Inside Out People

Get Saved

The final instruction of Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20 tells us to make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things instructed. It saddens me that at times, this rich, powerful commission is reduced to nothing more than convincing someone to sign a prayer card, dunking them in water and handing them a stack of self-help books.

Being a follower of Jesus is so much more. One of my favorite commentators says that a better translation of the phrase “baptizing” is actually “immersing”. Christ was instructing us to go to the ends of the earth to immerse people into the reality of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

When you’ve truly been immersed into the God-reality, nothing stays the same—including you. At times, I feel like Lucy from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardobe, running around, crying to anyone who will listen that it’s real—it’s real—this whole God thing is more real than any of can imagine. The words you read in scripture aren’t just encouraging or inspiring. Those descriptions of heaven aren’t just colorful phrases. Those teaching of Jesus aren’t just good ideas or principles. They are real life: both now and to come.

The naked truth about “getting saved” is that becoming a follower of Jesus will not make you richer, skinnier or more prosperous. It will cost you everything—more than you can imagine—as your pour your life out on causes that no one else seems to care about. But the rewards, well, I’m gambling with everything I’ve got that they’re worth it. Like Lucy, it’s worth believing and bringing everyone I possibly can along for the adventure.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 1st, 2008 at 9:14 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.