Once in a while I feel a "preach" comin' on - that is, I become empassioned about a particular doctrinal or theological topic. This time - as it usually is - it's about the tendency we all have to feel like we have control over our own destinies. Even (and I would argue especially) Christians. The truth is, we don't.
I grew up in the Baptist church. There, the pastor would use mnemonics when he spoke. All the sermon points started with the same letter. Or the first letters spelled something. Or it was a mathematical equation. So, just in case you want or need a formula to remember, here's one.
Two, in fact.
(1) Jesus plus "X" (where "X" is greater than zero) equals religion equals death.
(2) Jesus plus zero equals relationship equals life.
I'm an abuse survivor. I recognize abuse when it happens to me or to anyone; it's one of those things where I have a hair-trigger sensor built-in. And I recognize that "religious abuse" happens a lot in Christian circles especially in this business of "not doing enough." Christians are so bound up in feeling worthless and ashamed of never measuring up that we don't realize that it's not about doing. It's about being.
I haven't learned as much as I want to learn about how to really live life, especially how to live life the way Jesus described : you know, loving, full of joy and self-sacrifice, people being touched and healed wherever I go, yada yada yada. All I know is that the harder I've tried to live the way I'm "supposed to" (see last summer's series on Shoulds and Oughtas) even if my intentions are the absolute best, I've eventually fallen flat on my face and driven people away from the message of Jesus and not attracted them in the least. And believe me I have tried to live the Christian life - for years. Decades, as a matter of fact. What an exercise in masochism!! Lots of altar calls, countless sessions of private devotions and Bible studies. Praying until I ran out of words. Singing until I was hoarse. And again and again I have failed.
It's impossible. And let me let you in on a secret: It's SUPPOSED to be impossible. If it wasn't, we could boast that we did it on our own. If it wasn't impossible to live an abundant life - we wouldn't need grace. And we SO need grace.
The power of grace is so amazing. Grace is God's undeserved favour, yes - but it is also His undeserved strength to live day by day. Neither kind of grace is earned by anything we do; it is freely offered by God without hesitation and must be received just as freely without reservation. The more we realize (really truly realize, not just give mental assent) that we can't do it on our own, the more whole-heartedly grateful we are for the grace and strength to live fully day by day. Out of that gratitude flow good works - except they aren't done because we're guilted or coerced into it - they're done as a natural outflow of our realization of how wonderful, gracious, and merciful He is.
I'm reminded of something Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount about Judgement Day (Matthew 7). He said to the people, "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in Your name, cast out demons in Your name and perform many miracles in Your name?' and then I will say to them, 'I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who work lawlessness.' "
Wow. They're listing all the impressive things they've done for Him and it's like He's saying, "Talk to the hand." (Translation of "Talk to the hand" for those who've never heard the expression: "I don't even want to hear it.")
Why?
Because what we DO for God doesn't matter to Him one hill of beans. He can do anything - He does miracles whether someone prays over someone else or not, whether the sick person believes or not. Or even if anybody in the family or friends even believes in Him at all. Yes. Yes He does. HE is the initiator.
What matters to Him - and here I won't say "what matters to Him most" because to Him it is ALL that matters - is this: whether He knows us.
Well of course He knows us, you say. Uh-huh. That's true. So what was Jesus talking about by "I never knew you"? Okay, here's a little light shed on that. Think INTIMACY.
He wants to know us intimately.
Whoa. Back up the truck.
Well, if I must be blunt, I must. It's all about the heart: the heart is the seat of the will and the emotions. He is seeking spiritual intimacy with us - an ever-increasing mutual relationship of being known and knowing.
Spiritual intimacy parallels physical intimacy. In essence, it is that we open our entire being to Him and LET Him know us - LET Him penetrate into those areas of our spirits that are the most vulnerable, the most tender, the most secret, the most wounded. We LET Him fully know us.
We are ourselves with Him. We get close. On purpose. We don't put on airs or try to impress Him (He sees through that in a nanosecond!) We don't need to add anything to what He has already done for us - we just enjoy it - let Him take us, ravish our spirits, speak tenderness and passion to our hearts. We embrace that. We long for it. And when it happens, we can't help but be affected - to return that love and passion. We don't have to work it up or grunt and strain to produce it. It just comes as a natural byproduct of being known more and more intimately by Him. That is the miracle of it. There is where the transformation happens.
Instead of talking to the hand later, after a lifetime of missing the whole point, I'd rather talk with Him face to face now.
I grew up in the Baptist church. There, the pastor would use mnemonics when he spoke. All the sermon points started with the same letter. Or the first letters spelled something. Or it was a mathematical equation. So, just in case you want or need a formula to remember, here's one.
Two, in fact.
(1) Jesus plus "X" (where "X" is greater than zero) equals religion equals death.
(2) Jesus plus zero equals relationship equals life.
I'm an abuse survivor. I recognize abuse when it happens to me or to anyone; it's one of those things where I have a hair-trigger sensor built-in. And I recognize that "religious abuse" happens a lot in Christian circles especially in this business of "not doing enough." Christians are so bound up in feeling worthless and ashamed of never measuring up that we don't realize that it's not about doing. It's about being.
I haven't learned as much as I want to learn about how to really live life, especially how to live life the way Jesus described : you know, loving, full of joy and self-sacrifice, people being touched and healed wherever I go, yada yada yada. All I know is that the harder I've tried to live the way I'm "supposed to" (see last summer's series on Shoulds and Oughtas) even if my intentions are the absolute best, I've eventually fallen flat on my face and driven people away from the message of Jesus and not attracted them in the least. And believe me I have tried to live the Christian life - for years. Decades, as a matter of fact. What an exercise in masochism!! Lots of altar calls, countless sessions of private devotions and Bible studies. Praying until I ran out of words. Singing until I was hoarse. And again and again I have failed.
It's impossible. And let me let you in on a secret: It's SUPPOSED to be impossible. If it wasn't, we could boast that we did it on our own. If it wasn't impossible to live an abundant life - we wouldn't need grace. And we SO need grace.
The power of grace is so amazing. Grace is God's undeserved favour, yes - but it is also His undeserved strength to live day by day. Neither kind of grace is earned by anything we do; it is freely offered by God without hesitation and must be received just as freely without reservation. The more we realize (really truly realize, not just give mental assent) that we can't do it on our own, the more whole-heartedly grateful we are for the grace and strength to live fully day by day. Out of that gratitude flow good works - except they aren't done because we're guilted or coerced into it - they're done as a natural outflow of our realization of how wonderful, gracious, and merciful He is.
I'm reminded of something Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount about Judgement Day (Matthew 7). He said to the people, "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in Your name, cast out demons in Your name and perform many miracles in Your name?' and then I will say to them, 'I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who work lawlessness.' "
Wow. They're listing all the impressive things they've done for Him and it's like He's saying, "Talk to the hand." (Translation of "Talk to the hand" for those who've never heard the expression: "I don't even want to hear it.")
Why?
What matters to Him - and here I won't say "what matters to Him most" because to Him it is ALL that matters - is this: whether He knows us.
Well of course He knows us, you say. Uh-huh. That's true. So what was Jesus talking about by "I never knew you"? Okay, here's a little light shed on that. Think INTIMACY.
He wants to know us intimately.
Whoa. Back up the truck.
Well, if I must be blunt, I must. It's all about the heart: the heart is the seat of the will and the emotions. He is seeking spiritual intimacy with us - an ever-increasing mutual relationship of being known and knowing.
Spiritual intimacy parallels physical intimacy. In essence, it is that we open our entire being to Him and LET Him know us - LET Him penetrate into those areas of our spirits that are the most vulnerable, the most tender, the most secret, the most wounded. We LET Him fully know us.
We are ourselves with Him. We get close. On purpose. We don't put on airs or try to impress Him (He sees through that in a nanosecond!) We don't need to add anything to what He has already done for us - we just enjoy it - let Him take us, ravish our spirits, speak tenderness and passion to our hearts. We embrace that. We long for it. And when it happens, we can't help but be affected - to return that love and passion. We don't have to work it up or grunt and strain to produce it. It just comes as a natural byproduct of being known more and more intimately by Him. That is the miracle of it. There is where the transformation happens.
Instead of talking to the hand later, after a lifetime of missing the whole point, I'd rather talk with Him face to face now.
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