Is it a Salvation Issue, or not?

Pretty often we get questions like:

• Is it OK to wear jeans in church?
• Should we use grape juice or wine for communion?
• How should I manage my finances?

Although these questions are good questions, and certainly worth a discussion, there is a point where we draw a line, stop with the discussion or even stop responding.

Let’s give you an example for one of those questions:

Question: “How should I manage my finances?”

Answer #1:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

Proverbs 3:5-6

Answer #2:

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

Colossians 3:23-24

Answer #3:

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

Ephesians 5:15-16

And that’s (in short) the answer we give, and after that, we stop answering, keep discussing it, and so on.

Why?

While these questions may still be worth discussing to some extent, it’s essential to prioritize issues that directly impact the spiritual well-being of the people we speak with and the fulfillment of our mission. Spending excessive time and energy on matters of secondary importance can detract from more significant priorities and distract from the central message of the Gospel. We sometimes say to each other: “It’s Not A Salvation Issue”.

To filter in what is a “Salvation Issue question” and what is not, it saves time to answering questions that are very(!) important “Salvation Issue questions”.

• If you do not know who Jesus is, you can deal perfectly with your finances, but you will still end up in hell.
• If you do know who Jesus is, but you do wear Jeans to church, you will still get to heaven.

That’s the différance between a “Salvation Issue question” or not. But, as always, there are exceptions. Let me give you an example in the same line of questions:

Question: “How should I manage my finances?” (yep, same question)

When we give them these bible verses we mentioned above, and we get the idea that they don’t have a clue what it is about, that what they believe who Jesus is, is false… then it all of a sudden, it does become a “Salvation Issue question”. If they answer the question like this:

Yeah, but god is OK with whatever I do, since he is all about love, so in the end it doesn’t matter what I do.

Or:

Sure, but god blessed me so much, why can’t I enjoy all the money I have? The holidays that I will spend all my money on will be a some sort of saying thanks to god that he gave me all the money.

Then, things will start to change, and we will fight, to the bitter end if needed, to make sure that person does understand that the true and only God from the bible does not work like that. Then we start to dive back into that verse:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

Proverbs 3:5-6

And that this verse says: “all” your heart, and that does mean 100% and not “just a little bit of your heart”.

If you (or me) do believe in a “some sort of maybe today kind of holy god that is serving us” instead of a “Holy God, that is a jealous God, a God that is asking to give “all of our hearts”, minds, money, all, 100% God, just God and that His love is conditional on how we serve Him, in all that we do”, we start another conversation.

But even in that case.. There is also an end to the “discussion”. Just as we said, we will fight, if needed to the bitter end, to give a biblical answer, but if we get the idea that this person is just in it “for the discussion” and not looking for the biblical truth, we will stop with the discussion. We have given you the answer from the bible, you don’t want to hear it, than it’s not on us, it’s on you. And that’s the bitter end indeed.

So, every day, we make decisions, what we do discuss or not. Is it worth it, is it a “Salvation Issue”, are we listening to each other to learn or are we just debating? Because, you know what? Jesus might come back tomorrow! What did we spend our time on? The world is full of people who are(!) willing to listen to Salvation Issue answers. They are there! Lots and lots of them. If we get bogged down in a non Salvation Issue question, we cannot answer their questions, since we were busy… Don’t get bogged down in “non Salvation Issue questions” or “debaters”. We choose not to do so. And sometimes, that’s a bitter end indeed….

And finally: it is wonderfully liberating to look at questions in this way. Especially to non-Christians. I couldn’t care less whether they wear jeans in church. I dont care. What does concerns me is why you are not a Christian. Why you dont go to a church? (any) That is a huge concern. But discussions about jeans, whether to use a car on Sunday or not, whether or not you can drink a beer? We laugh about those questions with them. To move on, quickly, to the questions that really matter. In enormous freedom, without dogmas, complicated, unnecessarily complicated issues that only distract from the real question: who is Jesus and why is it important to know Him as your saviour?