Wednesday, July 06, 2005

what must i do to be saved?

so i've already used that title for a post on my blog. oh well. on to a comment about salvation...

since i grew up a cooperative baptist and now work in the united methodist world, i find tension surrounding the idea of salvation.

one of my coworkers recently visited a church which she described as "very baptist." she talked about the "invitation" at the end. apparently a young child walked down the aisle to make his or her "profession of faith." she seemed somewhat appalled by this action. i guess she thought i would be appalled too.

and i suppose i might be. except for the fact that i can remember one particular night in my childhood when i experienced some sort of calling from God and decided that i wanted to be identified with this God. i initiated a conversation with my parents that evening. several weeks later, i walked down the aisle. several weeks after that, i was baptized.

i don't know that i would describe any one point in my life as the point of salvation. i tend to think of salvation more in terms of process and journey than a one-time event. i don't really recall any time in my life apart from God. but as a child i did experience that moment of recognition...and i wouldn't write it out of my life story.

2 comments:

Phil said...

I think an interesting discussion/thought would be a definition of terms.

"Saved"/"Salvation"? Saved from what? Saved to what?

I'm afraid that as a Christian, I hear those words and just instinctively know what they mean, without considering their connotations to some one who hasn't heard them in the same context.

Anonymous said...

like tumbler and tipsy days hopefully we will remain in high spirits. well, good day