BHF residents and salvation

At BHF in October we had a lot of residents who considered themselves 'ex-Christians' or I use to be a Christians. This was particularly interesting for me and led to many interesting conversations, especially in regards to promises in the Bible about Jesus(ie. he will never leave us or once we have received salvation life is easier-- I know this one is probably more a tenant of a stream of Christianity than what Jesus teaches in the Gospel, but it is so prevalent in churches in North America it is hard to get away from). One resident from Nunavut gave the response that he is no longer a christian because Jesus let him down, so he is going to live life for himself. This resident grew up in a fairly conservative/evangelical family with a literalistic view of the Bible.

As I was having these conversations, it hit me that a lot of their problems with Christianity is that promises they were told in a typical conversion or sinner's prayer experience had no real value in life. While these teens might be extreme cases with having little family to rely on, thus having no supports during the tumultuous adolescence.

I always went back to a song my friend Joey turned me onto by Brand New called Jesus Christ. I have included the lyrics below and bolded the parts that these teens were asking and questioning again and again.

Jesus Christ by Brand New

Jesus Christ, that's a pretty face
The kind you'd find on someone that could save
If they don't put me away
It’ll be a miracle
Do you believe you're missing out?
That everything good is happening somewhere else
With nobody in your bed
The night is hard to get through
And I will die all alone
And when I arrive I won’t know anyone
Jesus Christ, I’m alone again
So what did you do those three days you were dead?
Because this problem is gonna last
More than the weekend
Jesus Christ I’m not scared to die
But I’m a little bit scared of what comes after
Do I get the gold chariot
Or do I float through the ceiling
Or do I divide and pull apart
Cause my bright is too slight to hold back all my dark
This ship went down in sight of land
And at the gates does Thomas ask to see my hands?
I know you're coming in the night like a thief
But I’ve had some time, O Lord, to hone my lying technique
I know you think that I’m someone you can trust
But I’m scared I’ll get scared and I swear
I’ll try to nail you back up
So do you think that we could work out a sign
So I’ll know it's you and that it's over so I won't even try
I know you're coming for the people like me
But we all got wood and nails
And we turn out hate in factories
We all got wood and nails
And we turn out hate in factories
We all got wood and nails
And we sleep inside of this machine


I kept on thinking about these boys, every time i listen to the lyrics and wonder the role of the Church in salvation. I am becoming very skeptical about any understanding of salvation that is separated from a church community. I am hoping to read Scot McKnight's A community called Atonement shortly, I figure he will touch on these topics. I doubt even the strongest of adolescence stand a chance in this world without people to support them and be the Church.