Good Post, Jenell Paris

Good Post, Jenell Paris September 15, 2013

I liked this post by Jenell Paris, and you can go to the link to read the whole:

“Being saved is about your whole life, and all the decisions you make each day. You can’t just rest on the fact that you prayed a certain prayer.” So said my childhood friend, now a mother of small children, when I asked whether she is teaching her children to become born-again in the way we were thirty years ago. I’m wondering how to talk about salvation with my own young children. Was “asking Jesus into your heart” just a metaphor that helped my generation be connected to the sacred, or is it a vital step of faith?

“But still,” she continued, “my kids have prayed the sinner’s prayer. I’m not totally sure what I think about it, but it’s good insurance. You know; something to fall back on. At least they’re several years away from the age of accountability, so I don’t have to worry about it too much yet.”

In my house, the age of accountability is whatever age you happen to be, even for matters of great spiritual importance. My four-year-olds are held accountable for their decisions, and so is the 2-year-old, and so is the 36-year-old and so is the 42-year-old. I can imagine my preschoolers being questioned by the Great Judge, “Did you enjoy the sunshine I gave you? What about all that love your parents had for you – did you receive it? And the bruise on your twin’s face, Sam, have you apologized for that yet?” No ifs, ands, or buts; we’re each accountable. In age appropriate ways, all people are responsive to and responsible for the grace, love, and joy that flow in and out of our lives.

It was the insurance, though, that really got me thinking. Is it a good idea to have an insurance policy against spiritual failure, even hell itself? I buy insurance to protect the semi-valuable things in my life: possessions and income. Health insurance supports my pursuit of longevity, and when that fails, life insurance promises to shore up my loved ones’ financial well-being. The most valuable things in my life, however, have no back-up.


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