I was reading this evening the comment to a blog written by various people with connections to Community of Christ. As I read through them, I came across one comment that just puzzled me a bit.
I could not attend any church where the main issue of Jesus was salvation theology. Our church teaches it some but our main thrust is the Kingdom of God on earth and that and peace and justice is where my heart is.
Why does this statement puzzle me? Well because the peaceable community is part of salvation theology. Salvation is individual and it is communal, it is present and it is future and past reality, it is freely given, but is also hard work, it is…. Community of Christ’s statement of Faith and Beliefs, (Croyances Fondamentales, Creencias Basicas) states the following regarding Salvation (emphasis mine):
Salvation: The gospel is the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ: forgiveness of sin, and healing from separation, brokenness, and the power of violence and death. This healing is for individuals, human societies, and all of creation. This new life is the loving gift of God’s grace that becomes ours through faith and repentance. Baptism is how we initially express our commitment to lifelong discipleship. As we yield our lives to Christ in baptism we enter Christian community (the body of Christ) and have the promise of salvation. We experience salvation through Jesus Christ, but affirm that God’s grace has no bounds, and God’s love is greater than we can know.
If we turn to Doctrine and Covenants 163:2 (emphasis mine):
Jesus Christ, the embodiment of God’s shalom, invites all people to come and receive divine peace in the midst of the difficult questions and struggles of life. Follow Christ in the way that leads to God’s peace and discover the blessings of all of the dimensions of salvation. Generously share the invitation, ministries, and sacraments through which people can encounter the Living Christ who heals and reconciles through redemptive relationships in sacred community. The restoring of persons to healthy or righteous relationships with God, others, themselves, and the earth is at the heart of the purpose of your journey as a people of faith.
Community of Christ’s expressed statement on Salvation and what through inspired counsel we have been told is at the heart of our journey seem closely linked. What Margie stated in her comment about what the “main thrust” is seems also to reflect this. If Community of Christ is NOT about salvation, then we are not doing what we have been divinely called to be about. It is not an empty salvation, that we are about. It is a deep, rich and full salvation. An inclusive salvation, inclusive of all of creation. A salvation that calls us to act, to be restores of persons, healers of relationship, fighters of injustice. It is a salvation of mystery, for we are saved by the Grace of the Holy, and yet we must work tirelessly in response to that grace to bring forth salvation, it is, was, and yet to be, a process, a result, a gift all mixed together…. Thus perhaps in reality she can attend a church where the main thrust is salvation, for she does attend such a church, and part of that salvation theology she states is where her heart is…
Peace,
— Lyle II
June 24th, 2009 @ 1:08 pm
Lyle, I think you and Margie are saying the same things. When she refers to “salvation theology” she is likely referring to the traditional notion of eternal life through the redemption of Christ’s dying for our sins. She points out her belief that this is not the thrust of the CofC and she appreciates how the Church focusses more on the now and the here rather than the then and the there. You seem to agree. I think you are just changing the general definition of “salvation” – which is fine, and I’m sure Margie would be ok with salvation theology, if it were defined as you do, and not as traditional religious norms do.