Becoming godly via borrowed salvation.
By: Erin Kuns
I am thrilled to introduce our second guest writer, Erin Kuns!Erin is yet another wonderful friend I've had the privilege of knowing since my time in Washington. Although our initial meeting was just a casual introduction, I had the pleasure of getting to know her better a few months ago. She possesses remarkable talent as a writer, which is evident from her own blogging endeavors. I consistently find her perspectives on how God communicates with her and unveils His presence quite enlightening. My hope is that her words will further ignite your enthusiasm for pursuing a deeper connection with God. Don't forget to explore the links I've included below!
Those moments when your faith becomes undeniably real -- AND your own. When have you met God? Where were you when you had your “ah-ha”? Who was with you, or were you alone? Was it sensory or spiritual?
The Lord places community strategically and supernaturally into your life (via work, family, friends, locale, etc.). We are each a part of the larger body of Christ, each indispensable, each dependent on another. However, in my blogs, I often write about the personal nature (versus the corporate nature) of walking with Him because that is also true. Our utility or benefit to the greater Body is intertwined with the fabric of our own relationship with the father.
I’ve had discussions with people who view religion as a comfort, a tradition, or a way to explain away or appease the “big questions of life.” My soul cannot help but to ache. Oh, how I yearn for them to see and meet God!
Growing up in church, I took my relationship with Jesus for granted. It’s a running joke in my family that you can’t turn around without bumping into a pastor. My life started with attending a small church where my great uncle was the lead pastor, my dad served as the youth pastor, my dad’s mother played the piano, my dad’s father led worship, my mom’s mother taught Sunday school and sang in the worship team with my mom. My dad’s father was a trustee, and my dad had stints as a deacon. I “asked Jesus into my heart” at four years old and was baptized at age six.
Wait a hot minute! Talk about being immersed in the church and saturated with the Word of God! Logically, most people (myself, included) would objectively think of this as an ideal situation for becoming “godly.” I will be the first to tell you: church politics and spoon-fed gospel from infancy is a prime recipe for salvation-by-proxy. Salvation-by-proxy is precisely how you end up with a post-Christian/post-Chuch generation or society, a valley of dry bones.
When I was 16, I had corrective surgery for a gastrointestinal issue that had plagued me since childhood but had exponentially increased its destruction over my body for nearly four years. It was in Seattle Children’s Hospital that I had my first defining moment with God. He took hold of my heart and looked me in the eyes. Then & there...THAT was personal.
As I was wheeled from surgical recovery to my hospital room, I was understandably dazed. But I remember this as clearly today as it happened at that moment: The single nurse who was pushing my gurney down the sterile halls started praying over me. She asked God to heal my body in a quiet yet authoritative tone, and she spoke blessings over me. I SO badly wanted to thank her, and talk to her, and ask about her story. -- but all I could do was lay there in my medically-induced semi-conscious state and agree with her in prayer.
God invades our space in wild ways. And I am so glad He does! On the road to Emmaus, a resurrected Jesus walked and talked and ate with them. They were completely self-absorbed in their life, their own concerns, their own experiences, their own day-to-day, and then… “their eyes were opened.” (Luke 24:13-35)
When Moses -- who had only been privy to behold God’s back -- summited Mount Sinai to receive the commandments and covenant with Israel, the Lord revealed himself fully: He descended in the cloud and stood with him and talked with him. (Exodus 33:23 and 34:5, 29-35)
When we have these piercing moments/interventions with Jesus, we are confronted with our humanity. We are image-bearers of the Most High, yet we are veiled by our worldly comforts, traditions, and philosophies. But Christ is the better hope. Christ is the guarantor of a better covenant. And Christ holds His priesthood permanently because He continues forever. Christ is able to save to the uttermost since He always lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:18-19, 22, 24-25)
It is because of this hope of who Jesus Christ is -- and how His purpose is to continuously make intercession (often by invading our space) -- that we can live boldly and confidently with unveiled faces through the transforming power of His sacrifice and the help of the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:12-18)Let us not stop after seeing God. This valley of dry bones that surrounds us is ripe for revival! But let us be watchful not to cultivate a false harvest of godliness through borrowed salvation. Just like I had been raised in the church and a Christian home, it wasn’t until I tasted the sweet joy and hope of the Father, through the work of an obedient servant of Jesus, that His saving grace was fully confessed by my lips, mind, and heart.
We are called to be salt and light. Salt that has lost its saltiness is good ...FOR ...NOTHING. (Matthew 5:13) The gods of this world have blinded the dry bones, but what we proclaim is not ourselves or the world; rather, Jesus Christ as Lord. Our hearts have been tasked to be the light of the knowledge of Him. (2nd Corinthians 4:5-6)
Having seen and met with God, I have become more aware of my connectedness to the Body of Christ. God may confront us in various ways and at different points in our lives (I have a couple of other experiences I could share to the same end). Clearly, our submission and obedience to Him has a ripple effect beyond what our limited minds can conjure.
Post-Christian hearts are waiting for revival. They are waiting to be met by God through Jesus followers who are obedient to His call and submissive to His Spirit.
Lord, I pray: less of me -- more of You.His mercies are new each day. Upon this Rock I place my hope. May our souls rest in His sweet embrace and be vessels of His comfort.
Follow Erin on IG & read more of her blogs at Erin Lately