Do you know Him?
Posted: Monday, October 12, 2009
by Leon Potgieter
Pluck and Play Guitar
Superficiality is the curse of our age The desperate need
today is not for a greater number of intelligent, or gifted people, but for
deep people. 30 Years ago Richard
Foster started his classic Celebration of Discipline with these words. For the disciple of Jesus these statements are
today more true than ever. Readers will
agree that in our times, true spiritual Christianity is in crises
From outside the church, the one faith to which the world
owes most of its positive historical development is being ridiculed and
detested as irrational, intolerant and archaic.
From within the church there is great pressure to replace a genuine
relationship with Jesus, with either ritualistic religion, or a gospel of self-fulfilment. The gospel of self-fulfilment dominates
Christian media Spiritual literature and television attempts to overpower us
with the idea that the primary reason the Messiah died was to make us the
happiest and richest people on earth.
Ritualistic religion on the other hand, with all its external
regulations, is mans best attempt at that which only God can bring about: Inner transformation.
And isn't that what most of us are after? After years of dutiful church attendance and
Bible reading, we remain the same. In
spite of a yearning desire to be more like the Son of God most of us (the real
us after the Sunday masks and the fake religion has been stripped away) remain
the same compromised people with unpredictable tempers and worldly notions.
Are we then, servants of God, destined to live unfulfilled
and unchanged until our earthly hourglass runs dry? If you have asked yourself this question
before, rest assured that the answer is a resounding NO. God can and wants to ignite inner
transformation in the lives of his children.
But, true inner transformation is only realized by spending time with Jesus.
Its amazing how many Christians spend time with their
pastors/reverends/priests. How they spend time reading the good Book (which doesn't always make sense to them!). How
they spend time helping the poor, feeding the hungry and even preaching to the
lost. But they forget (or do not know
how) to spend time with their best Friend.
One who longs for fellowship.
Please understand that I am not trying to be melodramatic here,
but wish to illustrate the point that Christianity is first and foremost
relational. It is not good enough to
know your Saviour from afar, to read His letters and hear what others who have
met Him have to say. You have to enter His
courtroom and see what He's like for yourself!
God desired intimate fellowship with us, and we need to cultivate sensitivity
to his leading voice. Relationships between
friends and couples are built through spending quality time with one another. Our relationship with God is no
different - We need to speak to Him, but also allow Him to speak back. We need to sing His praises and exalt His
greatness, but also be quiet and still before Him so that He can tell us how precious
we are in His sight and what wonderful plans he has in store for us. We need to lay our requests before Him, but
also ask, "Lord, what can I do for you today?"
Karl Barth was lecturing to a group of students at
Princeton. One student asked the renowned German theologian, "Sir, don't
you think that God has revealed himself in other religions and not only in
Christianity?" Barth's answer stunned the crowd. With a modest thunder he
answered, "No, God has not revealed himself in any religion, including
Christianity. He has revealed himself in his Son.
Christianity has never been a set of doctrines or church
regulations we accept intellectually and try to adhere to socially. It is a living, vibrant and empowering
relationship with a Person. Get to know
that Person!
* This article is a very broad theoretical outline of the
difference between religious and relational Christianity. For more information on the practical aspects
of personal fellowship with God please read Celebration of Discipline by
Richard Foster (Hodder & Stoughton, London). A book I highly recommend. *
Leon Potgieter is an average Joe who was saved from the clutches of a pointless life, by a carpenter from Nazareth with the friendliest smile you've ever seen. Leon holds a Bachelors of Theology from the Auckland Park Theological Seminary in Johannesburg, South Africa and currently resides in South Korea as an English Teacher.
Beautifully put - Walcome to Searchwarp! I hope to read many more of your thoughts and written pieces soon! Marijo (Mary Jo my dad got creative with the spelling)Thank you Marijo, appreciate your kindness.
Leon, very well done, and welcome to Searchwarp! You will make an excellent addition to the community.Thank you for the kind words.
Kudos!welcome!Very early Christians,believe it or not,were considered atheists,actually, because they didnt worship God,according to the criticism,they worshipped a crucified man;I.too,accept the Christ-Light(see my revelation,this site)as my personal savior,but still also worship God,in my heart,as well;paul schroeder
"Christianity is first and foremost relational" Well said, Leon! Nicely done.
Excellent article. Thank you.
