stop Knowing, start Loving - Genesis 3:1-10

Genesis 3:1-10

I find myself seeking to know more.  It's one of my habits I guess.  Sometimes its a great thing and sometimes it causes more problems than it solves.  It's a desire to know and be informed and a belief that by knowing more I can make better decisions, know people better, be a better person, be a better Christian.  I want to know more about myself, about people in general, about God, about life, and more recently why people are walking away from and sometimes running away from the church.  Or if they aren't running why they won't truly buy-in to the Church.

But that right there is the real problem I think...we talk about the church as if it is a thing.  We speak of the church as a destination, as a building, as a place, as a club that we are members of.  But the truth is that church is actually none of those things.  The church is a living breathing organism.  The church was intended to be a very fluid, portable, adaptable gathering.  This multifaceted question that keeps coming back to me lately is, "What if knowledge isn't what matters? What if 'doing' church wasn't even a part of God's great plan? What if 'Church' wasn't meant to be a thing we 'do', rather an 'existence' we become a part of? What would that look like?"

That kind of community would be all about RELATIONSHIPS.  It would be about doing life together.  It wouldn't be about rules; "don't do this and don't do that".  It would be about loving one another with no limits or reasons except only that Jesus loved us first and he calls us to "Remain in His love"; to exist within that love so that it becomes a part of all that we think, speak, and do.  A community that takes that seriously won't need the rules, they will simply need more people to love because they have so much overflowing love that their current numbers aren't enough.  

A NEW Savior...?

For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me.  And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent.  You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.        

                                                                                                                                    -John 5:36b-40 (NIV)-

It is closing in on Christmas season and at some point soon you will probably drive by or see a Nativity Scene at a church or on a street corner, maybe even in your own yard or on a table or dresser in your house.   Many people, Christian or not, religious or not, know the Christmas story in some form or fashion; yet many of those same people do not believe Jesus is who the Bible says he is. 

            The truth is, a quick look into the writings of ancient non-biblical historians will show that there was a man named Jesus who lived and was crucified by Pontius Pilate precisely when the Bible says it happened.  I don’t have time to get specific on all the history stuff, but the point is, there is not any real argument that can say Jesus didn’t live and live an extraordinary life, nor is there any argument that can really dispute his death on a Roman cross.  My point is that Jesus’ life and death are undisputed fact. 

            However, I don’t find it odd or even out of the ordinary that people today, despite historical evidence, don’t believe that Jesus is who the Bible says he is or did what the Bible said he did.  It don’t find it odd mainly because the many of the people who were literally in the presence of Jesus, the people who actually watched him perform the miracles he performed couldn’t even believe that he was who he said he was.  These were people who would have known the prophecies about the coming Messiah by heart.  These were the people who were waiting for the Messiah to come.  They stood by and watched Jesus fulfill prophecy after prophecy and yet they still would not believe he was who he said he was. 

            With all this in mind; today I was reading in the Gospel of John and read the above statements by Jesus from John 5 and it hits me...its not that they didn’t see Jesus or experience his works and miracles, it’s not even that they weren’t really hoping for the Messiah to come because I believe they were still hoping; Jesus says, it’s not that you didn’t see me doing the work my Father has given me to do…the fact is you simply don’t believe that Salvation comes from me and therefore from the Father.  You have found other things to place your hope and trust in.  You have found new Saviors. 

            The problem of faith in the world and even in the church today isn’t that people don’t believe Jesus came, lived, did all he did, and died, which is what I originally thought.  I think the problem is that we have found new Saviors.  We have found other things to place our hope and trust in.   Things like money, possessions, stock market, bank account, or careers.  We have found new saviors in athletic figures, actors/actresses, music stars, college football teams, boyfriends or girlfriends, government or government figures, and the list goes on.  Jesus said in Matthew 6:21 that the person/place/thing that you place the most value on is where your heart will be also. 

            So, with this season that reminds us of the TRUE SAVIOR that came to the world to bring all things back to a right relationship with the Father through his life, death, burial, and resurrection; where do you place your hope?  In WHAT or WHOM do you place the highest value?  Have you found a new savior or is Jesus the Savior of your life?  Does your checkbook and calendar reflect Jesus as Savior or is it something or someone else?  As I said last month… ask yourself, To Whom or What do I Bow my Knee?