Is There Salvation in the Church
complete this conversation
Eric: Heh, Bryan, have I got some good news for you.
Bryan: What’s that Eric?
Eric: Well, I’ve been watching you over the past couple of months and frankly I’ve been concerned. I mean, you just have not been yourself lately.
Bryan: I’m sorry. I guess I have just been working too hard.
Eric: Don’t I know it. I bet you have been putting in between sixty and seventy hours a week for the past several months. You have already told me the stress that has put on Patty, and you don’t look like you have been sleeping well either.
Bryan: Yeah, I know. It’s just that there is so much pressure at work. Maybe I’m getting my priorities confused.
Eric: Well, I’ve got some good news for you. Next Sunday I’m going to take you to a place where your every need is met, people will love you, you will experience a sense of peace and become renewed and refreshed. You can get your priorities straight, and besides all of that, it will be fun.
Bryan: I don’t know, Eric.
Eric: Don’t worry, Bryan, I’ve already made all the arrangements. Your wife, Patty, is in full agreement. We’ll go next Sunday.
Bryan: Do you mind telling me where we are going?
Ok, stop right there and try to imagine how Eric will respond before you read further:
Eric: Not at all. Next Sunday morning Sally and I will pick you and Patty up at 9 a.m. and we will catch a plane to the Club Med in the Cancun. You will just love it.
Bryan: That sounds great. Funny, for a moment there, I thought you were going to take me to church.
Eric: Church? I never thought of that. Do you suppose you could get help there?
That is the question, isn’t it? At one time the theological debate was “Is there salvation outside the church?” Today the question in many people’s minds is whether there is any salvation within the church. Do people look, with any expectation, to the church for salvation from the alienating frustrations of modern life, let alone the ultimate alienation of death?
How would you answer someone who asked you what is saving about being part of the church?
