BEING Saved
So, here is an interesting thought I heard sometime over the summer: salvation in the early church was not about going to heaven.
And that’s a rather bizarre concept to those of us who grew
up in evangelical churches which were ALL about getting people to heaven. Pray
the prayer and receive the get-out-of-hell-free card. It may come as quite a
shock to many of the churched from my generation, but those first people to be
called Christian would probably be confused by what is labeled as The Gospel
these days.
I mean, yes, they were aware that when they got “saved”,
they would end up in heaven after they died. But that was not why they chose
Jesus as their Lord. It had very little to do with where they were going to end up for
eternity. They were grateful for that gift, of course, but that wasn’t the
focus.
This was a rather foreign concept to my well-churched young
self. And I’m still working on understanding it. It’s tough because we have to
walk that scary little line between working OUT your salvation, which Paul
exhorts us to do, and working FOR your salvation, which is not the idea at all.
Consider, for example, the spiritual disciplines – practices
known for centuries but made popular again by people like Richard Foster. These
are practices that shape who we are in Christ. But we sometimes turn them a
checklist to earn our spot at the heavenly gates. And that’s very much not how
this works.
That said, I admit that I find the spiritual disciplines
fascinating . . . but a bit formal and stuffy in how they are usually
presented. I find myself looking for ways to “put on Christ” that are more ordinary.
More real-lifey.
Like, smiling. Intentionally. Not the cheesy, fake smile we
are so familiar with, but looking for the positive in things and feeling
genuine appreciation in that. And then allowing my face to express how
appreciative I am. Is putting on a smile putting on Christ? Of course! Believe
it or not, I bet Jesus smiled most of the time.
Another one: talking to God casually and frequently. If we
are encouraged to refer to the Almighty God as our Abba Father – that is, our “Daddy”
– I suspect that means talking to him like a daddy. Eating cheesecake and
saying, “Oh, Jesus! This is SO GOOD!”—just like I would say to a friend sitting
by me. Seeing the mass of wasps hanging around the garage door and saying, “Good
grief, Lord! Where did those come from? What do I need to do about that?” And
then listening. Hearing about the marriage struggle my friends are having and
immediately – just as if he were standing there hearing it with me, which he
is – saying, “Oh, Father – help them. HELP THEM. Help me help them.”
Again, that’s Christ-like. Yes, I’m sure Jesus prayed the formal prayers
he was taught in synagogue – but I also believe he shared a joke with his heavenly
Daddy quite frequently, too.
One more real-lifey spiritual discipline: Choosing to do the
difficult right thing rather than the easy wrong thing. Specifically.
Intentionally. Making the decision ahead of time and then just doing it. I’m
not going to open that app on my phone today. I’m just NOT. I’m not going to eat
dessert after lunch and I’m not going to have two desserts after dinner. End of
story. (Yeah, that one’s an “ouch” for me.)
That is a means for becoming like Christ. For shaping who I am in Him. For BEING saved.
I’m still going to heaven even if I eat three bowls of
chocolate chips before I go to bed. (And thank you, Jesus, that I am, or I’d
really be in trouble.) But that’s not the issue. The issue is that when I eat
those chocolate chips, I’m giving in to desires that are not God’s desires for
me. Those are desires that Jesus died to save me from – not in heaven, but here
on earth. He has better for me. Yes, Gwen, there are better things than
delicious dark chocolate chips. And God is longing . . . ACHEING . . . to give
them to me RIGHT NOW if I will give up the lesser things.
Father – Daddy – save me. Not someday . . . save me now. For
you. From myself. For your glory.
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