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We want the good life now: Insights 
from lived religion for a whole person 
and communal approach to salvation 
in the twenty-first century

Dejan Aždajić
Lecturer and research associate at the Freie Theologische Hochschule Gießen, 
Germany. 
Email: azdajic@fthgiessen.de 
Orcid ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6090-2618

Abstract

While late-modern people in contemporary western societies may be curi-
ous about salvation and have questions regarding the hereafter, they clearly 
long to achieve human flourishing here and now. To obtain this goal, special 
prominence is given to the affective dimension, embodied spiritual practices 
and personal experiences. At the same time, the Church in the west continues 
to insist on prioritizing cognitive word-based pedagogies and offers merely a 
marginal emphasis on experiential bodily participation. This strategy that high-
lights content over purpose has largely resulted in a diminished impact consid-
ering the significantly changed religious landscape. Consequently, this paper 



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intends to offer relevant insights from lived religion with its explicit emphasis 
on enacted theology as a communal source for catechetical instruction and the 
whole-body prioritization for a salvific encounter with God. Reflecting on these 
important aspects contributes to a more contextual and holistic understanding 
of how the Church can promote the good life now, while increasing its practical 
effectiveness in its traditional proclamation of God’s salvation for the world.

Keywords: lived religion, salvation, secularism, human flourishing, embodi-
ment, religious experience

Times have changed: Salvation for the here and now

Times are changing, and it appears that in the modern era this notion is not only 
true, but increasingly accelerating. While Europe has evidently been considered 
a mission field for decades (Paas, 2012: 45), the ever intensifying secularization 
process has continued to marginalize the influence and authority of Christian-
ity as the principal blueprint for life and has inaugurated a widespread post-
Christian worldview in the context of most western societies (Paas, 2011: 6). 
While in the past the basic assumption of a supreme and eternal transcendent 
reality dominated the landscape, today’s age is characterized by a clear shift in 
plausibility structures, where it is completely feasible to live without reference 
to God. The material world has been intentionally divested of any compelling 
dependence on transcendent categories for obtaining objective meaning. God 
is viewed as merely one viable option among many. These changed conditions 
ought to compel Christians in the west to deeply rethink what the gospel and 
the lasting message of salvation might be within this post-Christian setting and 
develop a creative vision of how best to present the unchanging biblical story 
considering the new circumstances.

The beginning of this transformation can be broadly traced back to the 
Reformation, and from there through Enlightenment philosophy until the 
present time (Gregory, 2012). With the permission to abandon the perceived 
constraint of institutional religion and any perceived guilt regarding the bur-
den of spiritual responsibility coupled with the ensuing emancipation of the 
individual, disbelief had no longer significant social repercussions. Established 
rules or fitting into a cultural order that provided a certain sense of identity was 
replaced with unprecedented personal freedom. Salvation shifted from partici-
pation in the life of the Church to the independent activity of attaining personal 
fulfilment and happiness (Rooms, 2018: 102–103). The notion that people are in 



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their essence worshipping beings was firmly negated. Not only has the need for 
God incessantly decreased, but the abolition of God has even been considered 
by some as a necessary precondition for genuine fulfilment. The basic claim is 
that the rejection of God and the acceptance that human beings are alone in the 
universe represents the ultimate expression of bravery and the requirement for 
actual freedom (Rollins, 2012: 201–202). Even for those who chose to continue 
participating in religion as one legitimate option among many, this has been 
manifestly reduced to a private endeavour, where acceptance by God no longer 
depended first and foremost on institutional Church membership and demands 
for creedal affirmation. Instead, religion needed to conform to a private vision 
about the world and the inner judgment of the individual about the ultimate 
meaning of life. Long-standing concepts such as sin, confession, and redemp-
tion, all became personal categories that encouraged an individualistic form of 
faith that would have been inconceivable to previous generations.

This privatization and internalization of faith resulted in the reduction of 
external, cultic practices and the migration of spirituality to where believing 
became an inner, intellectual category, which occurred somewhere within, deep 
on the inside of the autonomous independent thinking subject. People increas-
ingly began to believe that they were finally liberated from cultic constraints 
and clerical authority and were now not only responsible, but also able to make 
their own decisions and shape their own destinies. The vision of human flour-
ishing became the end goal. The premise that individuals were perhaps unable 
to save themselves became incomprehensible, thereby further depreciating the 
need for ecclesiastical communities and divine assistance. But is transcendence 
a threat, or perhaps the only satisfying response to the perpetual longings of the 
human heart? Perhaps it is possible to represent the of role the Church less as an 
institution of repression, and more of a communal journey of transformation. 
Nevertheless, this remarkable development of private autonomy and trust in 
the boundless potential of humanity combined with the simultaneous decline 
of belief in eternal life and the need for God, resulted in the attempt to construct 
meaning and significance through personal effort without any reference to a 
transcendent reality.

God has in effect ceased to be part of the daily way of life for a major-
ity of late-modern people, while individual worth and a successful existence is 
now primarily sought within the boundaries of an immanent framework (Seel, 
2018). Long-established concepts such as sin, redemption and salvation, that 
for centuries carried inherently agreed defining characteristics, have been rein-
terpreted and have taken on new meanings. This secular re-appropriation of 
familiar terms reveals fundamentally changed assumptions that must be taken 



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seriously. For instance, while most theologians would agree that the doctrine 
of salvation entails certain promises and benefits in this world it must also by 
necessity await its final fulfilment in the future. Such a predetermined soterio-
logical postponement, however, has ceased to be considered good news (Paas 
& Schaeffer, 2021: 334). The enduring human dilemma and profound quest to 
discover the underlying meaning of life abandoned any post-mortem concep-
tions and focused predominantly on the present actualization of human flour-
ishing. For this reason, the ultimate spiritual, and presently non-tangible aim 
of salvation gradually transformed into a search for immediate satisfaction in 
everyday life and the concrete achievement of human happiness today.

While contemporaneous flourishing in daily life is certainly also anchored 
deep within Christian theology, traditional approaches have until now tacitly 
assumed that our dialogue partner shared a similar view about a transcendent 
existence. This constitutes a methodological hurdle and exposes an inadequate 
understanding of the changes that have taken place. We need a renewed imagi-
nation about ultimate meaning and human flourishing in order to develop a 
viable response to the self-sufficiency that is characteristic of today’s secular 
societies. The new circumstances of a disparate accentuation regarding the loca-
tion and exact timing of salvation’s manifestation assuredly represents pressing 
interpretive as well as communicational challenges that must be addressed 
and overcome. It has become indispensable to stop speaking past the listen-
ers. The contemporary Christian understanding of salvation and other relevant 
theological categories is clearly confronted with a reordered western culture, 
thereby necessitating an intelligible representation of what it means to be saved. 
Added to these significant changes has been the pluralization and resultant 
relativization of traditionally established truth claims.

In our secular age there is an overwhelming number of possible choices for 
belief. Modern people may perhaps be unable to determine absolute truth but 
that is acceptable assuming that the freedom to independently choose remains. 
The Kantian notion that equivocated freedom with limitless choice appears to 
dominate secular thinking. The emancipation from perceived constraints that 
inevitably leads to a wide diversity of possibilities is readily preferred, even if the 
consequence is a pronounced fragmentation and a high probability of uncer-
tainty (Noble, 2018: 54). As long as people are free to choose according to an 
inner standard, the intrinsic essence of the object of belief or its correspondence 
to axiomatic norms remains secondary. Objective facts are now individually 
determined, where each person is entitled to being the locus of absolute mean-
ing. Flaws in basic beliefs and the resulting dissonance is hardly troubling, since 
there are always new ideas and additional evidence to consider. And since truth 



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is perceived to essentially be subjective and geared towards pragmatic results, 
choosing a loose patchwork of beliefs that periodically contradict one another 
does not necessarily require rational congruency.

Moreover, due to globalization, the multiplication of diverse options and 
an indefinite number of contested possibilities, that which is real must ulti-
mately be determined by the independent authority of either the individual or 
a cohesive community of individuals. This democratization of truth, where the 
opinion of the majority assumes the prerogative to determine what is right, has 
further contributed to the erosion of previously held common ground. Cer-
tainty about right and wrong is perpetually questioned and traditional binary 
thinking largely discredited as an inferior approach to comprehending reality 
as a whole and successfully navigating through life. Knowledge about ultimate 
truth inescapably remains partial and actual lived experience suggests a perpet-
ually continuing modification of perspectives on the world. Seel suggests that 
the essential attitude for modern people is that they believe that, “Pure truth is 
an abstraction, not a lived experience” (Seel, 2018: 49). Instead, what is impor-
tant is to live authentically according to an ongoing internal and progressive 
process of discovery, rather than submit to any external dogmatic propositions.

Truth has essentially migrated from an external objective reality, which 
was for centuries fundamentally informed by the Christian story, to its current 
location on the inside, where “safe within our heads, we interpret what is good, 
what is true, what is beautiful, and who we are” (Noble, 2018: 89). While this 
interiorization of truth by self-reliant and self-confident individuals has been 
part of modern culture for some time, the current constellation that continues 
to elevate individual independence at the expense of any collectively accepted 
foundational and permanent axioms, has resulted in deepening the rift between 
past assumptions and the present reality. This unique combination of a desired 
immediacy of salvation that is principally expressed through this-worldly goals, 
with previously accepted facts becoming subjective and internal, has led to the 
complete prioritization of pursuing personal well-being and momentary plea-
sures (Sayers, 2010: 19). Simply put, a particular form of pragmatic expediency 
has for secular people become the essential guiding principle for determining 
reality. The natural consequence of the relativization and subordination of truth 
to the fluctuating preferences of individuals has been an increased insistence on 
the guiding role of experiences in their supposed ability to detect and confirm 
the authentic.

The logic is clear. If definitive certainty is denigrated and perpetually mixed 
with doubt, and absolute external objective meaning ultimately unattainable, 
then a decisive strategy must be employed to find other reliable sources that 



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offer explanatory assistance and orientation to make sense of reality. For this 
reason, the only valid approach to transcend human limitation and apprehend 
genuine truth is to rely on subjective affections and experiences. The depend-
ability of a rationally assumed philosophical worldview or the correctness of 
a particular external object of belief has become subordinate to the principle 
of expressive individualism and the strength of genuine individual feelings 
(Smith, 2014: 88). The fundamental search for axiomatic truth that would be 
congruent with rational categories was replaced with the pursuit of happiness, 
which was, “attainable through all sorts of experiences which, even if chosen, 
must be felt to be enjoyed” (Marsh, 2018: 19). The process of authenticating 
reality must consult individual feelings. In this way, affective experiences are 
no longer considered a by-product of engaging in certain spiritual practices or 
the implicit result of intrinsically meaningful action, but rather the determin-
ing standard that necessarily legitimizes all authoritative claims truth. Strictly 
speaking, if the felt experience is meaningful, authentic and positive, then there 
is a greater inclination to believe the theoretical content. Stories, the imagina-
tion and emotional impressions consequently trump abstract reflection.

Considering the enduring reality of this changed landscape, where late-
modern people display vastly altered views on life, meaning and salvation, then 
how should the Church respond? If human agency is viewed as self-sufficient 
and responsible for attaining the good life now apart from any divine assistance 
and if the inherent implication of what the gospel actually represents is left to 
each individual for personal interpretation, then traditional methodologies of 
communication are inherently restricted. Moreover, if emotions and the long-
ing for immediate human flourishing eclipse propositional content and the 
promise of an anticipated fulfilment in the hereafter, then contemporary Chris-
tian efforts to reach today’s secularized population with a convincing message 
of God’s salvation for the world must be realigned. To properly respond to these 
important challenges and advance constructive suggestions for future ecclesial 
practices, it is important to first offer a brief overview of the currently domi-
nating strategy. Following this limited analysis, I will introduce salient insights 
from research in the field of lived religion. In the final section, these insights 
will be further explored for the purpose of finding holistic and potentially more 
effective approaches to achieve the long-term overall aim of succeeding to con-
vey the Christian conception of salvation and the good life within the secular 
context of contemporary society.



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Salvation: A good story needs more than words

In the previous section I argued that the typical leitmotif for most Western 
culture is a pronounced longing for instant happiness and well-being that fun-
damentally depend on affective experiences to be considered authentic. For 
salvation to be good news, it is expected to be both pragmatic and immediate. 
Additionally, since axiomatic demarcations of objective truth are continuously 
shifting and ultimately contingent on autonomous acceptance by independent 
individuals, rational categories, and cognitive-based approaches as the primary 
means of transmitting religious content in contemporary pluralized society 
have increasingly lost their effectiveness. A word-based approach, where indi-
viduals can remain safely within the boundaries of the interior intellectual self, 
freely able to accept or reject propositional claims to truth appears to be less 
than optimal. Seel explains, “Much of our pedagogy is head, heart, and hand, 
or observation, interpretation, and application, when just the reverse is actu-
ally how we learn: hand, heart, and then head” (Seel, 2018: 19). It appears that 
theoretical ideas are best comprehended and internalized through the transfor-
mational power of embodied participation.

This is precisely what Butler argued, saying that theology is essentially 
embodied in practices and that “the distinction drawn between participating 
and thinking begins to erode as thinking becomes about participation and 
participation becomes an act of discernment” (Butler, 2020: 287). Since texts 
and ideas are inherently dependent on concrete embodiment in time and space 
and there is a seeming inseparable hermeneutical connection between beliefs 
and practices, then any meaningful religious tradition ought to be able to sat-
isfy both body and intellect. Consequently, there has been for many years an 
ecclesiastical wrangling with the question about finding an appropriate balance 
between Word and Sacrament (Ross, 2014). Does the cognitive acceptance of 
content based on words supersede the more multidimensional sensory experi-
ence of faith being expressed through a variety of external means? While there 
certainly has been a recent tendency to reemphasize certain liturgical elements 
within Protestant churches (Rempel, 2020), the spoken words still remains the 
predominant approach. Carefully choreographed ritual enactments have been 
largely replaced with a particular message that can be grasped with the mind. 
Verbal discourse takes precedence over bodily participation.

There are several examples of this attitude. For instance, Cronshaw and 
Barnett pointedly disapprove of the prevalence of word-centrism that is espe-
cially evident in today’s seminary education, saying, “Words, and words about 
words, are the currency of theological education” (Cronshaw and Barnett, 



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2017: 5). The role of the body as a significant locus of religious learning has 
been mostly disregarded. This is unfortunate since true spirituality cannot be 
reduced to a cerebral exercise. The teaching of doctrine that neglects a holis-
tic engagement with embodied practices will be severely limited to achieve 
its intentions, for it is paramount to enable practitioners to relate theological 
insights to a pragmatic understanding of how this may affect their everyday 
lives (Chan, 2006: 67). Another example of the pervasive attention on words 
and texts, often combined with an implicit anti-liturgical stance, is hardly any-
where more discernible than in many of the sermon-centric worship services, 
where knowledge about God typically depends on the communicative skills of 
gifted speakers, who are trained in the mastery of verbal exposition. In tandem 
with several other important developments, the evolution of the sermon as the 
main pedagogical and spiritual tool to comprehend God also has its roots in 
the Reformation, where “the rise of the word was at the expense of the use of 
the body in worship. Benches and pews took up space that would previously 
have been available for the movement of people in procession or for kneeling 
in prayer. Worship became increasingly a rational exercise” (Senn, 2012: 45). 
Knowing God through a holistic, co-participatory, bodily engagement gradu-
ally decreased in favour of passive listening with the predominant goal of cog-
nitive comprehension.

While it is certainly possible to attain spiritual insights and succeed in 
reaching certain religious experiences through a left brain, word-based empha-
sis, this rational orientation also suggests a somewhat incomplete understand-
ing of what it means to be human, since it is ultimately unable to reach the 
whole person. It also reveals the reoccurring tendency towards a dualistic, even 
reductionistic view of material reality, which tends to have “a very partial view 
of the human person” (Crawford, 2015:8). It is obvious that people are far more 
than thinking beings that can be satisfied by verbal concepts and abstract ideas. 
This viewpoint does not exclude rationality as one legitimate element among 
others that can certainly nurture devotion and facilitate a meaningful religious 
experience. The critique is rather directed toward the asymmetrical emphasis 
that reveals certain insufficiencies. What needs to be reassessed is the implicit 
assumption that views cognition as automatically superior to all other ways of 
attaining spiritual fulfilment and knowledge about God. A more balanced and 
holistic understanding requires a deeper anthropological affirmation of the 
interconnectedness of the physical body as a necessary vehicle for the transmis-
sion of religious truth. Becoming fully human is fundamentally an invitation to 
go beyond a rigid mind-body dualism that often disregards the significance of 
the body and the implicit embodied nature of all theological knowledge.



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Yet despite these important insights and especially considering the con-
temporary context where people demand an integrative and pragmatic vision 
of life, the Christian tendency continues to be an emphasis on the content of 
faith, while undervaluing the critical prominence of its purpose and func-
tion. For instance, it appears more common to answer what salvation means 
in terms of its doctrinal implication or an eschatological future, rather than 
what its precise purpose is for the here and now. Marsh argues, that is crucial 
to strive toward a considerable reorientation in the Christian communication 
about how salvation is understood and to “address the question of what salva-
tion means for the present” (Marsh, 2018: 209). If salvation is principally tied 
to an abstract story about the next life, then it will have foreseeable difficulties 
to compete in the pluralized marketplace of multiple stories that confidently 
proclaim flourishing in this world. This in no way denigrates the significance of 
the Christian story and its promise of salvation that is made available through 
faith in Christ. Revelation and God’s Word are crucial for helping people to 
understand their deep-seated hungers and hidden hopes. Words and ideational 
content remain decisive in addressing people’s true identity, perceptions about 
the world, and the intense longings of the heart, which ultimately can influence 
their decision-making and behaviour (Smith, 2013).

Even for thoroughly secular people, stories are foundational to make sense 
of this world (Roberts, 2020; Glasson & Marsh, 2019), which is why it is impor-
tant for Christians to continue to tell their version as convincingly as possible. 
The essential nature of any religion or worldview is to persuade others that 
their story and vision of the ultimate good life is worth believing, which is why, 
“religious stories are not necessarily different in kind from the other stories 
we tell” (Marsh, 2020: 53). The challenge remains, however, that the Christian 
story ought to go beyond its proclivity to overemphasize words and theologi-
cal assumptions and take seriously the whole person. This includes individual 
passions, experiences, and a profound embodied existence. The story cannot 
be limited to eternal life beyond the grave but must include quality of life and 
flourishing now. Prioritizing these elements and pursuing an intentionally 
holistic aspiration to inspire people’s imagination is precisely what has always 
made up the core of any lived religion. A brief examination of some of the foun-
dational areas of emphasis within the framework of lived religions can therefore 
help to provide important insights for the Christian approach in its attempt to 
recalibrate the way of presenting its message of salvation within the current 
circumstances.



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Insights from lived religion on salvation and 
the good life

Research on lived religions has been a well-established discipline within 
religious studies for many years (Ammerman, 2021). Rather than looking at 
religion through texts, it investigates how ordinary people apply theological 
concepts and beliefs in their everyday lives and within their specific local con-
text. Since it is too vast a field to discuss in any detail here, I aim to focus on 
merely two relevant and hence important ideas. Lived religions due to their 
fundamentally pragmatic orientation deliberately allocate special attention to 
genuine human flourishing and embodied experiences (McGuire, 2008). Aside 
from the theoretical content, the essential goal of believing and consequently 
applying religious values in day-to-day living is to generate a successful way of 
life. Religion does not solely correspond to verbal truths and cognitively derived 
spiritual insights, instead its cardinal function is to, “make us act and to help 
us live” (Durkheim, 1995: 419). In response to complex realities, uncertain-
ties and significant challenges, people usually design common strategies across 
multiple settings in their attempt to attain meaning and contentment (Ammer-
man, 2014). When certain institutionally derived requirements and religious 
obligations hinder the achievement of these principal objectives, then religious 
practitioners quickly find creative ways of pragmatic reinterpretation and new 
ways to implement those aspects in order to ensure their personal well-being. 
Simply put, a system of normative beliefs is not always at the heart of religious 
behaviour. Ordinary people constantly engage in a negotiation process. Ambi-
guity, not rigid orthodoxy describes the distinctive nature of lived religion. The 
key common denominator, however, invariably remains the aspiration to the 
good life.

Liberation Theology scholars have known this for decades and have been 
quite critical of an individualistic, future-oriented understanding of salvation. 
For them salvation ceases to be good news if it fails to provide substantial 
deliverance from material lack as well as positive socioeconomic benefits in 
everyday life. As this debate rages on and both sides endeavour to achieve a 
more balanced perspective, the plausible dangers are evident. On one hand 
there exists the possibility of instrumentalizing religion for personal gain. That 
which is expedient and helpful could be viewed as more important than that 
which is true. This leads to a devaluing of theological norms and an overly posi-
tive view of human potential. The necessity for belief in traditionally upheld 
doctrinal content could eventually be replaced with social activism and libera-
tion from all forms of oppression in this life, where improved relationships and 



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not regeneration become paramount (Morris, 2014). On the other hand, a too 
narrow view of salvation that does not sufficiently acknowledge the various 
dimensions that God intends to redeem in this world may become irrelevant. 
This is why “Christians need to believe that the gospel is not only relevant for 
our soul and in the afterlife, but also for our bodies, relationships, and our lives 
here and now” (Paas, 2021: 148). Although the conflict between the utilitar-
ian aspects of salvation and the commonly assumed transcendent orientation 
continues to persist (Aždajić, 2021), it is important to take people’s aspirations 
to flourish seriously. Lived religions understand that humans fundamentally 
long to thrive. Consequently, to attract followers it is paramount to provide an 
adequate response that satisfies these tacit desires. And one of the most signifi-
cant, yet undervalued, ways to achieve this objective is to offer an explicit focus 
on affective experiences and an overtly embodied theology.

Lived religion recognizes that belief is not primarily cognitive or theo-
retical, but rather that it has an overtly physical dimension. Consequently, 
embodied expression provides an inviting platform for becoming more fully 
human by satisfying the desire for emotional contentedness and the need for 
concrete flourishing in this life. The reduction of theology to abstract concepts 
is essentially impossible because the human body is not only implicitly express-
ing theological content but is indispensable for theology’s existence and its 
concrete articulation. Materiality is an essential element of any relevant religion 
and has a particularly strong grounding in Christianity, since the “Incarnation 
was not simply a theological premise, but a methodological practice” (Seel, 
2018: 118). God taking on flesh is a biblically informed worldview that affirms 
that corporeality is not subordinate to rationally held beliefs. For this reason, 
a purely spiritual or ideational focus that overlooks the incarnational empha-
sis of the Christian faith will always remain inadequate. Bodies fundamentally 
define who we are and any religious narrative depends on bodily involvement. 
McGuire describes this as follows, “Human bodies matter, because those prac-
tices – even interior ones, such as contemplation – involve people’s bodies, as 
well as their minds and spirits” (2008: 98). Especially within the contemporary 
context it is apparent that modern people clearly value embodiment, feelings 
and that which is experientially good over cognition and theoretical content.

Not only does an embodied focus aim at people’s desires on an emo-
tional level, lived religion likewise understands that any deep comprehension 
about God must go beyond the intellect and is intimately dependent on bodily 
and interactive forms of knowing. It is fundamentally impossible to discern 
transcendent truths without being materially active and present in the world 
(Shapiro, 2011). As theological doctrines are enacted through a choreographed 



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spatial-temporal event, new pathways are opened to go beyond abstract ideas 
into a transformational process that encompasses the entire person. Thus, 
the body does not merely transport information to the mind for analysis but 
becomes a profound receptor of discernment. An explicit emphasis on body-
based learning for attaining meaningful spiritual understanding has invariably 
comprised the principal pedagogical strategy and lies at the core of most lived 
religions, where the formative role of practices takes precedence over doctrinal 
formulations (Clifford & Johnson, 2019). This perspective reveals additional 
insights of the paramount importance of an embodied learning process that 
serves as an implicit medium of cognition, enabling practitioners to learn to 
believe intellectual content through concrete action. In summary, while human 
flourishing and experiential fulfilment can be attained through verbal, infor-
mational content, insights from lived religions point out that a more direct way 
may be better achieved through a purposeful focus on the body. Considering 
these important insights, how can ecclesial communities develop relevant new 
strategies to improve their current practices of proclaiming the message of 
salvation?

Practical strategies for communicating salvation in 
the twenty-first century

The preceding discussion has highlighted that the conditions for transmit-
ting the Christian message of salvation have radically changed, and that late-
modern people are predominantly interested in the benefits of salvation for 
present-day life, which is typically accompanied by the endeavour to attain 
experiential satisfaction that is often related to embodied forms of spirituality. 
Merely hearing words about the good news is not enough. These words are 
expected to offer concrete advantages and a quality life beginning now. Taking 
these yearnings seriously the Church in the west can respond appropriately, 
not by abandoning its responsibility to faithfully proclaim the biblical message 
of salvation, but merely by reemphasizing certain aspects already contained 
within its rich historical tradition. Such an increased intentionality avoids the 
danger of a cultural usurpation of biblical norms, while simultaneously engag-
ing in proper forms of contextualization that can result in more effective ways 
of communication. While there certainly is an abundance of creative ideas and 
areas deserving attention, for the purpose of the present discussion I want to 
suggest two practical ways forward.



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First, ecclesial communities would benefit from a return to intention-
ally exploring various liturgical elements that go beyond the principal use of 
words. A particular appreciation and accompanying prioritization of the body 
and its paramount role for enacting theological content has the potential to 
offer promising possibilities to effectively satisfy some of the most fundamental 
human desires, while simultaneously transmitting important truths (LaMothe, 
2008). Such an exterior reorientation that propagates the body in terms of its 
profound ability to apprehend religious knowledge does not diminish the sig-
nificance of text-based information. It merely acknowledges the strategic valid-
ity of this approach, for “the praxis of the church is in fact the embodiment of 
its theology. Christian praxis is understood as the medium through which the 
Christian community embodies and enacts its fundamental vision of the gos-
pel” (Anderson, 2001: 48). This conceptualization of the gospel is significant, 
for it goes beyond the affirmation of doctrinal statements by including worship, 
prayer, interpersonal relationships, and an emotional encounter that has the 
potential of leading people to assume a posture of wonder. Thus, by processing 
reality through an experiential engagement that stirs the imagination, salvation 
can be felt here and now, which is precisely what late-modern people long for. 
Such an intentional augmentation of the inherent meaning of the gospel affirms 
the necessity of not merely hearing the message about Christ but experienc-
ing a transformative new life as a direct result of that message (Ward, 2017: 
48). Although this line of reasoning may appear self-evident, I argue here that 
attaining this objective can currently best be achieved through an overriding 
focus on the body.

Practices are not only remarkably useful to comprehend underlying 
theoretical content, but any real understanding is wholly conditional upon 
the guided medium of embodied worship and practical engagement since this 
approach is fundamentally able to express the substance of belief in a profound 
way (Grumett, 2015: 15). Simply put, knowing is inseparable from doing. The 
internal, subconscious dimension that is contingent on the physical body has an 
enormous formative and transformative function. People often do not change 
solely through mental processes or an acceptance of elaborate ideas, but through 
habit-forming activities, repeated gestures, and a myriad of other embodied 
liturgical activities that imprint relevant information onto their inner being. 
This does not abrogate the value of verbal communication, it merely elevates 
the tacit, yet powerful influence of physicalities and active participation as an 
essential component to impart deep aspects of truth that bring about lasting 
change. In fact, some recent research has suggested that an intentional focus 
on a bodily involvement can prove to be more effective during a conversion 



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process than the traditional models aiming at cognitive understanding (Taylor, 
2019). The seemingly simple, habit-forming power of participating through the 
physical enactment of various Christian practices and rituals seems to be quite 
constructive in communicating complex propositional concepts that can over 
time ultimately evolve to an acceptance of the Christian faith. It is a fundamen-
tally useful way that over time forms people’s identities and sense of belonging.

The procedure suggested here is not intended to be normative but rather 
sequential, claiming that the embodiment of implicitly transformative truths 
ought to precede the comprehension of rational particularities, where expe-
rience comes before understanding. It is important, however, that while this 
process may be personal, it should not remain permanently subjective, but 
must be given contextual meaning by the interpretive community. Such an 
approach helps to explain and locate a variety of experiences within the Chris-
tian story. One legitimate question at this point may relate to specific liturgical 
practices that have perhaps proven themselves as decidedly useful in transmit-
ting key doctrinal content. Another consideration may inquire regarding the 
most promising ways how secular people could be convincingly persuaded to 
participate in such practices. Since responding to these understandable reflec-
tions goes beyond the scope of this article, it is important to highlight again 
not a formulaic list of prescribed procedures, but the necessity of prioritizing 
the transformative power of the body as a key tool to impart theological truths 
and provide avenues for meaningful human experiences. For this reason, the 
Church would do well to re-envision the significant potential of the existing 
embodied elements already contained within its liturgical and worship prac-
tices. The second strategy besides a renewed focus on the body that can assist 
ecclesial communities to attain greater effectiveness in their presentation of 
salvation and the good life is intimately connected to a communal emphasis.

Since human flourishing is dependent upon materiality and an embodied 
reality, which is fundamentally anchored in the Christian understanding of the 
incarnation, then from a Trinitarian theological perspective, community and 
the relational dimension of salvation are likewise indispensable for ultimately 
achieving the good life (Chandler, 2015). Being made in the image of God from 
a biblical perspective, human beings must look beyond their individual selves 
and relate to others. If harmony and love characterize the essence of the triune 
God, then the good news must entail a soteriological dimension that is both 
personal and experienced relationally alongside of others. In other words, an 
essential component of a holistic message of salvation necessarily presupposes 
the vertical reality of reconciliation to God, while simultaneously emphasiz-
ing the horizontally reconciled relationships between people. Although this 



Dejan Aždajić—We want the good life now

109

position may go against the individualistic attitudes of late-modern people, 
the fact remains that even within the current secular context, there is a deep 
longing for meaningful relationships (Seel, 2018: 50). Even for those who show 
little interest in the theological angle of a restored relationship to God, the 
deep-seated desire to experience intimate community remains. There are other 
reasons that make the communal aspect imperative.

The previously mentioned focus on the body for attaining genuine under-
standing and experiential satisfaction implies a considerable interdependence 
with others. Sharing life and an active participation in communities of practice 
are essential because spiritual discernment is contingent upon the embodiment 
of theoretical content in the presence of others. And since liturgy is inherently 
individual as well as relational, it provides an ideal platform for collectively 
enacting and hence articulating a shared theological story. By embodying these 
stories in unity with others and engaging in an ongoing process of interpreta-
tion, comprehension follows. This kind of co-participatory experience can lead 
to a profound reshaping of deeply held assumptions through a continuously 
evolving integration of thought and action. Such a reliance on others is deliber-
ate, for it aims to resist the prevalent attitude of autonomy and self-sufficiency 
that tends to reduce religion and spirituality to a private affair. Instead, a true 
religious experience and even self-knowledge requires corporate involvement. 
Propositional content certainly retains its validity, but any authentic emotional 
fulfilment can only be achieved in the context of shared human relationships. 
Thus, the participatory dimension and interpersonal relationships take sequen-
tial precedence over an individual affirmation of ideas.

Deep transformation requires a thoughtful integration of unifying com-
munal actions and an effective verbal communication of factual content 
through words. This strategic approach considers the spiritual sensibilities of 
the entire person and addresses both the intellect and the emotions, which 
can potentially lead to a genuine faith commitment. Since this may require 
some time, an intentional openness to the idea of belonging before believing 
is therefore foundational in providing space for identity construction. During 
this transformative process the prioritization of embodiment is crucial, since 
shared social practices by groups of people have always contributed to the 
development of one’s identity (Wenger, 1998). Consequently, the formative and 
integrative role of collective embodiment to establish belonging and influence 
belief, further strengthens the significance of a bodily and communal emphasis 
as imperative for the communication and appropriation of theological truths. 
Since conditions have significantly changed in the modern secular west, it is 
crucial to convey a holistic and multidimensional understanding of salvation 



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110

that deliberately seeks to proclaim the biblical assurance relating to the future 
and at the same time provide, “quality of relationship, inner well-being, open-
ness to others, being willing to be challenged, accepting the struggle and cost 
of growth, and recognizing that one’s own well-being is bound up with that of 
others” (Marsh, 2018: 210). Reflecting upon this new reality is important, if 
Christians desire to transmit a relevant and contextually sensitive message that 
contemporary people consider good news.

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	Editorial
	Nigel Rooms

	Problems with “pioneering” mission: Reflections on the term “pioneer” from Germany, South Africa and the UK
	Setting God’s pioneers free? The need to release lay pioneers from the Church of England’s narrative of resourcing and equipping
	James Butler

	Discipleship, mentorship and training which empowers African women for ministry in the diaspora
	Naar M’fundisi-Holloway

	Communal maturation and missional discipleship: A congregational study
	Nick Ladd

	Joyful disciples: A study of a missing link in considering spiritual disciplines and corporate missional habits
	Mike Harrison

	We want the good life now: Insights from lived religion for a whole person and communal approach to salvation in the twenty-first century
	Dejan Aždajić
	BOOK REVIEWS
	Kwiyani, Harvey. 2020.
	Multicultural Kingdom: Ethnic Diversity, Mission and the Church.
	London: SCM Press.


	Reviewed by Sabrina Müller
	Roxburgh, Alan J. 2021.
	Joining God in the Great Unraveling: Where We Are & What I’ve Learned.
	Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books.


	Reviewed by Steen Olson
	Susan Lucas (ed.). 2020.
	God’s Church in The World: The Gift of Catholic Mission.
	Norwich: Canterbury Press.

	Reviewed by Luke Larner
	Olsen, Steen, 2020.
	Jacob’s Ladder: Missional Church in the 1970s.
	St. Marys, Australia: SA & RL Olsen.

	Reviewed by Patrick R. Keifert





