SALVATION EXPERIENCE?

Lately I've been thinking quite a bit about the process of salvation. Partly because I'm in relationship right now with someone who is dying of bone cancer but who may - or may not - be saved.

In some ways I can see God working in my friend's heart. I can see my friend responding to my prayers. I hear my friend affirm that he knows that Jesus loves him, and that my love for him is reflective of that same love. But is this enough? Does that mean anything? If my friend died tonight, would he be welcomed into God's loving embrace?

I don't know.

But this conversation makes me wonder. What does salvation look like? Does someone need to pray a prayer or affirm certain doctrines in order to be saved? If so, what about the thief on the cross? He wasn't baptized. He wouldn't have been able to clearly explain to anyone what the Gospel was, but Jesus affirmed his simple act of faith was enough to ride shotgun with Jesus into paradise that very day.

For that matter, I started to wonder something else. When did the Disciples get saved? Can we pinpoint their conversion experiences? I mean, was Peter saved when he threw down his nets and followed Jesus on day one? Or was he saved when he affirmed that Jesus was the Christ, the son of the living God? Or was he saved when he denied Jesus three times? What about when Jesus asked him to feed his lambs? I mean, do we see any point in the New Testament that resembles a conversion experience for Peter that you and I would recognize? What about the other disciples? When did they get saved?

On one level, I know that this inability we have to pinpoint the moment of salvation is partly why Jesus commands us to not judge one another. Why? Because we're really not very good at it.

If you and I were next door neighbors to the Rich Young Ruler, we'd have sworn that guy was going to enter the Kingdom of God. But when Jesus makes him the offer, he walks away with sadness. He can't do it.

If we lived next door to the thief on the cross, we'd have sworn that criminal, low-life scum would never have any cheance at redemption. And we'd be wrong.

Only God knows our hearts. We can barely know our own hearts, much less the heart of someone else. So, if we're commanded not to judge one another's salvation, how can we really know either way?

In all of this I do admit that my frustration and anxiety about my friend is largely selfish. I want to know that he is saved so that I can rest easy. I want to know that my investment of time and energy with this friend wasn't for nothing.

Would I still have served and loved this man knowing his ultimate decision might not ever be known to me? I think so. Over time I've really, genuinely grown to love this gentleman. He's like a part of my family. He's a part of me. His death will affect me deeply, regardless of his eternal condition.

I may not ever really know whether or not my friend Robert is saved. For now, I will continue to serve him, and to show the love of Jesus to him, for as long as I can. I know that God is the one who ultimately deals with each of us individually. I can sow, another can water, but only Jesus gives the increase.

I trust my friend into the arms of Jesus, and I trust my Lord is faithful and true. He is a loving, kind, and giving Father who judges fairly. If nothing else, I can trust that God loves him more than I do, and that God is good.

Amen.

kg

DESTROY THE (CHRISTIAN) SUBCULTURE

by Keith Giles

I've come to the conclusion that the Christian Subculture is evil. I want to destroy it. I want to choke the life out of it and watch it die. I want to strip the skin from its bones, shake the life out of it and break it into tiny pieces.

In the past I've written articles that express the dangers of the Christian Subculture, and it's no secret that I cannot stand Christian Radio, and have zero tolerance for "Jesus Junk" such as sanctified breath mints or t-shirts that christianize popular logos and advertising (see "Bud Wise Up" or "Lord's Gymn" for example).

The Christian Subculture prevents the breaking in of the Kingdom. It inhibits the Gospel message. It paralyzes the followers of Christ by isolating them from the people they are supposed to love and interact with on a deeply intimate level.

About a year ago I realized that my passion for deconstructing the popular "Churchianity System" extended beyond mere dislike. As I began to fully understand how insidious it really is, I resolved to dedicate myself to its demise. I am now fully convinced that someway, somehow, the entire thing needs to be knocked down with a very large hammer and burned into oblivion.

I have always wanted to have a "Burn Our Christian Crap" session where christians could bring the symbols of their involvement with the Christian Consumerist Monster and we could all stand around and sing "Kumbaya" together while we tosssed our "Lord's Gymn" tees and "Carman" Cd's and other idols to materialistic spiritualilty into a giant bonfire, in homage to those horrible youth group parties where teens were forced to burn their Van Halen records and Rush albums (because they were "secular").

I've come to the radical conclusion that there is nothing secular. There is only the world we live in. This one, right here (look around you...yeah, that world), and nothing more. God created the entire world, and it's a fallen world I agree, but there is no "Sacred" or "Secular" division to this world, other than the artificially constructed one we've created to keep ourselves safe and comfortable and far away from "those evil sinners over there".

Another big revelation for you? We're all sinners. You. Me. That guy over there. Yeah, we're all evil. We all need Jesus. Not just those who don't attend your church or who vote Democrat or who read Harry Potter. All of us. Look it up, it's in the Bible.

So, at the moment, all I have is the fire in my gut, the passionate resolution in my belly, that I hate all things "Christianese" and I long to assist in the complete demolition of this man-made evil.

Now, to be honest I have no real idea what that actually works out to in the real world. Let me be clear; I am NOT advocating the wanton destruction of Christian bookstores; I am NOT organizing petitions to shut down Christian Television (although I'd probably sign a petition if someone sent me one); I'm not calling for people to light torches or assemble in protest...but maybe it would be good idea if we just simply tried to escape the pseudo-reality of Christian Subculture? Maybe we could just start living in the real world, as followers of Jesus, without seeing those imaginary boundary lines between "Us" and "Them"? Maybe we could talk to people and befriend them, and love them, regardless of whether or not they were Christians? Maybe we could stop seeking comfort and shelter within the invisible walls of our own safety zones and start realizing that we live in this world, the real world...the ONLY world, and begin living as Salt and Light to those around us?

Jesus prayed for us, those who would follow after Him, in this way: "My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one."(John 17:15) It was never God's intention to take us out of the world we live in. Why have we decided that it's ok to take ourselves out of the world?

Paul the Apostle also agreed on this point when he wrote, "I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world." (1 Cor 5:9-10)

Have we left this world for some virtual, "Clean World" where everything is Christian? Do we have to get our Christian Milk from a Christian Cow? Do we have to freshen our breath with Christian Mints? Do we have to drink Christian Soda and bowl at a Christian Bowling Alley?

This idea of withdrawl from the culture is evil. It is not God's plan for us. It is the fruit of our own sinful, selfish desires to be safe and comfortable, and in some cases to make money and perpetuate an industry. It is demonic, and it hinders the Gospel message by isolating the agents of change (you and I) from those who need "the hope that lies within", and I want nothing more than to see it die a horrible, agonizing death so that God's people can begin to learn what it means to be human and start relating to other human beings who are sinful and hopeless without Christ, just like everyone else.

The Christian Subculture is essentially a wall that we build to keep ourselves from the world. Like the Berlin Wall, or the Great Wall of China, or Hadrian's Wall, or the wall between Palestine and Israel, it is an artificial border designed by us, the supposed followers of Jesus, in order to isolate us from the ones we are commanded to love.

Jesus would want us to smash down that wall. It's the same wall built by the money changers in the Temple at Jerusalem which kept the common people from entering the house of God. Those systems were also man-made. Those systems also invovled making a buck on the sale of faith and the commercialization of God's name.

I'm not sure where to find the hammer big enough to knock down this wall we've built, but I long to find one, and when I do I will let it swing.

Keith
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NOTE: THIS IS A BLAST FROM THE PAST WHICH I'VE UPDATED AND REPRINTED HERE FOR YOUR EDIFICATION.