Savior and Lordship and why it matters

It is often the case among mainline protestants to talk about Jesus as either our Lord or our Savior. It is my experience that the phrase "Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior" is generally reserved for the more conservative types, But let us be clear here, Jesus is both Lord and Savior for the Christian - and both are important.

When I say Jesus is my Savior what I mean is that it is Jesus who saves me from my destructive self. Jesus is the one who teaches me how to have life and how to have life abundantly. 

When I say Jesus is my Lord what I mean is that there are other lords that I can choose to be the authority in my life. For some it is a particular political thought, for others it might be a social status. But if Jesus is Lord then that means that the other lords in the world are not my Lord. 

If we proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior then several things begin to happen. We might begin to see that the values of the American Dream conflict with the values of the Kingdom of God. We are saved from the destructive path of the American Dream (Jesus is Savior) and where there is conflicting values, we are faithful to the Kingdom of God not the American Dream (Jesus is Lord). 

For instance, the American Dream values the individual and undervalues the work of the community/group/tribe/family the individual comes from. There are many situations that no matter how hard someone works alone, they just will not get very far. If you are a prisoner released from jail then you will have a very hard time moving up in the world without a very large and strong support network - regardless of how hard you work!

Jesus is Lord and Savior because not only does Jesus help us discover the resurrection but Jesus also has say over our current moments. We fail to be a faithful church when we think of Jesus as primary Lord or primarily savior. 

Churches alleviate, Governement eradicate, Business accelerate

We all agree that the solutions to the problems we face are some combination of churches, government, and business. Too often it seems that my liberal friends put too much emphasis on government and my conservative friends put too much emphasis on churches and my libertarian friends put too much emphasis on business.

As one who works in the church I can tell you that most churches are set up to temporarily alleviate a social ill. Governments are large enough to eradicate a social ill. Businesses are savvy enough to accelerate toward a solution. 

For instance, lets look at the problem of malaria.

Churches can raise money to buy nets to alleviate the spread of malaria (see the nothing but nets campaign). But the church, even one as connected as the Roman Catholic church, cannot eradicate malaria. Churches cannot make policies or laws that are binding to society. 

Which is why we need governments to make laws and policies to ensure malaria is eradicated. While some of the libertarian cut want to eliminate the FDA, I am thankful that government is there to ensure the eradication of these ills. Because for all its failings, the government is the best tool we have to ensure eradication.

But business is another tool that is essential in this equation. When business gets involved the solution(s) to the problem are brought about much faster than just by way of churches and governments. Business can incentive the everyday person to participate in the solution, and as more people become part of the solution the solution accelerates.  

Taking the political aspect out for just a moment, we all need each other. Liberals need business, conservatives need government, libertarians need churches. 

If we are not able to live into that then we may just end up like this fella as reported by the Onion.

Evangelism? Ya, I don't do that, but would you support me in my marathon?

Lets face it, we all are evangelists for something. Some may not like the word "evangelism" or identify as "evangelical" because of a particular social stigma, but even the most liberal atheist is evangelical for something.

Everyone is an evangelist. From locavores to free market capitalists. From the 99% to the 1%. From the soccer mom to the marathon runner. Everyone  is an evangelist.

Liberal and mainline Christians need to get over being afraid of being evangelistic.

Evangelism is not something that just one sliver of Christianity has a monopoly on. While we sit back and remain distant and silent on evangelism there is a small group of people taking a term of Good News and turn it into a battering ram of bad news.

I do not think that you have to be a Christian to be a good person, but I do think that everyone needs to be apart of a spiritual community to be whole.

Evangelism in not about getting sinners to be saved, but about working with others to ensure we are all made whole.