When Jesus died, the thick curtain that kept people out of the inner sanctuary of the temple in Jerusalem suddenly tore from the top to the bottom. This was God’s way of showing that He no longer wants a priest as a go-between for God and man, that He wants to talk to every person individually and directly.
And yet, it seems that few people really do much talking to God that way. Many people within the church community depend primarily on their pastors for insight into the character and will of God. And many of those outside of the church community either don’t believe in God or don’t place an importance on getting to know Him.
During the periods of my life when I’ve tended to let pastors or others be my primary connection to God, it’s been because it took less effort on my part. But if one of God’s most essential qualities is love (as He claims it to be), I’m missing out on something incredible and special by not regularly and fully taking Him up on his offer of friendship. Thoughts?
YUP. Relationship is always more complex and messier than a formula. Ever since (and probably before) Sinai when God invited the nation of Israel up the mountain and they delegated Moses, we've wanted an intermediary, a curtain, a ritual, a building to confine God to some sort of… tangible, containable THING available and controllable as satellite TV. The problem is that a deep relationship with God ACCESSIBLE but also CRAVED by Him. This is where God's passionate pursuit unsettles and confuses us. Or maybe I should say that it unsettles and confuses me. What in me cognitively wants, and yet fears, this offer of direct relationship? Perhaps I'm alone in this dichotomy. Perhaps not. And perhaps it is a relationship, not a formula, that will help me work it out.
~ racheljoyklas
Thanks, Rachel! I don't think you're at all alone in that dichotomy, and as you suggest, I'm sure you'll find resolution by pursuing that relationship.
) May we all do the same…
I've found that I connect most easily with God while I'm in nature. I experience and converse more with God in a few hours outside than I do in church in a month. As I've experienced different Christian traditions with friends, I find that each of them tends to have a different twist of connecting with God. What is considered the norm in an Anglican tradition is shunned by Baptists because they fear it could become distorted and vice-versa. In truth, I think we can learn a little something about relationship from each of the Christian traditions.
So true, Bryan! Thanks for sharing your thoughts; I can certainly identify about connecting with God through nature! And I've also experienced the value in connecting with and incorporating more from the various Christian traditions.
Yes, you betcha very muchy! I've been thinking a lot about this sort of thing lately. Many practical theological problems we struggle with are solved by taking it from the angle of relationship rather than religious system. If God is real, why do we treat him like a rule book? A rule book, whether in terms of a self-help book or a morality tome, however insightful, ought not to replace knowing someone. For example, Paul talks about the famous tension between works and faith in Romans. Why are we so mixed up at times to think, well if God made me this way (sinful) then who can resist God? I should just be bad then. He'll forgive me, right? Would that really make sense in the context of a relationship to someone rescuing us from that sin? Would we poke a lion in the nose who had refused to eat us? It simplifies so many things when we approach God humbly and through his offered hand of forever-mercy and friendship. Mark Driscoll, a pastor I listen to often these days, puts it this way: If he asked his wife, in an intimate moment, “Honey, would you forgive me if I committed adultery?” And she gracefully says, “Yes, I would.” Would it make any sense whatsoever that he would answer, “Great! See ya back at the breakfast table tomorrow”? Relationship not only helps us understand the study of who God is, but it is essential to it.
On the note of intercessors, I'd only add that God chose intercessors (probably as a shadow of the reality found in Christ, the ultimate intercessor) to give his words to the people to express his holiness and our lack thereof (at least that would be a big reason). I had forgotten that God invited the whole group up the mountain (I'd have to look at it again to comment better), but I think he also had a purpose in choosing special prophets after Moses rather than making the relationship directly open to everyone. So in some ways, it has changed but yet remains since Christ is our way to meet the Father (so we pray in Jesus' name). If someone has a problem with that, not realizing that they themselves view truth as exclusive, point out that, sure, there are many many paths to heaven, but all of those lead to the God-man Jesus, the “doorway”. It is his house afterall.
Am I speaking truth?
Yes, you betcha very muchy! I've been thinking a lot about this sort of thing lately. Many practical theological problems we struggle with are solved by taking it from the angle of relationship rather than religious system. If God is real, why do we treat him like a rule book? A rule book, whether in terms of a self-help book or a morality tome, however insightful, ought not to replace knowing someone. For example, Paul talks about the famous tension between works and faith in Romans. Why are we so mixed up at times to think, well if God made me this way (sinful) then who can resist God? I should just be bad then. He'll forgive me, right? Would that really make sense in the context of a relationship to someone rescuing us from that sin? Would we poke a lion in the nose who had refused to eat us? It simplifies so many things when we approach God humbly and through his offered hand of forever-mercy and friendship. Mark Driscoll, a pastor I listen to often these days, puts it this way: If he asked his wife, in an intimate moment, “Honey, would you forgive me if I committed adultery?” And she gracefully says, “Yes, I would.” Would it make any sense whatsoever that he would answer, “Great! See ya back at the breakfast table tomorrow”? Relationship not only helps us understand the study of who God is, but it is essential to it.
On the note of intercessors, I'd only add that God chose intercessors (probably as a shadow of the reality found in Christ, the ultimate intercessor) to give his words to the people to express his holiness and our lack thereof (at least that would be a big reason). I had forgotten that God invited the whole group up the mountain (I'd have to look at it again to comment better), but I think he also had a purpose in choosing special prophets after Moses rather than making the relationship directly open to everyone. So in some ways, it has changed but yet remains since Christ is our way to meet the Father (so we pray in Jesus' name). If someone has a problem with that, not realizing that they themselves view truth as exclusive, point out that, sure, there are many many paths to heaven, but all of those lead to the God-man Jesus, the “doorway”. It is his house afterall.
Am I speaking truth?