can't make any disciples without first teaching what Christ did worthy of learning. The only way to teach what Christ did is to do it. The didactic of Christ is action. Lip-service is possibly the greatest deception in all of Christianity and I can no longer pretend that this hypocrisy in my life is justifiable. He will not protect us if we don't do as he did, because that is the earmark of someone who is not one of his brothers.

I got somewhat lost in this because I am in a transitional place where I am trying to really get grounded in my life and move to a place where I am doing God's work. Waiting for tomorrow and letting people live out the rest of their daily demise without speaking up for Christ is just cowardice. I so rarely feel the opportune moments, the kairos, but, truth be told, I so rarely put myself in a place to feel whether a door is ready to open or not that I'm not doing what I know in my heart and spirit needs to be done.

Lord, increase my faith and courage that I may love you as Christ loved you. Open and heal my fearful soul that it will glorify you by reaching to the lives of others without reservation but will transparently and wholly give to others what you have given to me. I know that giving creates a greater capacity to give, so, Lord, let me give what you need me to give. Whether its time, love, coats, words of knowledge, money or encouragement, let me know what your will is and move into a place of powerful humility. Praise be to Jesus Christ, Yahweh and the Holy Spirit. Amen.