We love formulas, don’t we? Formulas make things easy. Patterns make things simple. But when it comes to Christianity this can be a serious problem. Why? Because God is not a formula. He’s a person.
Jesus is not a concept, He’s a living God.
When it comes to evangelism, we prefer the easy formulas.
Give me the Roman’s Road, the Four Spiritual Laws or the King’s Way of
evangelism. Even though Jesus never used any of those patterns to communicate
the Gospel to anyone. Neither did the Apostles. The truth is, they never once
repeated their message or their pattern. Instead, they took each person on an
individual case-by-case basis and allowed the Holy Spirit to tailor-make a
response based on the specific needs of that one person.
When it comes to theology we love patterns. Give me the
TULIP, the Dispensations, the Apostle’s Creeds. The problem is, faith is more
elastic than that, and our God isn’t a theorem to solve. He’s a living God with
ideas, and plans, and emotions, and desires, and an agenda that is so far
beyond yours and mine that it’s more than a little ridiculous to think for even
a moment that we can figure Him out.
The real problem with patterns and formulas, however, is
that once we think we’ve got everything reduced down into a formula, we don’t
need God anymore. We can do everything by simply following our liturgy and our
process.
But God does not work that way. He will always slip out
of your box. He refuses to do things the same way every time. He is not on your
leash. He is far and above every idea and concept you could possibly imagine.
How audacious to think that we can boil God down to a
formula. If we’re honest, our formulas about how God works are almost always
very simple. If God was ever to be expressed in a formula it wouldn’t be
anything as simple as A + B = C. It would take an entire universe of chalk and
an infinite blackboard beyond our comprehension to contain such a complex and
unique formula like God.
Once we have a pattern we no longer need a person. Jesus
is determined to slip out of our patterns because He does not want us to settle
for anything less than His dynamic, constant, immediate presence and power in
our lives.
How foolish we are to think that God could ever be
reduced to a simple pattern. If anything, He is an enormously huge algebraic
equation for whom there can never be a large enough white board to write
everything down.
I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have a
relationship with a living God than with a set of formulas and predictable
patterns.
Now, this doesn’t mean that God is just too complex to
know and understand. The truth is, He does want us to know Him. But that
ability to know Him more comes from His side of the process (revelation) not
from our side of the process (formulaic faith).
Knowing God is as simple as having a conversation. Get on
your knees, or take a walk in the park, or drive down by the beach, or just get
alone with God and start sharing your heart with Him. Listen for His voice.
Meditate on His goodness in your life. Be thankful for all you have. Trust Him
with your life. And know in your heart of hearts that He loves you more than
words can ever say.
-kg
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