The crucial question everyone has to ask himself is what he wants to do with his salvation, once he has got it? Does he want to use it to be effective in this world, and at least try to put matters right, within his narrow field of experience? Or does he want to use it to make sure of his seat at the celestial banquet, and wash his hands of this world? In my experience you cannot opt for both. You must either serve others, or dedicate yourself to the worship of God, which some would say is serving yourself. If you want to be effective here and now, you must forget about the hereafter, and leave it to the Almighty; if your aim is to get into heaven, you condemn yourself to be ineffective in this world. I suppose that mastering a trade or profession demands the whole of one’s concentration and effort; but whatever the reason, that is my experience. Kierkegard I think agrees; he says you should will only one thing. Is it to be this world, or the next?
If it is to be in this world, then Salvation can sensibly mean bodily, mental, and spiritual health; and the way to salvation is to learn the right way to live here and now. Christ said he came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly; which could be taken as approving the desire to live this life correctly. But if Salvation is something you hope to achieve in this world, then physical, mental, and spiritual health for the individual are not enough; you need Salvation for Society or the World as well.
If it is to be the next world, then having faith that Jesus Christ is the saviour of the world is the important thing. And Jesus often said that the important thing was to preach the good news, which many have interpreted to mean beliefs are more important than conduct; they were for the judges and torturers of the Inquisition. It seems an invidious choice, until you realize that Christ’s Ministry was a stage in Man’s evolution.
The three years Ministry of Jesus were wholly inadequate to give detailed guidance through the labyrinth of life today. And indeed he himself half confirmed this; saying there were many things his disciples could not bear to hear now. There is no alternative to using one’s own judgement. It is no good asking the whole time what Jesus would have done.
The limitations of an other-worldly Gospel were exposed when the Roman Church began to exercise political power. It discovered it had no philosophy or theology beyond that of a personal salvation; which was of course hopelessly inadequate to give any balanced judgement in the world of affairs. So all sense of proportion was lost, and the world had to endure the wars of religion and the Inquisition. If you are going to wield political power, you must have a reliable philosophy of political power, in order to cope. And you will not find this in the Gospels, however hard you look. So anyone who relies only on the Jesus of the Gospels, must steer well clear of politics, and leave it to others. The secular world coped with the irresponsibility of the Church by working out its own political philosophy, and in doing so left the Church far behind. Science soon followed, and modern atomic physics has knocked away the foundation of Plato’s thought and the Church’s thought; and the whole rickety structure is coming down about our ears. Hence the need to re-think religion.
But the heroism of Jesus needs no theological explanation; and he invited us to carry on from where he left off.