At House to House, we have long ago given up counting “salvations” in our ministry as our definition of success. Don’t get me wrong, we love it when people decide to make a step toward following Christ, but we know that growing with God never stops! Accepting Jesus as your Savior is just the beginning of the never ending discovery with God.

We have decided instead to define success as people who are in community with one another seeking God together, and inevitably growing in their faith. Sometimes, the people who attend our bible sharing groups have not made a commitment to follow Jesus. Sometimes they come with resentment from former religious experiences. Sometimes they come with simple curiosity knowing nothing about following Jesus. Sometimes they have been “saved” for years, but they don’t know how to live out their faith in a community.  But in any case they are welcome just as they are.

We are constantly working out our salvation throughout our lives. Cultivating it and maturing in our faith through our experiences with God and with our community as it says in Philippians 2:12. 

So then, my dear ones, just as you have always obeyed [my instructions with enthusiasm], not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation [that is, cultivate it, bring it to full effect, actively pursue spiritual maturity] with awe-inspired fear and trembling [using serious caution and critical self-evaluation to avoid anything that might offend God or discredit the name of Christ].- Philippians 2:12 AMP

If we were to make the mistake of making the goal of our ministry "salvations”, then we would miss all the opportunities for discipleship, growth and change that must follow after (and before) that commitment to Christ. If salvation were the goal, what would happen if someone attended a bible sharing group for months or years and did not commit themselves to Christ? Would we have failed in our mission? If salvation is the goal, then yes, we would have failed. But success at House to House is not counted in salvations, it’s counted in relational commitment to the community and to God. So, if we see the commitment of someone to engage with a community of believers, we define that as success because that person is growing in their community of faith. Maybe that person goes from hating Christians, to hating them less, to even liking some of them. Maybe one day that person will make a commitment to follow Jesus, but that decision is between them and Jesus and not for any of us to define. 

We are all on this journey of faith. Sometimes our faith journey is filled with deep growth and other times our faith can feel stagnant. But in any way, we are working out our salvation in our relationship with Jesus. We cannot rest our faith on a single moment of commitment to God. Much like the intimate relationships in our life, our salvation takes work, conversation (with God in prayer in this case), time and vulnerability. Let us surrender any pride or guardedness over to God and seek Him together and trust that we will grow in our faith.