Beginning Well

I recently read Gordon Smith’s analysis of salvation in his book called, "Beginning Well." Understanding the nature of true conversion has long been a struggle for me. I was raised in the church and grew up knowing many of the basic fundamental aspects about Christianity. Later, I worked within the parameters of YoungLife, a high school outreach ministry. I went to camps, conventions, seminars, and group gatherings. Many times I saw alter calls, invitations, and even some fire and brimstone sermons about the need to repent, turn to Christ, and experience everlasting life. To my amazement and joy, multitudes did just that. Hundreds of people, even thousands, came to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior at these events. Yet many of those that I knew who made a commitment on those days fell away from the faith shortly thereafter. What was once so real to them that caused them to weep for joy, sing hymns to heaven, and loudly proclaim their salvation drifted by the wayside and they reverted back to the same people they had always been.

The character arc frustrates me- if conversion truly is being reborn of the spirit, and if salvation is complete and irrevocable, then why do so many people fall away from the faith? Smith is able to provide some answer to this quandary by explaining the challenge of understanding salvation within the modern day Christian evangelical movement. By his definition, salvation actually has two distinct but intertwined components- conversion (justification) and transformation (sanctification). Smith says, “the doctrine of salvation assumes two things: the depth and complexity of the human predicament and the provision of a resolution in and through Jesus Christ.” Evangelicals, while thriving in the aspect of winning the convert, struggle mightily in embracing the doctrine of transformation. Catholics, by contrast, embrace the sanctification component well, but often fall short in grasping the nature of the justification experience. Thinking from my own Protestant orientation, I think that the evangelical understands the ‘depth’ of the human predicament and the ‘resolution in…Christ’ but does not do a good job with the ‘complexity of’ and 'the provision…through Jesus Christ.’ We know that Christ is the only way because of our sin, but we fall short in understanding how complex is the sinful fleshly nature that still clings to us like soot, and how it is through Christ’s lifelong sanctification that the soot is finally wiped clean.

Part of the problem stems from the term we frequently use for conversion- 'saved.' That word is distinct and punctiliar and past tense. Smith argues that this word is often used out of context with regard to the conversion experience, and by looking at King David's Psalms, it is easy to understand why. David speaks of his salvation in a past, present, and future tense. Past- "...the LORD has become my salvation" (Ps. 118:14) Present- "God most high is my salvation" (Ps. 62:7) Future- "I long for your salvation, oh LORD" (Ps. 119:174) The past, present, and future nature of salvation are reflective of God's eternality. Salvation isn't meant to be a one time occurence-while it has a definite beginning point, it plays itself out in the same progressive form that is depicted in the way God's salvation for his people is demonstrated from Genesis to Revelation.

The key, as Smith says, is that conversion is not an end unto itself, but a beginning that points toward sanctification. The end is to exist in the likeness of Christ. I think that evangelicals, especially in western society, struggle with temporality vs. eternality. Since we are surrounded by things that provide instant gratification, we expect salvation to be the same way. ‘Behold, I am saved; I get to go to heaven. That happens now, right?’ When it doesn’t, the new Christian is frustrated because life has not materially changed. Nobody is there at the outset to tell them that being reborn in the Spirit is both symbolic AND literal- you have to start life over again. “Like newborn babies [we] crave spiritual milk.” However, seldom do people tell us that we “then must grow up in our salvation.” (1 Peter 2:2)

Like many things in life, Christianity gets old because people don’t perceive anything better after the conversion aspect is finished. Conversion is truly like birth. It is indeed a miracle, but how many of us would like to do it again? In the same way, the moment we accept Christ as our savior is a great moment; but the challenge is to not look back on those emotions and be satisfied; sanctification is in believing that the subsequent steps in learning to walk (again) are always better.