Jesus talked a lot about forgiveness. The people of his day largely saw forgiveness as the result of specific offerings and prescriptions. Jesus challenged those beliefs by saying that forgiveness is a free gift from God that is not based on whether or not we deserve it.
Since Jesus talked so much about forgiveness, we have limited "salvation" to only be about forgiveness of sins. And what happens when someone doesn't think they need to be forgiven? We try to convince them how much they need forgiveness because of how awful they are. How is that Good News?
Douglas John Hall in his book Why Christian? discusses this very point. He suggests that salvation means much much more than forgiveness of sins and getting into heaven.
In privileged Western society, most people's primary anxiety is no longer about the after life. Hall suggests that the traditional discussion around salvation is an answer to a question people are no longer asking.
Alternatively, people today are more often worried about whether or not life has any meaning at all. 20th century existentialists named this anxiety already present in the post-industrial era. Hall suggests that Salvation also has quite a bit to say to people wondering what the rat race of this life is all about.
We are not alone. We may aimlessly wander and wonder. Yet, God has chosen to be a part of the depths of our earthly existence - even our existential crises! Truly believing that we are loved and known is the first step to overcoming questions about our own meaninglessness.
How else might Salvation speak to our deepest hurts and questions?