I think what I want to communicate with pointing out that grace is everywhere is that what God is doing in the world here and now is just as important as yours and everybody else’s “salvation transaction.” If “getting people saved” is the only thing that is necessary, we can have this attitude of all but giving up on this world because it’s so crazy and tragic. The thinking is, “make sure you are going to heaven and try to bring as many people with you as you can.” And, “live a good life, but it’s really more about the next life.” Maybe, but sometimes that thinking doesn’t help people live as better humans in the here and now.

Jesus was known to say “the Kingdom is near/nigh/at hand,” depending on how you translate it. We could read that as he came to offer salvation and hand out the tickets to heaven, but we could also take that to mean he came to usher in a new way of being human, individually and collectively. He was talking about the Kingdom a lot, and it seems like he was not just talking about what it’s like in heaven, but about how we should be on earth. If we take that seriously, then it’s not just about “getting saved,” but also about joining Jesus’ mission to transform humanity and the whole world.

I like to take on the view that a new earth is being brought about ever so slowly. The old one is passing away one day at a time (civil rights occurred only 60 years ago and looks like we are still working on the racism thing). The new Kingdom is coming. I know it might not seem like it, but if you look closely, you can see it happing. It’s actually something very beautiful and meaningful to be involved in.

So salvation is not just something you agree to. It’s something you are and become. I’m amazed at how many people “believe on Jesus” as their Savior, but have no interest in practicing non-violence or losing their own lives, as he required. It’s hard to take Christians seriously when they are self-protective, unforgiving and imperialistic. It’s just not who Jesus was.

If you were there when Jesus died on the cross, I’d like to think you‘d notice he was doing something amazing – something superhuman – superhuman not in the sense that he was God and not human, but in the sense that he was the best version of a human. It is a different level of consciousness to have your life threatened and not try to protect yourself or run away, but it is apparently possible for humans to do.

When you face threat, everything in your being is geared toward responding to that threat and making you safe. It’s the fight or flight thing. Non-violence is superhuman because you really have to slow your body down and get it to do something it’s not supposed to do – put itself in harm’s way for a greater purpose. I could say a lot about trauma theory here, but I’ll save that for another day. Choosing to die for a greater cause and getting your body to die unwillingly is an unbelievable thing to be able to do, and it’s one Jesus modeled and expected of his followers.

If Christians were just a bunch of people working on getting their bodies to respond differently in the face of threat, everything would change. There would obviously be far less violence in word and deed, which is one of the goals. And it’s hard to not take someone seriously when they do not react violently to attack – verbal or physical. It’s one of the most amazing things you can do as a human. Non-violent people change the world.