When the Church first started, people started calling this peculiar group of people "Followers of the Way." People didn't know much about these people, all they knew is that they lived in a way that was totally different than everyone else and that they were offering people a whole new way to live. And this bothers me because...
Are Christians, in our days, offering people a whole new way to live?
Or...
Are we just offering them the "you're saved" title and a promise that one day "you will be in heaven"?
We the Church have not shown this world another way of life. Most Christians look pretty much like everyone else...they just sprinkle a little Jesus in whenever they need it. The question we need to answer is...
What are you saved for???
I am convinced that Jesus didn't come just to prepare us to die (sit in the pew till heaven comes), but to teach us how to live.
People are looking for a new way to live their lives and that's what Jesus offered. Jesus didn't touch the leper so that the leper could say, "I'm saved" and attend Sunday School. Jesus touched the leper so that the leper could dance--so that he now could live a whole new way of life. A life that is abundant (John 10:10)--one full of forgiveness, freedom, grace, and love. That's what being "saved" is all about--it's loving our God for this new life that He offers and loving our neighbor so that they can see that new life that He offers.
"There is salvation in no one else! There is no other name in all of heaven for people to call on to save them." (Acts 4:12)
You see, in the Greek, "saved" means..."one"--to be made one again. Cause aren't we all broken inside? Don't all of us know what it's like to have our lives shattered? Don't we all need someone to pick up our pieces and put us back together again?
Isn't that what Jesus did--put our lives back together and make us whole (one) again?
And since the Church is His Hands and Feet, aren't we suppose to go out into the world and pick up all the broken pieces in people's lives and show them that Christ can put them back together again?
Salvation is more than the sinner's prayer.
Salvation is more than "with every head bow and every eye closed."
Salvation is more than raising a hand.
Salvation is more than just heaven.
Salvation is being made one with God again and living in that oneness to the point that this world wants to be one with God too.
Cause we all want to be whole
Cause we all want to be one again
Cause we all want to be saved!!!
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Sources
The Bible
UnChristian by David Kinnaman and Kyle Lyons
True Story by James Choung
Irresistibe Revolution by Shane Claiborne