This morning is All Saints Sunday, which is always associated with Halloween – except that in church it’s not about goblins and ghosts rising up from the grave to haunt us and frighten our children. It’s about what St. Paul called “the great cloud of witnesses” – our ancestors in the faith who along with us constitute the living body of Christ in the world. The reason we read the text from Revelation is because of its reference to that “great multitude… from every nation, tribe, people, and language” gathering before God’s throne. They represent the saints who had come through the “great ordeal” – likely a reference to the rule of Rome during periods when Christians were persecuted. So, there they are – the saints, gathered before the throne, not of Caesar, but of God and the Lamb of God, “crying out in a loud voice…Salvation belongs to our God.”

 

What I want to do this morning is to explore the meaning of salvation in a way that truly includes all the saints. Why is the word and doctrine of “salvation” important to some Christians, but less meaningful for other Christians? They actually need to reinterpret the idea for it to have any relevance to their lives. Without some critical thought, it is assumed that when we hear the word “salvation” it has universal meaning and application in the Christian religion – which it does not. The truth is that at a certain stage or wave of development, Christians would rather not even use the word. I want to bring a frame of reference that will help to understand why this is true. But even more importantly, by understanding the differences between Christians, there is a possibility that we can find ways to build bridges of understanding. Salvation may be “from God”, as the writer of Revelation asserts, but it gets interpreted according to our situation in life.

 

The first step toward this bridge-building is to add to the list of those gathered around the throne of God – from every nation, tribe, people, and gathering – another category. People from every stage or wave of development need to be included in our conversation about all the saints gathered around the throne of God. Human beings pass through stages of development, individually and collectively, as we respond to increasingly complex life conditions and problems of existence. The problems that we solve at one level give rise to a new set of life conditions that require a new level of complexity. Each of these stages brings new perspectives, beliefs, assumptions about reality, along with new political, social, and economic forms organization. In other words, what really matters to us changes with the emergence of each new perspective on life. The meaning of metaphors such as “salvation” shifts along with the perceived role of religion.

 

These waves or worldviews have been identified thanks to the great work of Dr. Don Beck and Spiral Dynamics.

 

Survival Stage

 

With the appearance of the first human being, survival is what matters. The instincts are fine-tuned to get enough food, shelter, and safety to last the day. We see this survivalist worldview today in people who are addicted and homeless. We see it in African villages decimated by AIDS, and in disaster relief situation. Here, salvation is literally a matter of being saved from death. Salvation is food in the belly, shelter from the cold, and safety from enemies. Much of Jesus’ ministry was to people at this survivalist stage of development. “When did we see you hungry, naked, in prison?” asks Peter,  and Jesus responds: “In as much as you did it to the least of these, you did it unto me.” Salvation at this stage is a rescue mission.

 

Kinspirits

 

From this basic level, tribes begin to form as a more effective way of taking care of these basic needs. The world is perceived as alive with spirits – in trees, in lakes, in plants, in animals. The spirits may be good or they may be evil. Shaman or medicine men develop special powers of being able to commune in this spirit world and keep the tribe safe from evil spirits. Nature is enchanting, but frightening, and what is needed is the power over the evil spirits. Salvation at this level is associated with appeasing the spirits of the natural world and the formation of strong kinship ties with the tribe and with the ancestors. If a person reads through the New Testament and what really lights them up are stories of Jesus calming the seas, walking on water, and casting out evil spirits, then we know that this Kin Spirit perspective is operative in them. Christ is Magician or Shaman at this level. Jesus may or may not have performed these miracles of power over nature, but to this stage of development it is what really matters.

 

Warrior

 

The next stage of development can be called the Warrior. The impulse to self-expression asserts itself in a very direct and often aggressive way. This is a stage of development at which a strong leader rises up and takes what he wants without guilt. Many of the stories in the First Testament or the Old Testament reflect this stage of consciousness as the writers project on to Yahweh, their God, the characteristics of the warrior: the conquest of Canaan, the slaying of the 400 Baal prophets by God; Still today, there are Christians who invoke Christ as warrior to help them triumph over the enemy – the invasion of Iraq, for example, was supported by Christians who believed that Christ would aid the American troops in defeating Sadaam Hussein. Historically, the church invoked this Christ to lead them in the crusades against the infidels. Here Christ triumphs, and salvation associated with the mighty powers of God over the enemy. Apocalyptic literature, such as the reading we heard this morning is written from this perspective. The Lamb, Christ, has triumphed over the Beast – Rome.

 

Truth Force

 

Out of this potentially chaotic, violent, and even anarchic stage comes an awareness develops that this ethic of dominance by force is unsustainable. The traditional or truth-force consciousness emerges. There is right and wrong, good and evil, black and white in the world. The Scriptures of world religions comes into existence to support the idea of a higher purpose, or absolute Truth, and belief in a God who desires moral order. Think the Law of Moses and the 10 commandments. We tend to be dismissive or disdainful of this perspective, but without it the foundations of moral order would not have been established. There is a church in San Diego, for example, that has an outreach program to the city’s gangs – who function from a warrior stage of consciousness. This church offers them moral order, Truth, and a higher purpose. Christ becomes an authority figure in their life. It is a very effective ministry. Salvation at this stage is associated with absolute Truth, higher purpose, and the reward of the good and the punishment of the bad. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and nobody gets to God except through him. The person “saved” by Christ is saved by right belief.

 

So, can you see how salvation means different things to different people depending on what stage they are at. Who Christ is for us, and how Christ shifts in relation to our life conditions. When we exit the Truth-Force level of development, the idea of salvation becomes more abstract. From here on, nobody is literally looking for an external God to rescue, perform feats of magic, triumph over anybody else, or reveal The Truth to them. With the emergence of the modern era, humans begin to realize that they have the power to shape their own future – we become fascinated with our own agency.

 

Achievist

 

At the next level – the Achievist – we begin to strategize for own success. We look for best solutions, not what the authorities have told us. This is also the level at which empirical science dethroned religion. It was out with superstition and myth, and in with our own power to make things happen. Where religious belief is retained, we see the emergence of entrepreneurial religion – the Crystal Cathedrals, Willow Creek and the rest of the mega churches, that use every corporate strategy at their disposal to swell their ranks. Here salvation is associated with success, growth and prosperity. These are the signs that God is with you and your church. Paul’s strategic plan to spread the gospel to the Gentiles through his elaborate network of house churches is an example of this Achievist ethic at work. At this level, Jesus is CEO - dressed for success. The mega churches have learned to downplay salvation and redemption in their public branding. It’s part of their strategy for growth.

 

Human Bond

 

Out of this focus on achievement, growth and success, an awareness emerges that there are left behinds, people who are excluded from this circle of prosperity. The focus on success and growth can leave families and whole societies fragmented – not to mention a planet decimated! The marginalized are excluded because of gender, skin, sexual orientation, physical limitations or geographical location. This stage is called Human Bond. Here, people must be put ahead of profit and success. The individual must be willing to subsume his or her self-interest for the sake of the larger community. Salvation is associated with expanding our circles of belonging. Jesus is Good Shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep in order to find the one lost sheep. The Kingdom of God becomes the Kin-dom of God. We belong to one human family and all must have equal access to the earth’s resources and wealth. You may find yourself resonating with this description, because the United Church of Canada has its center of gravity at this Human Bond stage.

 

Tier 2

 

Human Bond is the highest stage of a set of worldviews at Tier 1. But the fellow who came up with this system, Dr. Clare Graves, noticed in his research that there was an exponential jump after this level into Tier 2. For example, in Tier 1, there was a decided tendency to trash all the other perspectives. People whose center is located at Human Bond tend to be disdainful of people at the Achievist level. We’ve pretty much driven them – and their money – away from church. Big mistake. The Achievist level thinks of Human Bond level as a bit flaky – they have no practical solutions to the world’s problems except to love everybody. The traditionalists think that the rest of us are bound for hell, and the Warriors are ready to blow the whole lot of us up, because there is no room for them in the world anymore.

 

But at Tier 2, there is a recognition that every level has its dignities and its disasters and what matters is to help everybody at whatever level they are at with their healthiest expression. Warriors are able to take strong stands. Traditionalists believe in a higher purpose. Achievists make this happen. Human Bonders take care of the marginalized. At this next level, you stop judging so harshly, and get on with the project of getting along.

 

Flex-Flow

 

The next level is called Flex-Flow or Integral. Here you begin to realize that treating everybody equally - universal healthcare, two official languages, making accessibility a priority is very costly, not only financially, but in terms of the time and energy it takes to care for everybody, all the time. This level is called Flex Flow, which refers to the capacity to solve problems non-ideologically, to think outside the box – those on the “right” finally realize that there is a role for the state in the regulation of financial markets, and those on the “left” recognize that there is a place for personal initiative – the problem is not all with “the system”. Jesus is the Pragmatic Idealist. The Scripture that lights up a person functioning from this center of gravity are the so-called “hard sayings” of Jesus. “Let the dead bury the dead”; “the poor will be with you always”; “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God”. Paul solves the issues of Christian eating meat offered to idols from this level of consciousness. Categories of “right” and “left” begin to lose their meaning. The world is recognized as a complex network of interacting systems and each of these systems needs to be included in any emergent solution. At the foundation of these systems is the bio-system of the planet, which for the first time is included as an integral to finding functional solutions to life on earth. Salvation is associated with discovering holistic solutions grounded in a spirituality that is planetary in scope.

 

Transformation

 

The last level I will talk about is highly speculative, because it is found in such a small percentage of the human population. I’ve called it Mystical. Another possible name might be Transformational. Here Jesus is the Wisdom of God  – fully human and fully divine. But his full humanity and full divinity is a prototype for all of humanity. From the traditionalist stage, Jesus alone could claim this status. It was heresy – and probably still is for many to entertain the claim that all of us have the capacity to be fully human and fully divine.

 

An awareness emerges – based in felt experience, or what the ancients called “gnosis” - that we are essentially one with God and with the universe. “Before Abraham was”, says Jesus, “I am”. This “I amness” state of consciousness describes our essential identity. From a felt sense of the radical interconnectedness with Spirit, with earth, and with all beings, the egoic consciousness dissolves and you begin to identify increasingly with Spirit, in the absolute realm, and with the evolutionary universe in the manifest realm. You have experiences that you a part of God that is a reflection of the divine, and you are a part of the universe that is a reflection of the entire universe. Life is holographic – every part reveals the Whole. And from this awareness of essential unity your heart is broken open in compassion for the suffering of the world and in joy for the sheer magnificence of life. Those who are authentically at this stage, do not disengage in bliss from the world, but rather understand that they are here to serve the world. This is enlightened engagement, or sacred activism.