ahem.

for those of you that don't know, i'm speaking in a small group chapel tomorrow and i'm pretty excited. the fact that i get to share something about God to a group of people is thrilling!

since, it is quite impossible for everyone to attend my small group chapel (which is actually for transfer students only), i felt the need to share with the world the small bit of wisdom i will be imparting on the people who attend transfer sg chapel tomorrow. (it will be slightly modified so that it can apply to everyone)

martin luther king jr. once said "the true measure of a man is not how he behaves in moments of comfort and convenience but how he stands at times of controversy and challenges." in my attempt to avoid the stereotypical "God provides" speech, which he does, i'm going to go out on a limb and challenge you, maybe even make you a bit uncomfortable.

as Christians, or what i prefer to be called "followers of God," we tend to relish in our perfect church attendance or profound knowledge of the Bible. both of things, although great achievements, are simply not enough to even give ourselves the label "Christian." after all, even an atheist can attend church every sunday and know the stories of the Bible. there is an absolute difference between knowing about God and knowing God.

john 14:6-7 read “Jesus answered, ‘i am the way and the truth and the life. no one comes to the Father except through me. if you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. from now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

being a Christian is a lot more than just perfect church attendance and memorizing bible verses. it’s about a personal relationship with God. in john 14:7, Jesus uses the verb ‘to know’ three times to talk about what he wishes for the disciples in terms of a relationship between himself and them, or God and them. in both the greek and in the old testament hebrew, the verb ‘to know’ has a connotation far beyond what we can really understand. in fact, it’s covenantal language and has everything to do with a personal, intimate relationship between God and his people. there are actually places in the old testament where the verb ‘to know’ is used sexually—“adam knew eve, and she gave birth to a son.” now, i’m not saying that our relationship with God is sexual, but i do think that Jesus chooses to use the verb here in greek because he wants to get across to his apostles how personal and intimate they are to be in their relationship with him.

just as you would spend a lot of time with a new friend, or potential significant other, to get to know them, you also need to spend a lot of time with God getting to know him.

the thing about church and even the bible is that you can tend to use these things as a crutch within your relationship with God. as these things will give you a better knowledge and understanding of who God is and what he does for his people, it will not develop a personal relationship with God for you (just as your dating for dummies book is not actually going to get you a date, without action on your part). i am not saying that these things will not aide your personal relationship, but they will definitely not create it or maintain it for you.

so, all that being said, i challenge you to look at your own life. if you take away the religious gatherings you attend and your knowledge of the Bible, do you have a personal relationship with God?