I often find words we commonly use in Christian circles have meanings beyond what I thought. One of those words is “soul.” “Soul” is usually thought of as something that is a part of us, like a hand or a foot. At a gathering of the American Baptist Churches of Michigan,1 Ruth Haley Barton gave a definition of “soul” which I found fascinating. “‘Soul’ is that place in ourselves where we can connect with God.”
Approaching “soul” in this way makes it a much more active word. The soul is about connection. It isn’t something we have that’s separate from our whole being; it exists in relationship with God. The “soul” isn’t the spirit of an individual who Jesus died to rescue; it’s the place of connection with God.
From this perspective, what Jesus did was to bring us into a relationship with God. At the point our spirit was secured, there’s no worry about losing our salvation because it’s an act of God, not something of our own. However, it’s possible to lose our connection with God. When that happens, one is left to drift in life, being aware of something missing yet unable to connect with the God one knows to be there. One is like the prodigal child who knows that in the father’s house things are a lot better, but they are stuck in a foreign country.2
While we are secure in our salvation, without the ongoing connection with God, we aren’t really receiving the benefit of what God has done in Jesus. In the Gospel According to John the 10th chapter, verse 10, Jesus says he came so we could have life. Actually, he says he wants us to have abundant life or life to the fullest.
In Mark 8:36 Jesus asks the disciples what good it will do if someone gains the whole world but loses their soul. The implied answer is that it won’t do anyone any good. At one time I understood “lose their soul” to mean “loses their salvation.” That isn’t in line with what the rest of the scriptures say. When one thinks of soul in terms of the place of connection with God, what Jesus says makes more sense.
We can lose our connection with God. I want to suggest that loss of connection with God isn’t because of specific sins, it’s because we don’t do the things we need to do to stay connected. One implication is: The importance of studying the scripture, prayer, and worshiping together isn’t so much to keep us from sin, as it is to keep us connected with God.
Once one loses their connection with God, all other connections are affected. Nothing can substitute for that connection. All the connections in the world, all the acclaim and recognition in the world, will never replace being in close connection with God.
There is one important piece of good news in all of this: God wants to be connected with us. God never gives up on that connection and all that is needed for us to reestablish our connection is to reach out to God.
Even if we don’t remain faithful in connecting with God, God remains faithful to us. That faithfulness is based on who God is. For God to not remain faithful is impossible because it’s in God’s nature to remain faithful. Paul tells Timothy, “If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.”3 Guard your connection with God carefully. Nurture it regularly through study of scripture, worship, and prayer, seeking to grow in Christ.
