Salvation Is Not About You. (Part 2)

[Click here to read Part 1 of this post.]

For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.

These words, written by Paul to the Thessalonians, tell us a lot about our salvation. We are to "live together" with Christ in all we do, "whether we wake or sleep."

It's heartbreaking to see the amount of satisfaction and contentment in the lives of church members, at least in the "Bible Belt" anyway. I'll admit, while I've traveled to many cities up and down the east coast, I'm most familiar with mid to east TN. I write to challenge and encourage members of the body of Christ, but the ironic part of most of the articles on this blog is that even though it seems I'm writing to and about the church, it's me. Each of the questions and comments that are raised are to and about Brooks. It may seem that I'm hard on church members, but the reality of it is the Holy Spirit is being hard on me.

I'm happy with my house and wife and kids and our newly acquired boxer pup. I love the fact that I have cable TV, internet and a cell phone. As a music minister, I'm satisfied knowing that I have a career - though I'm never sure where it will lead.

I am the American Dream.

And that's what worries me.

Do I really believe that I'm to be "in the world" yet "not of it?" If so, why am I so attracted to the newest gadgets, the latest fads, the nicest ammenities? The problem is not necessarily in all those things, but herein lies the problem: I pursue those things which will all pass away, while rarely seeking eternal things. Salvation is not about me spoiling myself and my family, it's about the Kingdom of God. If I'm content that I make $25,000 / year and $24,000 of that goes toward myself, I'm afraid I might be missing the point.

I hate that there's so many social injustices in the world. But what if I am the social injustice?

I don't have enough MBs of storage on this website to get into all of the injustices that we face, but I hope that you see the direction I'm headed: Salvation that is satisfied in just coming to church, placing a little money in the offering plate, then eating with the family and taking a nap that afternoon isn't much to be excited about. I can make as many posts on this blog that talk about sacrificial living and put as many Bible verses on Facebook that I want, but it comes down to this -

Am I excited and ready to meet my Creator and Savior and tell him what I've been doing all this time I've been down here?

Salvation Is Not About You. (Part 1)

As a child who attended church services religiously (pun intended), I always wondered why my parents made me dress up so fancy each Sunday morning. I hated wearing dress pants with tucked in shirts and shoes that would scuff gym floors - in my "Sunday Best." I remember one Sunday in particular. I was grouchy and really didn't want to wear the clothes that my mom picked out, so I asked her, "Why do I even have to dress up for church anyway?" The reply was simple. "It shows God respect and you need to give Him your best."

Even as a child this provoked a lot of questions in my mind: Why don't I wear this stuff on Sunday night or Wednesday night? Does He only deserve my respect and my best on Sunday morning? Wouldn't God be a little vain if my attire changed how pleased He was with me? Am I not just washing the outside of the cup while the inside is still dirty?

Ok, I didn't really ask that last question when I was young. But Jesus did ask that of the Pharisees (Matt. 23:26).

I'm not saying that it's wrong to dress up for church or that you shouldn't dress your family nicely before attending a worship service. However, I do find it ironic that we come to a building, celebrating a faith of action, talk about ministering to the poor, serving those around us, loving the unloved, and doing for the 'least of these' - but before we can do any of the work we talk about in our services week in and week out - we have to go home and change clothes.

Then there are people who "believe the Bible - front to back," then drive to church in their $50,000 vehicles past streets with families that have trouble keeping their lights in their homes on. Is driving a $50,000 vehicle wrong? No. Is it if you only tithe $700 a year? You can be the judge of that. If you can't remember the last time you helped someone besides yourself out, yet you're indulging in pleasures of this earth (on someone else's or some bank's money), making it 'tight' for yourself each month, then I'm going to go ahead and say it. That's wrong.

My point is this: in my experience with local churches that I've attended and people that I've met throughout the years, there are a lot of confusing signals sent out. Now before anyone uses this article to bash the church and talk about how wrong it is and where it has messed up...that's not where I'm going with this. I believe that the local church, through the living power of the Holy Spirit, is the only hope of awakening. The reason is this - if local churches tap into the power of God and the work He's expecting of them, communities change. If communities change, states change. If states change, nations change. So, I hope that clears up any misunderstandings - I'm not bashing the church. I love the church.

Back to the confusing signals.

One of those confusing signals is salvation. I think it's become unclear what salvation really means in our culture. It's turned into a prayer that's supposedly changed many hearts, but it hasn't changed many lives. Which is very confusing, because with so many 'New-Testament' believers, we're not seeing many 'New-Testament' lives.

[Click here for Part 2 of this post.]