Dear Jeff,

Good question. First, let’s untangle some of the religious baggage.

A lot of us grew up hearing salvation pitched like it was some kind of cosmic transaction. Say the right prayer, believe the right things, and you get your one-way ticket to heaven and get to skip the suffering, avoid the eternal flames, all that.

But here’s the thing: salvation, especially in the Bible, isn’t primarily about escaping earth. It’s not a spiritual evacuation plan. What is the word for salvation in scripture? It’s tied to healing. To restoration. To being made whole again – not just in some far-off afterlife, but right here, in the messy, complicated now.

Progressive Christianity leans into that. We don’t see salvation as a one-time moment, a magic password, or a fear tactic. It’s a lifelong journey of being drawn back into Love (Love with a capital L) with ourselves, each other, and this world.

And it’s not just personal. Salvation, in this context, is collective.

It looks like liberation from systems that dehumanize people.
It looks like healing from the shame and exclusion some churches taught us to carry.
It looks like building communities where dignity isn’t up for debate.

It’s justice. It’s compassion. It’s wholeness showing up in real time, not someday, somewhere else.

Look, salvation doesn’t mean everything gets easy. It doesn’t mean life stops being hard. But it means we stop believing the lie that we’re alone in it. It means we participate in the sacred work of mending what’s been broken.

So, in a progressive Christian context? Salvation isn’t about escaping Earth. It’s about restoring it. It’s about healing wounds (both personal and collective) and co-creating something more just, more loving, more whole.

And that, I’d argue, is way more meaningful than some spiritual checklist.

~ Rev. Dr. Mark Sandlin