Why Do We Believe?: An Essay on Relationship

Every Sunday many of us go to church, or maybe know that we probably ought to go to church. We hear a sermon, the preacher tells us something cool about God, and we add it to our list of spiritual knowledge. We go on like that every week, of every month, of every year.

When we are pressed and questioned of our faith, we usually fall back on what we've learned at church.
How do we know that God loves us? Because He says He does.
Why does the bible appear to contradict itself? Well, my pastor says it doesn't contradict itself.
Why do I need God? Cuz we're supposed to.
How can I know God is with me? Umm... Because He is always with me?

Do you see what I'm trying to say? Many of us know about God, but we don't actually know from personal experience. It's one thing for me to say that I know God is with me; It's another to say that I know God is with me because He protected me from cutting my leg off with a chainsaw (That's a whole other story). I can say that God loves me; Or I can say that God loves me because it says in the Scriptures that He is my Abba Father who is always watching over me, His beloved child.

There is a difference between believing what others tell us about God and believing what we have seen God do in our own lives. We only experience God moving in our lives if we are personally seeking Him. When we read His word and spend our days in prayer and worship He becomes alive to us.

Imagine this scenario: I tell you that I have a friend, and I promise that he's a really cool guy. I describe to you what he looks like, what his hobbies are, what kind of pizza toppings he prefers, etc. You'll know many things about my friend, but you won't physically know him. Likewise, I could tell this same friend all about you. You could both know quite a lot about each other without actually having that relationship brought about by true friendship and interacting with each other.

This how many of us treat God. Our pastors tell us all about Him, and He knows all about us, but unless we go to Him directly we won't really know who He truly is. I mean no disrespect at all for preachers, I admire and respect the roles that God has placed them in. But often many of us in the congregation have a consumerist mindset when it comes to church (and even to God himself). We take the sermons, and we take God's stuff, but we don't bother to talk to Him about it.

When I am asked what it is that I believe in, I very seldom (if ever), answer that I'm a Christian. I tell the questioner that I believe in Jesus Christ and of His life, death, and resurrection. You see Jesus didn't come to start a religion. In fact, He was actually pretty ticked at the religiosity of His day. He came to institute that relationship between God and Man. He came to bring forth this New Covenant that only a God-man could do. It's not about proving ourselves right by following all these rules and written codes, it's about Jesus and His blood shed for the restoration of the chasm between God and man caused by our sin.

What does it mean to you? What does it mean to follow Jesus?
There are many people that will say they know Jesus on the day that we stand before Him. Will you be in the group to which He says, "I never knew you." Or will He tell you this: "Well done, good and faithful servant."
God says in Jeremiah that if we seek Him, and we earnestly want to find Him, He will reveal Himself to us. We must choose to seek Him and not merely know about Him.

Your brother,
-matt