It’s not about religion; it’s about relationship.
If you’ve ever spoken to a Christian about their faith (or spoken to a non-Christian about your faith) I am quite confident you’ve heard (or said) something not unlike this. We Christians throw out the “relationship with God” line as if it makes perfect sense; as if it’s the verbal coup de grace to any argument against the Christianreligion relationship.
Don’t get me wrong. I like the line, or at least the thought behind it. It brings any discussion into the sphere in which it belongs. The God worshipped by Christians is -- as Walter Brueggemann says -- a God in relation. To talk about such a God as if he is a static object to be prodded and poked from a safe distance is to miss his essence. And since this God in relation lies at the heart of Christianity, it makes sense to talk about being a Christian in terms of a relationship.
Of course this reality makes many uncomfortable, Christians and non-Christians alike. Relationships are hard to quantify, they cannot be looked at under a microscope, they cannot be really known by someone outside of the relationship. I’ve known my parents for 24 years, but I do not know what it is like to be married to either one of them. I have some good information, but I have no experience.
It can therefore be easy to dismiss relationship as a load of gibberish when discussion about God arises. The tired, old “imaginary friend” jibe comes to mind. Talk of “relationship with God” can sound so esoteric, so private, that it’s pointless going down that road. It is the Christian’s get-out-of-jail-free card, played when science has (apparently) ridiculed the idea of God.
I often feel like this too. Is it all in my head? What does it even mean to have a relationship with God? What does it mean to say that God loves me? Is that just a nice thought to get me through the banality of life, or is it something real, concrete, tangible, incarnate, present? (Excuse the Alan Hansen-ism)
After reading John’s first letter, I think some answers might be contained within. The beloved disciple who walked and talked with Jesus seems to have an insight into what it means to know this God in relation. It is chapter 17 of his gospel that presents to us the crux of life: to know the Father and to know the Son.
It is indeed about relationship. After all, life itself is the product of an intimate relationship between man and woman. Relationship is the fundamental structure of the universe. This we know, however unquantifiable that knowledge might be. The question is, what does it mean to know God and be in relationship with him?
I won’t pretend to provide answers, but do a couple of muddled posts on 1 John sound good to you? Okay then.
If you’ve ever spoken to a Christian about their faith (or spoken to a non-Christian about your faith) I am quite confident you’ve heard (or said) something not unlike this. We Christians throw out the “relationship with God” line as if it makes perfect sense; as if it’s the verbal coup de grace to any argument against the Christian
Don’t get me wrong. I like the line, or at least the thought behind it. It brings any discussion into the sphere in which it belongs. The God worshipped by Christians is -- as Walter Brueggemann says -- a God in relation. To talk about such a God as if he is a static object to be prodded and poked from a safe distance is to miss his essence. And since this God in relation lies at the heart of Christianity, it makes sense to talk about being a Christian in terms of a relationship.
Of course this reality makes many uncomfortable, Christians and non-Christians alike. Relationships are hard to quantify, they cannot be looked at under a microscope, they cannot be really known by someone outside of the relationship. I’ve known my parents for 24 years, but I do not know what it is like to be married to either one of them. I have some good information, but I have no experience.
It can therefore be easy to dismiss relationship as a load of gibberish when discussion about God arises. The tired, old “imaginary friend” jibe comes to mind. Talk of “relationship with God” can sound so esoteric, so private, that it’s pointless going down that road. It is the Christian’s get-out-of-jail-free card, played when science has (apparently) ridiculed the idea of God.
I often feel like this too. Is it all in my head? What does it even mean to have a relationship with God? What does it mean to say that God loves me? Is that just a nice thought to get me through the banality of life, or is it something real, concrete, tangible, incarnate, present? (Excuse the Alan Hansen-ism)
After reading John’s first letter, I think some answers might be contained within. The beloved disciple who walked and talked with Jesus seems to have an insight into what it means to know this God in relation. It is chapter 17 of his gospel that presents to us the crux of life: to know the Father and to know the Son.
It is indeed about relationship. After all, life itself is the product of an intimate relationship between man and woman. Relationship is the fundamental structure of the universe. This we know, however unquantifiable that knowledge might be. The question is, what does it mean to know God and be in relationship with him?
I won’t pretend to provide answers, but do a couple of muddled posts on 1 John sound good to you? Okay then.
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