A second reaction I had to the commentator in the book "The Post Evangelical" was the whole concept of accepting the mission to rescue the hopeless souls trapped by the "enemy". If it is my job to make sure that the listless are rescued, then I am a rescuer. All of a sudden I have something to uphold. One thing about heroes is that they save the day whether their house is in order or not. A friend of mine working as a pastor's secretary answered the phone years ago at her job. She talked to a distraught woman who stated that she believed that Jesus couldn't save her because her sins were so great. My friend answered her that Jesus had forgiven all our sins, and my friend in fact was saved of her sins. The woman quickly retorted "what sins have you been forgiven of. My friend laughed and said "Honestly Jim, I drew a blank. I didn't know what to answer her. I couldn't think of one!"
If our mission is to save the lost, then it is very easy to believe as a rescuer we put our own soul state on hold. After all I am doing God's work. It can grow into a state of finding self worth in saving souls. As others see the "souls we have won" they approve of us more, and in time the danger is that we stop seeing where our souls are drying up and shriveling inside. We don't see where we need saving. It moves into what we are doing for others.
When that happens we become lost. "Honest Jim, I couldn't think of a single sin." A very powerful and damaging disconnect.
No comments:
Post a Comment