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I went into my bank the other day to make a deposit. As I approached the counter I noticed that the teller was a person I had not seen in my bank before. As she took my check and deposit slip and worked at her computer, I glanced at the counter and saw her business card. Her name was Jean Number. No kidding—Number. That struck me as funny. I wondered if she had been destined to work in a bank because of her name.
I once knew a minister whose last name was Goodpastor. We had a President named Bush who thought he was on fire and God spoke through him.
Names are important in the Bible. A change of name indicates a change of character. Remember Abram-to-Abraham…Saul-to-Paul…Simon-to-Peter?
The angel told Joseph to name his son 'Jesus.' The name Jesus literally means, "Yahweh saves." Through Jesus, God saves us.
What does Jesus save us from? The traditional answer is: Hell. I had an elder in a congregation ask me one day, "Why are the Baptist churches growing and we are losing members?" I said, "They believe in hell."
I grew up believing in hell. But Jesus scared the hell out of me. Or more accurately, Jesus loved the hell out of me. I no longer believe in hell. The God I have come to know through Jesus of Nazareth is not a God who could torture people forever and ever because they didn't have the right religion.
If I had been born in India, I probably wouldn't a Christian; I'd probably be Hindu. And according to traditional Christian belief, if someone didn't reach me with the gospel, I would be doomed to be tortured by God for millions and millions of years. I can't believe that. That's not the kind of God Jesus has taught me about.
Now, I know that Jesus himself talked about hell. He warned people about the judgment and about going to hell. However, I think the terminology he chose is important. When Jesus spoke of 'hell' he used the word 'Gehenna,' which refers to the Valley of Hinnom outside of Jerusalem. It was the place where garbage was thrown. It was always burning. And the worms/maggots were always there. It was a dark place. In other words, Jesus chose a metaphor—a poetic word—when he spoke of hell. It was a word which indicated a place where the trash was thrown. So, 'hell' in the vocabulary of Jesus is a metaphor for that which is wasted. If your life is wasted (thrown away), you have experienced hell.
Jesus saves. He saves from hell. What that means is that Jesus leads us into a type of life that is meaningful. He saves us from living a meaningless life—a life which is thrown away—a life that is useless.
Jesus helps us accept who we are and find meaning in the normal, everyday existence that is our gift from God. As we accept our humanity and live as real human beings (the way Jesus taught us) we experience the grace of God, the beauty of life, and the depth of existence. We are saved (rescued) from emptiness and self-loathing; we are saved from the excruciating attempt to be more than or less than human.
When the Word became flesh (human) and lived among us, he affirmed our humanity. To be 'saved' is not something other than human; it is to be truly human. It is to love yourself and to love others. It is to love God. When evangelicals promise something other than ordinary human life, they lead us down the wrong path.
To be saved is to be a loving person living in communion with God. Nothing more, nothing less. You can bank on that.
