Personal Relationship with God
This is another one of those topics that would be far better served in a group setting. But since that can't be worked out too easily (y'all are invited over for our small group meeting tonight if you can find any cheap flights) I'm just going to have to write about it and send it out into the infinite beyond.
Vicki and I had a great conversation this morning about the phrase "a personal relationship with God". I told her that I'd be thinking a lot recently about the true meaning behind our words "becoming a Christian" and how, more and more, I am finding myself wanting to throw out our use of the idea of having a "personal relationship with God" in order to be saved.
Now before the tongue lashing begins let me just throw out a point of information...and I invite you to check this out for yourself. The phrase "personal relationship" does not appear anywhere in any English Bible. It is a phrase that was no doubt developed somewhere in church history to convey the greater meaning found between Jesus and the disciples...a relationship that we are hopefully striving daily to maintain. But this phrase that has become one of the backbones of Evangelical life was never uttered from the apostles, disciples, nor Jesus himself.
Hear me correctly...I am not casting stones. I'm not interested in calling anyone (or anything for that matter) out. No, I'm not crying "heresy". My problem stems from our understanding and subsequent application of this phrase. When we tell people that in order to be saved they need to have a "personal relationship" with God, (1) do we really understand what we are saying and (2) does our understanding of that phrase truly line up with what is taught and modeled in the New Testament?
Like so many other things, the more we use *something* the quicker that thing begins to be taken for granted. For example, hymns (I know...another sore subject for some). We all know them. But I have to admit that when I start really thinking about many of the words I'm singing when I sing hymns in church, I find myself a little confused. In those times I feel confident that most around me are equally perplexed but we all just keep singing. I'm extremely sorry I can't give an example (that would be the right thing to do) but surely you know what I'm talking about.
I believe the same thing is true with our use of this phrase "personal relationship". It's been around, rampant in evangelistic materials, since I was a kid. Everyone know the phrase. I'm guessing that a very large number of Evangelicals would use it if asked to describe when they were saved. And I'm speculating further that this familiar usage has in a sense deadened us to the shallow meaning of the phrase.
"Personal relationship". You know you can have a personal relationship with a pen pal. You can have a personal relationship with a serial killer. I know I'm stretching here, but it's completely true. To go further...what does the term "relationship" mean to our society today where the most sacred of human relationship, that between husband and wife, is so rarely respected? Deceit is commonplace and often expected and then excused. Friends plot against friends. Children divorce parents. I mean seriously...we're not doing too well as a society in the area of relationships. Could it be that our times are demanding a change in our theological vocabulary...especially the phrases and terms we use to express God and His character to the world?
On to the second question. I, personally, am curious why the term disciple is so often left out of our church vocab. You might hear it brought up if your church has some sort of discipleship ministry. But, speaking from my past experience and that of several of my friends/colleagues, discipleship isn't happening in our churches any longer. It seems that we have raised up generations of Christians who have taken us up on our cry to enter into a "personal relationship" with God -- they've met Him -- and that's it. But they're missing a crucial element.
Reread the Gospels and check out what Jesus is always telling the people who ask Him about Life. He tells them to follow him. This is a daily (I'd like to scream that to both myself and the world -- D A I L Y) commitment to follow Christ...that He would be THE CENTER of our lives. He's not just to be someone we know...another relationship. He is to be Our Life!
I believe that much of this has come to my mind when thinking about our kids. I don't want them to simply have met Jesus one day...maybe at some camp back when they were kids. I want them to be disciples of Jesus Christ. I want them to walk with him. I want them to see his tears. I want them to watch him as he touches peoples' lives...as he picks them up off of their shaky, weak legs and places them on solid ground where they can stand, jump, and run with the joy he has placed in their hearts. I want them to experience him every single day of their lives so strongly with all of the senses God has given them that at the end of each day they lay down to go to sleep, completely drained after sitting on the edge of their seats all day watching God at work!
Many people are calling for this same kind of correction (or reformation) in the church today. It might sound like a matter of semantics but I see it as an issue of our hearts. I am a disciple of Jesus the Christ. My salvation...as will be the case with my kids...comes from my following him...my commitment to him...not because one day many years ago I met him.
Vicki and I had a great conversation this morning about the phrase "a personal relationship with God". I told her that I'd be thinking a lot recently about the true meaning behind our words "becoming a Christian" and how, more and more, I am finding myself wanting to throw out our use of the idea of having a "personal relationship with God" in order to be saved.
Now before the tongue lashing begins let me just throw out a point of information...and I invite you to check this out for yourself. The phrase "personal relationship" does not appear anywhere in any English Bible. It is a phrase that was no doubt developed somewhere in church history to convey the greater meaning found between Jesus and the disciples...a relationship that we are hopefully striving daily to maintain. But this phrase that has become one of the backbones of Evangelical life was never uttered from the apostles, disciples, nor Jesus himself.
Hear me correctly...I am not casting stones. I'm not interested in calling anyone (or anything for that matter) out. No, I'm not crying "heresy". My problem stems from our understanding and subsequent application of this phrase. When we tell people that in order to be saved they need to have a "personal relationship" with God, (1) do we really understand what we are saying and (2) does our understanding of that phrase truly line up with what is taught and modeled in the New Testament?
Like so many other things, the more we use *something* the quicker that thing begins to be taken for granted. For example, hymns (I know...another sore subject for some). We all know them. But I have to admit that when I start really thinking about many of the words I'm singing when I sing hymns in church, I find myself a little confused. In those times I feel confident that most around me are equally perplexed but we all just keep singing. I'm extremely sorry I can't give an example (that would be the right thing to do) but surely you know what I'm talking about.
I believe the same thing is true with our use of this phrase "personal relationship". It's been around, rampant in evangelistic materials, since I was a kid. Everyone know the phrase. I'm guessing that a very large number of Evangelicals would use it if asked to describe when they were saved. And I'm speculating further that this familiar usage has in a sense deadened us to the shallow meaning of the phrase.
"Personal relationship". You know you can have a personal relationship with a pen pal. You can have a personal relationship with a serial killer. I know I'm stretching here, but it's completely true. To go further...what does the term "relationship" mean to our society today where the most sacred of human relationship, that between husband and wife, is so rarely respected? Deceit is commonplace and often expected and then excused. Friends plot against friends. Children divorce parents. I mean seriously...we're not doing too well as a society in the area of relationships. Could it be that our times are demanding a change in our theological vocabulary...especially the phrases and terms we use to express God and His character to the world?
On to the second question. I, personally, am curious why the term disciple is so often left out of our church vocab. You might hear it brought up if your church has some sort of discipleship ministry. But, speaking from my past experience and that of several of my friends/colleagues, discipleship isn't happening in our churches any longer. It seems that we have raised up generations of Christians who have taken us up on our cry to enter into a "personal relationship" with God -- they've met Him -- and that's it. But they're missing a crucial element.
Reread the Gospels and check out what Jesus is always telling the people who ask Him about Life. He tells them to follow him. This is a daily (I'd like to scream that to both myself and the world -- D A I L Y) commitment to follow Christ...that He would be THE CENTER of our lives. He's not just to be someone we know...another relationship. He is to be Our Life!
I believe that much of this has come to my mind when thinking about our kids. I don't want them to simply have met Jesus one day...maybe at some camp back when they were kids. I want them to be disciples of Jesus Christ. I want them to walk with him. I want them to see his tears. I want them to watch him as he touches peoples' lives...as he picks them up off of their shaky, weak legs and places them on solid ground where they can stand, jump, and run with the joy he has placed in their hearts. I want them to experience him every single day of their lives so strongly with all of the senses God has given them that at the end of each day they lay down to go to sleep, completely drained after sitting on the edge of their seats all day watching God at work!
Many people are calling for this same kind of correction (or reformation) in the church today. It might sound like a matter of semantics but I see it as an issue of our hearts. I am a disciple of Jesus the Christ. My salvation...as will be the case with my kids...comes from my following him...my commitment to him...not because one day many years ago I met him.
posted by Michael Shattuck at
1:02 AM
2 Comments:
Amen. Words in the church often become much to common...and at times, theologically incorrect in their simplest forms. I believe many people mean well but throw confusion into the understanding of salvation and living a life following Jesus just because they use phrases they have heard all their lives. I'm with you on the hymns as well. I think many church members...especially those who have been involved in the church for many years...sing words and never really think about their meanings.
Whoa! Quite a touchy subject for a post, isn't it? Are you trying to get excommunicated?
You're right, though. We do have a personal relationship with God, as He lives within us upon salvation, but to be saved we must repent and give ourselves to Christ as our Lord and Savior. Then we learn what it is to walk with Christ and in communion with the Holy Spirit.
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