But Saved From What ?

Christians talk a lot about salvation. Some believers will speak of a specific date, day, and time they were ‘saved’. Others will tell you they pray regularly for family and friends to ‘get saved’. And you can’t be in church or Bible Study for more than 30 seconds before someone is referring to Jesus as our ‘saviour’. The language of salvation is more than a little familiar to Christians.

The same cannot be said for those outside the Christian fold. I’ve encountered quite a few non-believers who are somewhat confused, or at least bemused, by how we talk. ‘Saved from what’ they ask ? Sure, the world’s a bit of a mess, and life can be hard sometimes, but they cannot quite see that things are so terribly bad that humanity needs some kind of ‘saving’. What does ‘being saved’ mean ? Is it simply people being saved from a meaningless or directionless life ? Is Jesus merely the one who inspires us with meaning and purpose, or is there other stuff we need saving from ? From where the non-Christian sits, it’s easy to see how they cannot quite fathom just what it is we Christians seem to be so keen to be saved from.

It’s quite obvious to any reasonable and thinking person that not all is well with planet earth and the humans who exist upon it. The evidence is endless. Persistent war and conflict, ethnic hatreds, inequality, poverty, human trafficking, environmental decline, rape and murder, disease, pandemics, drugs, addiction, mental health issues, crime and corruption at the highest and lowest levels, self-interested leadership, oppression, loneliness, …. as I said, the list is endless. These are all things humanity needs to be saved from because time has proven we cannot save ourselves. We’d surely have done it by now if we could, …. or perhaps the problem is that we don’t really want to be ’saved’. And herein lies our problem.
The Bible is utterly unique in its teaching that such things are NOT actually what we need saving from. These things are mere symptoms of a much much deeper problem. We are a race in rebellion against our maker, and as such, a race under his righteous judgment and condemnation. Our biggest problem is not global warming or our corrupt institutions. Our real problem is the human heart’s rejection of the one true God and of his subsequent coming judgment. THAT’S what we need saving from, …. and THAT’S why our Mission Statement begins as it does.

Darrell Parker
Senior Minister