Rescue? Redemption?Luke 8:38
Context: This dude is possessed by this crazy, multi-faceted demon called “Legion.” Legion trembles with fear at the sight of Jesus, and Jesus commands that the demon leave the man. The demon goes into a few nearby pigs, which proceed to run into the water and drown. The man is then freed and is radically changed; Legion had him running around in the nude, chained to rocks and living in caves. The community was well aware of the crazed effect this demon had on this man. All this to say, Legion leaving this guy would be a pretty radical change in the eyes of his community. So, after he’s freed, the guy is following Jesus around in his city, and then Jesus tells him the above. Why wouldn’t Jesus just let him carry on with his disciples? The answer I think comes just a few verses before:
“No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.”-Jesus
Luke 8:16
So, my friends and I have been talking about God being not just a God of rescue, but of redemption. Let me be clear: the two are not mutually exclusive. This is not a rescue v. redemption mentality. ‘nuff said.
We often see rescue and redemption as the same thing, ie redemption is rescue. But that’s not necessarily always true. Rescue is enfolded in redemption, but redemption is much more. My dictionary defines rescue as:
“to save (someone) from a dangerous or distressing situation”
whereas redemption is defined as:
“the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil” OR “the action of regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment, or clearing a debt”
In Christian circles, the former definition of redemption is probably the one that is reached first. But, my roommate Katie and I were talking this morning at the gym about how to convey redemption to any person on the street. We thought, how is “redemption” used in our culture? Most commonly, we “redeem” gift cards or coupons. And what does that get you? Something for free or at a discounted price. You didn’t have to buy it or pay the difference, someone else already did. This falls in line more with the second definition of redemption.
That said, let’s talk rescue. Rescue means “saving from,” which connotes that an individual, puppy or Aunt Bessie’s ring will be taken out of a situation that would bring peril. It connotes removal.
Now, redemption is more about gaining something in exchange for payment, ie you get that awesome new sweater from GAP because your grandma got you a gift card for Columbus Day, and there is no dent in your bank account as a result. Redemption isn’t bound by context, or removal from a context. It happens in any context. Translated to the idea of evangelism, or seeing others saved by the grace of God, redemption looks like receiving forgiveness, freedom and grace from God despite being a sinner, wherever you are. Furthermore, it means that redemption takes place in any context.
As I was spending time reading the Bible on Tuesday, God brought this idea to light in my reading of Luke 8. Jesus does rescue the demon-tormented man. In fact, word about the miraculous healing of the man gets out to the community, and they come around and find the previously-demon-possessed man sitting at Jesus’ feet learning. (They are a little freaked out, since they’ve only since this man as a crazed person.) But, these people then went back and told their communities how he was healed. Because of this, the community asks Jesus to leave; they were shocked by his power. Anyway, the healed man asks Jesus if he can go with him. And what does Jesus say?
“No.”
Jesus leaves the man with his community, to shine his lamp, telling of the goodness of God. Jesus’ hope, it seems, is to see others know God through what God has done to this man. Strategically, it allows His message to cover more ground, but it also keeps a disciple rooted in his original community. It was there in which people know he was demon-possessed. They will see the full transformation of his healing, rather than thinking he made up some cockamamie story. This good news has greatest relevance and credibility in this man’s community. Jesus seeks redemption of all, not just the rescue of one.
The idea is not pull someone out of their community to “save” them (the rescue idea), but to see them saved by God and remain in their community, being a light to it (the redeem idea)--and the latter is clearly illustrated in these verses. Furthermore, keeping these individuals rooted in their community widens the door to meet other people. Rather than rescuing individuals by uprooting them and drawing them in our church doors and shutting the door soundly behind them, impressing conformity to our church culture, we allow God to do a new thing in their community by keeping those relationships.
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Author’s note: This is not to say that some situations are “toxic,” and in those cases rescue and redemption are more synonymous. Also, I am not saying that we should never bring people we meet to our churches. Churches can provide some good grounding to build character and build into the life of a seeker and/or new Christian. I’m just encouraging us to look outside the model we have, and to think about reaching people in their community, going to the places they are, since that’s what Jesus did.
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God really hammered this home for me this week. In one of my social work courses at school, we were talking about a child’s ability to advance out of poverty. We discussed this article by Melissa Abelev (2009), which proposed that low-income students need to have access to middle class values in order to succeed. On a surface level, this makes sense: middle class values are widely celebrated in American culture and are required for social interactions in daily life, such as ability to find work, a spouse, or friends. However, many of the students featured in this article self-selected into obtaining middle class values. They were high performers in school and presented what a middle class mentor may see as potential. They were selected by a middle-class individual, given scholarships to prep schools and access to special programs. In essence, they were rescued out of their situation. In fact, Abelev writes “A key theme in the data collection was that children were pulled out of low performing public schools and placed into higher performing private schools, generally by a mentor outside the family who was part of the middle class.” How much more of rescue can you get than “pulled out”? But that’s not the point. The point is: what about the kids that didn’t get picked? Do they lack potential? The answer is no. We all have potential.
Here’s the interesting thing. Teachers in low-income schools have followed through with students (whole classes of them!) to the end, to see high rates of graduation and continuation to college. And these teachers did it within those low-income schools. Certainly, some of these teachers were from the middle class, and without a doubt, some of their middle-class values and actions were imparted in the process. But, they did it in the students’ context. This, my friends, is redemption.
Interestingly, a non-believing student in my class expressed her aggravation with the rescue method that Abelev seemed to advocate. She stated that we are taught to work in non-traditional settings, that the system needs to be changed, that we are responsible for those “other kids” that don’t self-select into mentorship by some benevolent middle-class person. Social workers, my friends, are looking for the redemption model too. It was so encouraging that someone else, outside of my Christian bubble, identified the same issue I did, and longs to see the model Christ used in everyday, practical issues of this world. It encouraged me how much the world, regardless of knowing it, is crying out for redemption.
