Save Everyone

Salvation - accepting Jesus as Savior and Lord - is not the ending, but the beginning.  Our acceptance of Christ is an entry way into an abundant and, I would dare say, adventurous life.  Colossians 2
states:
6 As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

We have to regard salvation as a necessary first step into what God has in store for us.  And, He has provided eternal salvation for us, manifested when we arrive in heaven to live with Him for eternity. But, in the "in between" times, we are called to know Him better, to grow in Christ, and to fulfill the purpose that He has ordained for our lives.  We are called to be His disciples, and as we have experienced His love, we are also called to demonstrate that love to a lost world.

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God is working in the hearts of believers in Christ to the degree that we allow Him to have His way
in us. He is also calling believers, as well as non-believers, to experience the fullness of the salvation that Christ died to provide. Philippians 2 says:
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

Sometimes you just don't know what God is doing in a person's life, but you can see His fingerprints. A few months ago, I delivered a commentary regarding Jordin Sparks, the former American Idol winner who seemed to have departed from a life of fervent faith.  Well, lo and behold, there she was on stage last Sunday sharing that her life had turned around as the result of attending an Easter service last year - Faithwire shared this relative to the Harvest America event.

“There was a lot of crazy chaos going on in my life and I was out partying and I just was hurting and I was trying to figure out what was going on,” she said. “So, I finally go, I get there … when I tell you Jesus met me there last Easter and he reawakened me.”

Sparks said that God “smacked” her back into gear, as she felt like Jesus was saying, “Get it together, Jordin.”

Caleb Parke is a columnist who has seen Selena Gomez at his home church in New York City.  He relates that she said this on a radio morning show recently:

“I haven’t really been all over the place lately and that’s kind of intentional. I think it’s important to balance out where I am and I’ve been doing this for a really long time and my sanity has meant everything to me, and a lot of that is my faith. I took 90 days off, I went away, I was very vocal about it because to me, where I get my confidence is my vulnerability. I can’t sit there and pretend that everything is good because I’ve done that for years, and it doesn’t really work for me.”

She related, "I have such a heart for people…I wish I could save everyone."

Parke pointed out that Selena had written a worship song, which she sang with Hillsong Young &Free at a concert in Los Angeles.  He quoted from a CBN story, which reported that she said at the 2016 concert: "It’s more than Hillsong. It’s more than me coming on stage and singing a song for you. It’s about a relationship that is greater than anything,” she said.

“I wrote this song about the one thing that holds it all together for me even when I can’t bear to do it myself,” she continued. "The song is called, ‘Nobody.'"

Parke closes out his article by saying:

And before you start criticizing Selena Gomez for not being who you think she should be, why not say a prayer for her? Same goes for criticism of Pastor Carl Lentz and Hillsong Church — I know I’m guilty of it.

Good point, and while there are definitely concerns - her association with 13 Reasons Why and her high-profile, jet-setting romance with pop star, The Weeknd, perhaps you could say that God has her attention - and there does seem to be a response.

Many people these days identify with faith, or even identify as a Christian.  That's the entry point; it's not the end unto itself.  So often, with high-profile people, they talk about the things of the Lord, but you sometimes wonder what the personal walk is like. But, they may not be the model of what the life of a disciple looks like.  Caleb's got a point - it's easy to criticize; and prayer can be an appropriate response.

The takeaway for each of us is to consider what the life of a disciple really looks like.  We can talk about God, we can identify as a Christian, but we have to ask: are we exhibiting the character of a true follower?   We can be challenged to think about whether or not, in our everyday existence, if our life comes across as distinct.  Or, is our life just routine?

It's easy to criticize the celebrity; and we can get caught up in conversation criticizing the church or the messenger of the Lord.  Yes, discernment is good and healthy, but when it devolves into negativity, then we have to stop, take a deep breath, and make sure that we are making a proper and helpful evaluation of our own lives.   None of us have arrived, and we have to make sure we are allowing God to work in our lives and trust He is working in those who are making a move toward growing in faith and knowledge of Him.