Gift Exchange

Taking Symbols and Imaging a second time has been fun - a chance to re-hear [rehearse?] some things that maybe fell out of my brain after the first time I took the class. I did all the reading for class the first time I took it, and the absence of the threat of a test meant that I really didn't feel like doing any of the reading this time around. But I've enjoyed just sitting in class again, not doing any of the outside work this time, and quite a bit has come back to me throughout the lectures.

After both times I've taken this class, I've started thinking in terms of sign theory. No, seriously. Every little thing starts popping out and reminding me of something we discussed in class. Maybe that's enough to classify me under the "nerd" label. But it's true.The following is something that popped out to me the other day, and I almost couldn't contain my indignation. Well, not 'almost' I guess. Obviously I couldn't, seeing as I'm sitting here writing about it.

gift

noun
1. something given  voluntarily without payment in return, as to show favor toward someone.

exchange

verb
3. to give and receive reciprocally; interchange: to exchange blows.

How weird is it that in our culture we have paired these two words together?

One of the textbooks we use for class is titled Changing Signs of Truth by Crystal L. Downing, and this is an observation she makes in the book. She extrapolates on "the economy of exchange" from theorist Jacques Derrida. She points out that a gift is something that is given absolutely freely, with no strings attached, and not because it was in any way deserved. If it is truly a gift, it is not given in exchange for anything else. No transaction takes place. Because it's a gift. More often, our gifts are not gifts at all, but exchanges. We come to expect gifts on our birthdays because we deserve them because it's our birthday. We do "gift" exchanges with our family and friends at Christmastime. But these stray from the true definition of "gift." An attitude of exchange cheapens the value of a gift.

As Christians, we absolutely turn salvation into an exchange rather than seeing it for what it truly is: a gift. Grace--the free and unmerited favor of God given to man. She says that "as soon as we perceive strings attached, we no longer see it as a gift," and "rather than accept reconciliation with God as a gift available to any taker, religious people feel the need to do or say something in exchange for God's favor, believing that their extra efforts will earn them grace. Believing so, they undermine the very concept of grace." We don't "owe God good works" in exchange for the gift of salvation.

We don't have to do anything in order for the gift of salvation to be extended to us. Jesus said "follow me." That's all he said. The gift has already been extended to us. So why do we put qualifiers on it?

In the research I've been doing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I was given a book with a biblical perspective on some of the prophecy that can be found in scripture regarding Israel in the last days. At the end, apparently the author of the last chapter--"Practical Advice for Perilous Times"--felt the need to include what I will dub an "altar call," which he places in the last subdivision of the chapter, titled "Practical Advice to Those Who May Not Know Jesus Personally." The end of the book is really what you might find in any tract you happened to pick up: a four-step process to salvation. His precise words are, "All you need to do is to follow four simple steps to turn toward God and trust Him... and He will meet you where you are."

Going back to Downing and my Symbols and Imaging class, the questions that immediately came to my mind when I read this were, "Why four steps? Who decided it was four? Why these four? What happens if you don't complete all four exactly the way it's written in this little book?" The way the sentence reads is, if you do [these four steps exactly as I have written them for you here], then God will meet you where you are. An "economy of exchange."

Is it just me or is that contradictory? We have to get somewhere and then God will meet us where we are? I would have to say I disagree. I think God meets us where we are. Invites us to follow him. And that is all.

Printed out underneath the four neat little steps is a version of the "sinner's prayer." You know -

"Dear Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner and need Your forgiveness. I believe that You died for my sins on the cross. I want to turn from my sins. I now invite You into my heart to forgive me and give me eternal life. I want to trust You as my Savior. Amen."

Where do we get that whole "invite You into my heart" bit? Unless I'm much mistaken, that's something we made up. Where does that even come from? Jesus never said, "Pray the sinner's prayer and you will be saved." He never said, "Ask me into your heart and you will be saved." He said "I am the way the truth and the life." He also said "Follow me."

I do realize that the steps are supposed to make it easier for people who have maybe never had a context for anything regarding the salvation of their souls. But I wonder if, sometimes, we give people the wrong idea from the get-go.

The phrase "meet you where you are" reminded me of a story.

After my freshman year, I took the Gen Ed New Testament class over May Term with a professor who is no longer teaching at IWU, Dr. Dave Smith. My class may have been one of his last--I don't remember--he left not too much later. To say that he made an impression on me would be accurate. He challenged me to think about things in ways I hadn't before, and I've grown up with Bible classes all my life. He forced me out of my comfort zone, and shed light on passages that I didn't know I'd never understood. He told life stories that I'll never forget, and upon completion of the class I seriously contemplated taking another religion class just to have him as a professor again. Before I found out he was leaving, that is. (And that's saying something. Call me un-Godly or un-Christian or something, but taking an Inductive Bible Study class just for funsies does not typically sound like a way I'd enjoy spending a semester.) I wish I'd had the chance to get to know him better. But all that to say that one of the stories Dr. Smith told comes to mind now whenever I hear the phrase "meet you where you are."

He said that he was in a church once--I think he was the pastor at the time. One Sunday, a woman who was a prostitute came to the church and sat at the back. She vanished before anyone else got up out of their seats to leave, but a couple Sundays later, he said, she was back again. And one Sunday, she walked up to the front of the church because she wanted to be saved. Dr. Smith said people stared at her all the way up the aisle in her mini-skirt, glittery high heels, loud and colorful low-cut top and heavy makeup. When she got to the altar, he asked if someone would come and pray with her. He said an older lady from the congregation got up and came to pray with her, and when she reached her, the woman knelt down beside her and asked her if she wanted to be saved. The woman who was a prostitute said that yes, she did, and the woman from the congregation said, "Well, let's wipe that makeup off your face." I'm pretty sure I remember Dr. Smith saying that it was all he could do to keep the anger out of his voice, but he immediately knelt down, looked at both of them and said, "She doesn't need to do anything. You can be saved right now--he'll meet you where you are. All you have to do is trust in him. Would you like to pray with me?"

It's not an economy of exchange. We don't need to do anything first before God will meet us where we are. That's the whole point. He's already there.