A Different Community
When we think and talk about the nature of salvation in the Christian faith, we often think of and refer to heaven. And, to be sure, heaven is an important part of the Christian story of salvation. However, it is not the complete story. The full story is that at the moment of salvation, we become new creations and begin to experience our eternal lives, even in the here and now. Then, if we pass from this life before Jesus returns, we will enjoy the presence of God in heaven. And finally, once Jesus comes back, all believers will rule with him, and then with resurrected bodies, we will dwell with each other and the Lord on the New Earth. Yes, heaven is an important part of the salvation story, but it is only a part, and most importantly, we get to experience tastes of our eternal life in Christ here and now as new creations. C.S. Lewis had this to say on salvation, “Christianity is not, in the long run, concerned either with individuals or communities…. But a new creature.”[1]
Yes, Jesus came to seek and save the lost, so, yes, he came for individuals. But, the story of salvation is not merely about becoming a better individual. In fact, the gospel demands that we deny and die to self. And yes, as we are transformed, our communities will and should also be transformed. But, the story of salvation is not merely about our cities and communities becoming more habitable. That won’t fully happen until Jesus comes back. The story of salvation is about how a gracious and loving God can take you and me, who are desperately broken and form us into new creations through his Son, Jesus.
This is something that we have heard in the letter of 1 Peter. This is how Peter said it, “9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” (1 Peter 2:9-12)
And because we are something wonderfully different than we were before Christ, that means that our fellowship or community as Christians should be distinctly different than the world around us. Peter will tell us that our community is to be marked by humility, submission, and, ultimately smell of the aroma of Christ. This also means that leadership should be different and has different motivations. We are new creations in Christ, and our fellowship should show that there is a better way to live with and respond to each other. Again, the story of salvation is about how a gracious and loving God can take you and me, who are desperately broken and form us into new creations through his Son, Jesus. The witness of Christian fellowship is how that new creation/exile identity impacts our daily lives here and now.
[1] C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, “Membership,” (1945), p. 120.