What must I do to be saved?

The Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul
Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night, or first thing in the morning with thoughts, phrases, or ideas that won't go away...

One such phrase that has haunted me for the past few days - is a question that I'd call the Evangelist's favorite:

"What must I do to be saved?"

My gut reaction to that question when I was an Evangelical was to jump to the "Four Spiritual Laws,"or "Bridge," or some other formula for explaining why someone should, and how, to "invite Jesus into your heart."

These days I'm not so quick off the mark. I don't think that the question comes up very often, and even when it does, I'm not sure that the concept of "salvation" is what is used to be - or even if people really feel the need for salvation anymore. It's one of those terms that we need to re-invent for today - or re-discover in its original context.

In the first century most of the known world was under the dominant rule of either an Emperor or King. The concept of bondage was understood by everyone because life was organized under a hierarchy of rules, rule-keepers, and rule-enforcers. Added to this was the belief, or forced doctrine, that these leaders, both in the secular and spiritual realms were divinely appointed and therefore infallible. Therefore, they kept people enslaved, and to make matters even worse, the poorer the citizen, the lower they were on the hierarchy of rulers and the more subjected they were to the oppression and domination of their "superiors."

Into this world-view appeared Jesus of Nazareth, called the Christ by His followers. By all accounts a combination of wandering Rabbi and poor tradesman, Who brought a vision of life in a new kind of kingdom. The Kingdom of God - where love, justice and equality replaced intolerance, injustice and predjudice.

Jesus was not the first to bring this vision to the people. But He was the first to actually demonstrate what living in it would be like - to the extent that He chose to die to bring it about and, before the eyes of all who followed Him, He arose from the dead to prove that the Kingdom existed both before and beyond the grave.

Nowadays, most of the known world no longer accepts the domination of "divine" Emperors and Kings as normal or desirable. Ironically, the seeds of history that led to the spread of democracy and the downfall of this world-view can be traced to the teachings sown by Jesus into the hearts and minds of His followers.

Of course, it can also be argued that some of that seed fell on fallow ground, and through the actions of those that desired to enforce what I'd call a "fundamentalist" version of the teachings of Jesus - a lot of very distasteful things were done in the name of "preserving the truth." There is no defense for this action - but I will simply say that I believe that "Fundamentalism," both religious and political, has been one of the most devastating root causes of evil throughout history - whenever and wherever it rears its ugly head. Jesus ALWAYS stood against "Fundamentalism."

In the first century, whenever the Apostles shared the "Good News" of Christ's resurrection and the announcement of the arrival of God's imminent and transcendent Kingdom on earth they received a similar reaction:

St. Peter:
"Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself." And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation." So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. - Acts 2:36-41


St. Paul:
"And he (the Jailer) brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Then they (Paul and Silas) spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. " - Acts 16:30-33 (NKJV)

In the context of the world view of the hearers of the message, the news that a new Lord, truly appointed by God, and the hope of freedom from their slavery was available, generated an immediate understanding and triggered a heart-felt question: “What must I/we do…. to be saved?”

At the risk of approaching the border of heresy (but hopefully not crossing it) I’d like to put a spin on the message of salvation that would inspire the same kind of response today that it did then.

It seems that the big issue of Evangelism today is that of telling people that feel relatively free and comfortable that there’s a new King or Ruler in town does not compute. Today’s worldview, for the most part, is totally different. Especially for people that have been exposed to mixed messages or bad theological teaching, which, unfortunately, is so readily available today.

As a professional salesperson I’ve had tons of training in delivering messages – and one of the constants is always the need to tailor the message to the real perceived needs of the audience - this is not a trick – but a really important aspect of communication; making sure that people understand how what they’re hearing relates to them and what value it brings. St. Peter and St. Paul, like their teacher and Master, Jesus, applied this skill to their communication of the gospel message for their time. I think it’s appropriate that those of us who call ourselves evangelists do the same today.

As I study Eastern Orthodox Christianity I see a balance between the ancient practices of worship and the contemporary, yet timeless message of the gospel. The key is relevance. Something does not need to be contemporary to be relevant. Timeless truth in life is ultimately true because it applies to all situations – the only thing that changes about truth is the way in which it is communicated and comprehended within the context of time.

In most churches today – particularly Protestant – there is a practice of utilizing the “services” for evangelism. The idea is to bring people who are unfamiliar with Christianity, or who are “seekers” into the church to be evangelized and expose them to worship – with the goal of them becoming followers of Christ. Churches like Willow Creek – where I first became a Christian – do this very effectively in their weekend – “Seeker Friendly Services.” However, what many churches that have adopted the “Willow” style overlook is the need for a “deeper” level of worship and teaching for those who DO become believers. Willow Creek had the “New Community” mid-week services to try and fit this bill.

In the history of the church though, this was NEVER the purpose of the church. The church was always the place for believers – “Seekers” or Catechumens, became students of the teachings, and, although brought into the church through a process of learning (the origin of Lent), were originally evangelized outside the church and never participated in the sacramental parts of the service (i.e. Communion) that were intended for the believers. This was so because it was always believed to be important that people understood the significance of the sacramental practices of the church and didn’t just follow them mindlessly. (What a concept!!!)

The “new” idea of “Seeker Friendly Services” has caused the message of the gospel to become either archaic, in the sense that it only seems relevant when understood from a historical perspective, or totally irrelevant, because it does not match with current experience. In the timeless Church, the message of salvation is not based on history – it is based on the process of transformation of human nature from mortality – imprisoned by time, to immortality – freedom in eternity. The ancient church separated the means for delivering the message from the meaning of the message itself. Thus the church is not a place where the message is delivered, but a community that serves as a gathering place for people in the process of transformation.

Nowadays, life is all about “meaning” and “significance” – today people search for purpose more than they search for salvation. People want meaningful community and they seek it in Internet “Chat rooms” and book clubs where they discuss books like “The Purpose-Driven Life” and others that offer practical ways to have a fulfilled life.

The ancient and current message of Christianity for today is not a message about Kings and Queens and Empires – it’s a message about ultimate fulfillment and becoming FULLY HUMAN.

So, here’s my adaptation from St. Peter’s first sermon, with apologies to St. Peter.

"Let all the world therefore know for certain that God has made Jesus the integrator and restorer of the divine nature and purpose for mankind. Now when they heard this they said, “what shall we do?" The answer is, "Change your way of thinking and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ as a sign of the death of your old human nature, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit that will indwell you and transform you”