Salvation

Today in Bible Study, one of my students wanted to know how they could know they are saved. They love the Lord, they said, but couldn't understand how to be sure they were saved. (This conversation started, BTW, in a workshop I did a coupla weeks ago. I asked people if they were saved, why they thought so, and how they could explain the process to someone else).

Wow. What a conversation ensued! We discussed our thoughts about salvation, and discovered we aren't all as clear as we'd like to be. I, for instance, happen to believe that Christ's shed blood is shed for all, and that it's not dependent on anything I do or don't do. Of course, that doesn't guarantee that I'll get into heaven; that does depend on what I do or don't do -- or does it?

If Christ shed His Blood for the remission of my sins, then nothing more is necessary. If that's the case, doesn't that sort of make me a Universalist? It would, I think, if I believed the salvific process were limited to a discrete point in time. I don't. I don't believe that salvation is an event, or that it means we are automatically saved from sin and therefore we get an express ticket to heaven, as long as we repent of any subsequent sin we may commit.

I believe that Christ's shed blood saves my soul from suffering the consequences of sin. I'm saved from the law which demands my (spiritual) death. That's what Jesus has done for me and for everyone, and that's the beginning of the salvific process. But I have free will. I'm free to accept that salvation or reject it. It's still there, available to me, and not dependent on me, but if I don't want it, it wouldn't be forced upon me. I think some of the confusion comes up in this idea of rejecting or "losing" our salvation. The question is whether our actions could impact our salvation.

I think perhaps more than our actions, our intent impacts our eternal salvation. The student used the example of the self-righteous people who profess to be saved, but whose lives suggest they have not learned to love their neighbors. If they believe with their hearts and confess with their mouths, are they not saved? Don't we all exhibit actions that are less than perfect?

The answer to both questions is a qualified "yes." There is a process of "sanctification" that goes on. That "sanctification" is our growing in Christ, our Christian maturity. We may confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts yet still behave like knuckleheads -- if the salvific process is going on in our lives, the time will come when we examine our behavior, are convicted, and will resolve to do better. This is the process of Christian growth, of sanctification.

I don't believe it's enough to simply confess with my mouth and believe in my heart. I think that belief, for me at least, has to result in some sort of transformative action. Saved from what? To what? How does my salvation change me? It changes me because it strengthens my soul to become ever more aware of my complete lack of merit or ability to enter the Kingdom on my own. The salvific process assures me that, despite who, how, or where I am, it's not where I was yesterday -- it's (prayerfully) a bit closer to the heart of God. Or at least it should be.

At the end of the day, at the end of my time here on earth, I don't think I'm going to be judged absolutely. I think God is going to judge me, not on the curve, but on the Cross. God's gonna look at all the crap I have done and continue to do, but God's still gonna have mercy upon me because Jesus has opened the door to make that possible. Even if I act like an idiot, as long as I'm a bit less of an idiot today than I was yesterday, and I'm the best idiot I can be, I believe God will have mercy on me.

Of course, I won't ever know for sure in this lifetime. I can never say "I'm saved," with any force that approaches absolute-ism, because the salvific process is not completed until I die. And no, I don't believe I can do anything to lose my salvation, but I could choose to reject it. (I think. I'm not really sure about that. But if I have free will, it seems that God would not force me to be saved).

I had a thought. Even though the scientists say it's just chemical activity in the brain, many people -- people of faith and people not of faith -- people who've had near death experiences say they've seen a white light at the time of their "death." Some approached the light and were given the opportunity to return; some did not. Perhaps, at the time of our death, we get a chance to Walk in the Light and to embrace the salvation offered to us, the salvation that will become complete when we leave our body.

That's what I believe about salvation. But there are a lot of different views on salvation. As I study them, mine are definitely closer to those of Orthodox or Catholic understandings of salvation than they are to Protestant understandings. At the end of the day, though, they are all rooted in the power and sacrifice of the Blood of Jesus.

Saved? Yup, by the Blood of Jesus. But it's an active verb; I don't get to stop there. Being saved just means m soul is not automatically condemned to Hell. The process is ongoing. I'm continually BEING saved, over and over again, growing in spirit, and groaning on towards perfection.

My cheeks hurt from grinning...

Yeah, I'm officially excited. Ninety six hours from now, I'm scheduled to be in the air, headed to Rome and from there to Cairo. It'll be my second time to Egypt, second time to Jordan, and third to Israel/Palestine.

As much as I am happy to be going back, I'm also aware that I'm on a tour and will be seeing places I've seen before. Thankfully, it's a very small group, so there may exist the possibility for me to go exploring a bit on my own, especially since I intend to buy local sim cards for my phone and will be able to stay in close communication with the group leader.

So as amazing as the trip is, or as I'm expecting it to be, that's not what has me grinning. What has me grinning is the realization that God has blessed my life with such abundance. I mean, I'm the unplanned high school baby who almost interfered with her parents' graduation. Yet I've managed to have some of the finest education the world can offer (Milton, Duke with a stint at Oxford, T-Bird, and NYTS. They're all cutting edge in their fields).

I almost drowned as a kid, and now I swim regularly. Until recently, I'd never taken very good care of my body, yet have managed to survive breast cancer, diabetes, arthritis, and a host of other infirmities. Fortunately, the idea of regular physical exercise was implanted in me early, even though I never followed through on it. But it makes it easier for me to prioritize things now, and easier to stick with some of the choices I make: nah, I don't especially want to go to dinner and a movie with you. But let's move together -- let's go for a swim or a walk or something.

 

 

And I'm especially grateful for the discipline of physical exercise, since I've recently been blessed with an automobile. I didn't have to pay a penny for it, and only have to pay to park it at home (if I choose) and put gas in it. I was walking back from the drugstore earlier and passed by a crowded bus. It hit me how INCREDIBLY privileged I am to have use of this car -- and the fact that it's a hybrid helps me to maintain remnants of both social and financial integrity. It seems that for driving back and forth to work, church, and the gym, traveling from site to site, and running errands, it uses about a quarter tank of gas per week. So I fill up every payday, whenever it hits half a tank, or whenever I remember. I'd had the car about three months before I could remember what side the gas tank was on. Oh, and filling it up from halfway costs $30 - $40, depending on where I am (Jersey is significantly cheaper for gas, but since the tolls have gone up, if you're not already in Jersey, it's not always cost effective).

But all my blessings aren't material, by any means. When I'm driving in the car, I hook up the iPhone to the car and play Pandora through the stereo system. That has made me stop my thoughts about buying Sirius or XM radio; this is free, and has less commercials. So even though I'm driving around and having moments, praising God and getting happy in the car, I'm still very much the carnal person, as evidenced by my response to traffic. It just brings out the worst in me. Sometimes I can be calm and soothed by the sound or substance of the music I hear, but it seems I'm not mature enough to get past rude drivers, even though I can often be one. I can be as impatient and unforgiving (and as resourceful) as the worst New York drivers; but I'm also having moments of intentionality, where I focus on treating others as I'd like to be treated. I still have lots of work to do there.

In my rational moments, I'm very much aware of the fact that I, who have been spared by God's grace, am not even able to be gracious to my fellow drivers. Quite a humbling realization. As I grow in grace, I become increasingly aware of how my actions reflect my professed faith. It's not just about realizing the disconnect between what I say and how I drive; it's about realizing, as Pastor Morgan Guyton, in his "Mercy not Sacrifice" blog, reminds us: that "my brokenness is what qualifies me to love and serve other broken people." He also reminds me that "my passion can turn into arrogance when I don't have enough loving friends around to call me out." I resonated with Pastor Guyton's statement that he's learning to be "less ideological and subordinate everything else that I believe to trusting in God’s love." That's what I needed to be reminded of.

Pastor Guyton talked about how some of us substitute a sort of "trolling for Christ" for evangelism, because we effectively show other people how they're wrong and we're right. I haven't been doing that with evangelism, but I have sorta been doing that with my church. Yes, my church has some serious issues, and yes, I speak on and want to address those issues, but when I read Pastor Guyton's blog, I got a little convicted because it got me to thinking. If I criticize my church without being part of the solution, am I not also guilty of the sort of self-affirmation that we Christians often substitute for the Good News?

It just got me to thinking. God has been SOOOO incredibly good to me. Wouldn't it be a great thing to share that joy with others, unconditionally, unqualified, without adding in the "buts" and all the other exceptions?

This may not make a lot of sense to anyone but me; I was deeply moved by Morgan Guyton's blog on "Trolling vs. Evangelism." It got me thinking. My whole life should be about evangelism -- sharing that Good News. I wonder how much of it, intentionally or not -- is, effectively, about trolling?

Another area for growth. In the meantime, I'm still grinning, and hoping you are, too!

OK, Wait....

Occupy Wall Street is gaining momentum, which I think overall is a good thing.  But wasn't it started by a bunch of 20-somethings who were complaining that they had recently graduated and couldn't find work?  And didn't they largely organize through social media?
 
I'm just wondering how many of those young people used Macs, and contributed to Steve Jobs' billions, or used PCs with Microsoft products and contributed to Bill Gates' billions.  I agree that huge corporations should not be treated as people and should not have unfair lobbying or tax advantages.  But wouldn't an effective way to send a message to those huge corporations be to stop using their products?  Are we making the connection that we, as consumers, drive the culture of greed that has produced the mess we're in? Or is it OK to drive the culture when we're consuming products we like?  Is it OK for Jobs and Gates to be billionaires because we like their computer products, but not OK for Wall Streeters to be millionaires because we don't like or understand their money products?  But didn't we, in many (but not all) cases use those money products and incur debt that helped make the WallStreeters or Jobs or Gates wealthy?

Going back to the youngsters.  And it's not my  intent to pick on them, but as I see them enter the  third (?) week of protests and it's only now starting to have a direction, I can't help but wonder if these are kids who've lived sheltered lives, playing sports where "everyone wins," and going to schools that don't give grades or that pass you for being able to write a sentence in marginally-intelligible English.  It seems like we've raised up a generation that's been incredibly coddled (the pre-school admission process at birth, the helmets, the general overprotectiveness that includes a lack of taking risks, the failure to point out areas for improvement and the constant encouraging, even in the face of weaknesses) -- I can't help but think we've raised up this generation that's oblivious to the forces of a competitive market and now that they're in it, they find themselves not only unprepared, but completely unable to cope (um, I went to school.  I studied art and nature.  How could you grade that, man?  I graduated and now I deserve to work.  I'm not prepared for the workforce and can't compete with some folk who have prepared, so I'm going to protest.  Against what, exactly?  That some people have had to work for things and you've had everything handed to you all your life?)

I know the above does not characterize everyone in the Occupy Wall Street Movement.  In the past week I've seen or posted pictures of librarians, WWII vets, and an 83-year-old woman, all of whom were part of the #occupyWallStreet movement.  I'm not arguing with the fact that rampant greed exists, and is encouraged and rewarded on Wall Street.  I'm suggesting that it's not just the Wall Streeters who perpetuate that condition; it's all of us.  WE are the ones who assumed debt we knew we couldn't handle before the collapse of the housing market, but we want to make them the bad guys for having made us the loans.  They were making a buck, yes, but our greed fueled theirs.  And vice-versa. It is a malevolently co-dependent existence, that of the American penchant for consumption and American corporate greed.

Now we want to sit back and make them the bad guys, but what do we bring to the table?  What part do we play in the solution?  How are we willing to adjust our patterns of obscene consumption in order to change the norms that allow these injustices to happen?  Yes, some people in the occupy Wall Street movement are searching for a sustainable economy -- but what does that look like?  What happens to the entrepreneur?  What do you do with the person who's a loyal functionary for 20 years but shows little growth or incremental productivity?  Should they merit the same reward and compensation as one who's a real go-getter?  How is this decided?  Without the market forces of supply and demand, what sort of economy are we projecting? We're already seeing the effects of artificially altering the parameters f the supply/demand relationship.  If artificially imposed limits are imposed, if the pendulum swings in the other direction, then what happens?

Yeah, America realizes there's a problem.  We're quick to point the finger at others, but we need to remember that when we point a finger at someone, there are three fingers pointing back at us.  Rather than occupying or changing Wall Street, what, other than protest and complain,  is each of us prepared to do? 

It's great that we are concerned enough to #occupyWallStreet.  But don't the folk who work on Wall Street go home to Main Street?  I think we need to look at the values we encourage and embrace on Main Street. I mean, maybe I've become a conservative in my old age, but look at this: our kids don't respect their elders.  They don't even respect themselves enough to get completely dressed before they come out of the house.  We don't get along with our neighbors (most of the time we don't even know them). We've turned our backs on the God of our understanding, We are contemptuous of and can't agree on basic family values.  We've taken God out of our schools and our daily lives.  We use "God" as an excuse to exact hatred upon those who are different from us.  We're so afraid of offending anyone's religion that we fail to practice our own.  It's like we're a ship that's lost its rudder and is just going around in circles trying to find a direction. 

So as much as Wall Street is a symptom of the problem, it's not the CAUSE of the problem.  The cause of the problem is that, along with our direction and our way,  we as a nation seem to have lost our collective mind.  Until we find that mind (and I am reminded here of the assertion that the root of religion is from the Latin ligare, or to tie or bind together) until we find that mind, it won't matter if we #occupyWallStreet, or #occupytheWhiteHouse, or #occupyCongress -- if we cannot collectively occupy some baselines of civility, concern, and caring for one another, then we will never again occupy our collective "right mind."  Or anything else.

Good Morning, God

I'm sitting here at my desk, about to be overwhelmed at all the things on my plate, so thought I should just stop everything and talk to you for a minute.  You know, God, even in the midst of my complaint, I want You to know how very grateful I am.  When I acted like a fool, You kept me.  When I strayed from the fold, You kept me.  When I got confused and thought I was the author of my destiny, still You kept me.  When sickness attacked my body, You kept me.  When drugs consumed my being, You kept me.  Through no merit of my own, and simply by Your grace and divine pleasure, You've brought me out of some dark days into the bright light of today.

So I'm grateful, and I need to say all that, and look back on all those victories, as I face the challenges ahead of me.  Because today I have to care for people who are not in their right minds.  Today I have to care for people who are afflicted in their bodies.  Today I have to care for people who suffer from crushed spirits.  Today, I have to care for people who have believed the lies of the enemy for so long, that they've started to behave like the him.  I wish I could say that it's Your influence that governs the way I deal with them, but the truth is that I'm legally bound to treat them in certain ways. 

God, I'm ashamed to admit that when I should be running on the Overflow of Your Grace and Mercy, I still am trapped in the box of my human perceptions and reactions.  That means that I get upset when people behave, as humans will, in ways that I perceive as stupid, illogical, or unreasonable.  Despite all the mercies You've shown to me, I tend to forget them when I deal with other people.  I often feel like the guy who was forgiven his debts, and then tried to force his debtors to pay him.  Why do I fall short?  Why do I take my blessings for granted?  And why, God, do I try to behave as if I'm controlling things when I know that everything in my life is under Your Divine Control?

Writing works for me, so I thought if I sat down and wrote for a minute, it might help.  It might help me to deal with the woman who's lost her job and is now full of shame, regret, and remorse.  Perhaps I can turn a sympathetic ear to her instead of an accusing tongue.  Maybe writing will help me to deal with the people who are busy plotting for position.  Perhaps I can begin to understand that their motivations may be rooted as much in fear as they are in greed. 

God, I believe you've given me a double portion of wisdom, so now I'm asking you for the knowledge, understanding, love, power, and self-control that will allow me to apply it in a fashion that reflects who You are in my life.

Again I thank you, God.  I'ma go now -- the folks are calling me.  Just because I stop writing, though, I hope you won't stop being beside me, being that Ever Present Help -- not in my times of trouble, but in my everyday life.  You've given me all this stuff, and you've given me a mission to help others.  Order my steps, Lord.  Guide my feet, Lord.  Wash my heart, Lord.  Bridle my tongue, Lord.  Empower me to reflect the You in me.

I'm feeling Your love right now.  Thanks.

Death and Cancer

Why is it that these two topics make humans so uneasy?  Isn't everything that's born going to die? Is not death a natural part of the cycle of life?  Before I go any further, I want to say Rest In Peace, Steve Jobs.  The title of this blog was going to be "iHeaven, iHell, iJesus?" but I think Jobs was Buddhist.  One can't help but wonder, given his work in life, what his eternal status and legacy will be, and if he will have an influence on the Heavenly Host.

But I digress.  I was talking about Death and Cancer.  I'm thinking about it because of a NY Times article I read, here.  It talks about how hard it is for doctors to discuss the impending death of a patient. Why?  Doctors, God bless them, even with their egos must realize their inability to resolve every issue put in front of them.  Why, after all these centuries of organized Western medicine, is not the realization that one is unlikely to have a positive outcome -- or that one is likely to die, soon -- why is that not part of the process?

I gotta go move my car and tell a whole staff why their boss and supervisor will not be returning.  Perhaps I can identify with the doc a bit more:  I have two people who engaged in conduct they knew would result in their termination.  They made those decisions.  So how come I'm feeling sad that they'll be unemployed?  go figure.

More later, I hope...