I’ve been sitting here for I don’t how long, staring at the word “salvation.” Inside of salvation is saved – it’s the noun for a verb. Objects, like money, or concepts, like time can be saved. But when people are involved, we are almost always saved from something (saved from fire, from drowning, from making a mistake).
And here is where I think there’s been a major shift in our church-talk.
Take a minute. When you hear salvation, what do you think others are talking about being saved from? Now, a different question: what scares you the most, in the deepest part of you? What is it you really want to be saved from? And are those two things the same?
For a long time, people’s “salvation concern” was to be kept safe from hell, however hell was pictured in their minds. Or perhaps it was some assurance of what would happen after death.
But now I wonder if that’s what motivates most of us when we feel ourselves drawn toward Jesus. I hear more about knowing I can make a difference, or that my poor efforts to be a decent person matter, or that I need to know I’m not alone in my hopes and fears, or that someone will care when I’m sick or lonely or afraid. I need to know that there’s more to life than this mess I see in front of me.
I wonder what would happen if we learned to talk about the deep fears and needs that push toward God and the church, and how being in relationship with God – and with the church – help us grapple with those fears and needs. Maybe then “salvation” would once again be living water to a thirsty world.
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