(e)mergent Voyageurs

When I was very young, my parents sent my to Vacation Bible School run by our family church, an Evangelical Covenant Church.  While there, I learned about Jesus.  I learned that He loved me very much and that, in order to save me from my sin and from the consequences of my sins, He died on the cross, paying the price for me.  I was taught that, to accept this free gift of salvation, all I need do was "ask Jesus into my heart".

Growing up in a good Christian home, this language of sin, salvation and being "born again" was very familiar to me, even if I didn't understand it fully.  My belief in God was simply a matter of acceptance, a trust I placed in the people I loved, who raised me that it was truth.  Yet, this week there was something clearly different about the presentation.  Even at my young age, I knew that they were looking for me to respond to the invitation.  And so, one night before bed, I asked my Mom to pray with me.  Kneeling by my bed, I accepted Jesus as my Saviour.

Despite the fact that this happened more than 25 years ago, I remember it like it was yesterday.  It was a significant moment in my life, something I cherish deeply to this day.  I mark it as the first and most significant milestone on my journey of faith.  That same small church still supports me, prays for me and loves me as I seek to follow God as I believe He has called me to serve Him.

It will come as no surprise to those involved in the emerging church conversation (from either side of "for" or "against" divide) that the issue of salvation has been a hot topic.  In all honesty, some of the current discussions about the atonement go right over my head (one of the reasons I'm very curious about Scot McKnight's new book), so if asked I probably will share a fairly "traditional" understanding of the topic.  From my understanding (and in simple terms) I believe that our salvation was purchased for us by Christ suffering, death and resurrection.  As a Christian always learning, I am open to understanding the strengths and weaknesses in the nuances of my beliefs, but generally that is where I stand.

However, without diminishing in the slightest the genuine nature of my childhood experience, I have also come to see how the methods and language that we have adopted around the evangelistic process have resulted in well intentioned, but often flawed influences.  While I believe in absolute truth and that propositions are important in our understanding and proclamation of the Gospel, if we make them the primary or exclusive means of expression, I believe we can rob the Gospel of its deeper meaning and power.

Further, I think the emphasis on the evangelistic, salvation experience can become distracting from the purposes of God for His followers if we "camp out" on them.  What I mean is that, if the sum total of our faith is getting people to say the sinners prayer or ask Jesus into their hearts, we miss the fullness of what God intends for us.  These salvation experiences should be to our faith what a wedding is to our marriage, a holy, inaugural encounter with God's grace.

Some have said to me that there is nothing more important than people entering into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Despite my critiques of individualism in our culture, I still believe that we indeed enter into a relationship with God on a personal, individual level.  However, we do so through our dying to self and resurrecting into His Body.  As Christ identifies His Church as His Body, we see that our salvation is more than just personal.  Further, we see clearly that we are called into submission under His Lordship because He has purposes for us, individually and together.

Jesus says He is the Truth.  He does not simply know or understand the Truth (though that is certainly an important aspect).  Rather, I believe that Jesus was demonstrating that Truth has its greatest power and authority when it is personified.  The person of Jesus is the incarnation of Truth- Truth made manifest in the spirit, soul and body; in the mind, will and emotions; in every facet of His being.  In the same way, as we are called to be like Christ, called together to be His Body, we are called to incarnate Truth in the fullness of our lives (something not achieved by merit, but by grace alone).

In this way, then, to preach the Gospel, the Good News that is a guiding theme through all of Scripture and encompasses more than just offering humanity a "Get Out Of Hell Free" Card, in word only, without the manifest authority of the incarnational Truth, sells the message short.  To this end, justice, love, beauty- all these thing must find expression in the fullness of our "proclamation".

So does this mean that the very simplistic, well intentioned, but limited message of the Gospel that I received as a child was without worth?  Of course not!  But for the grace of God nothing we do would have any impact, regardless of the accuracy of our propositional doctrines or the authenticity of our missional communities.  As we seek to serve God more authentically, as we attempt to better understand the how and why of our faith, let us not make the mistake of dismissing or devaluing the work that God has done in the past.  Someday we will be held to the same standard and our own human failings will shine as obviously to our children as our parents mistakes do to us.