Last Exit Before Oblivion

Nate, who writes "The Pensive" among the other voices of Voxtropolis, sent me this Email:

I love the argument from religious people that they
are now "saved" whereas others are still not.

My question then is this; when Jesus died on the cross
who did he save?
When were they saved? And is there some type of action
I need to do to make it effective for me?

Did his exclamation "It is finish" only apply to some
but not others?

This got me thinking about my experience. As I've become more sensitive to God's voice and leading, I look back and see His touch in my life even when I was a child. Add to that the premise that there's nothing super-double-extra-special about me, and I come up with the idea that God speaks to everyone until they have closed all the doors. God has more than 29 ways to make it to his lover's room, but eventually they all disappear.

Satan's goal is the opposite. He wants us all uniform, marching interchangeably, merging into a great grey soup that's easily channeled into a deadly future. This is our culture. Anyone who says "I hear the voice of God" is treated as a nutcase. Anyone who seems special, or out of the ordinary even in minor ways, is abused unconsciously by the surrounding cultural soup until they conform and sink back into mediocrity.

I believe we're born with the windows and doors open to God's sunlight of guidance, rain of blessing and wind of Spirit. Then we start looking around at others, see that the same isn't true of the more experienced ones, and the peer pressure builds from within. After a few years the open-door person is gone, and has the proper view that anyone who does have doors open to God is a crank, blah, blah, blah.

We get to make choices. Each time something comes up, we can choose. Do I go with this unusual wind, or do I make the culturally expected choice? One key aspect of my life helped me follow the wind: I've never been popular. The barely perceptible wind seemed to care more about me-qua-me than anyone else. It never attacked me as did those around me. It never wanted to reduce me to soup. I couldn't figure out why I needed to fit in with the soup. I was obviously unique, and I was willing to bet that everyone else started out unique and then started to trim the corners off. So, I went my way, and people mostly left me alone. I remained me.

When did I get saved? The stated event, deliberately opening a door to Jesus, occurred 1971-October-18. The process started much earlier. The hand I feel now feels very similar to what I felt then: things will work out.

In short, only God really knows when a person is saved. I believe he wants to save everyone, and will keep giving them chances until the door is opened permanently, or there are no more ways to reach the soul inside. Some people want nothing to do with God, and that's their choice. Others want God, but see him boxed up for the Church's convenience and think that can't be the God of the Universe in there. They see Christians who look no different from anyone else and think "Why bother, if the results are the same?" They see Christians who are so weird with the self-importance of their very special touch of God that they laugh.

People are looking for light. They need the wind. They want to rise out of the heavy sludge our over-busy culture makes of life. The church hands them bricks of theology and guilt-stones and then asks them to fly. They aren't even allowed to learn to float first.

Each of us is unique and special to God. He has the power to guide each of the Earth's billions of individuals in an individual way that allows flight and light. It's not my business to try to figure out the moment of salvation. When Jesus said "It is finished," he finished everything, for everyone. The veil in the Temple between the hoi polloi and the Chosen Ones was forever torn when Jesus died, covering those who choose in Jesus' righteousness and giving them direct access to God Himself. No priest necessary. The hand of God touches everyone.