Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Nothing to See Here

It is precisely the kind of theology that we saw yesterday that makes this generation one of the most God-starved generations of Christians ever. Most of today's Christians know God's power only through what they've given Him credit for, not through what He has revealed of Himself. 

It's no wonder they think so little of Him.

It's no wonder that it's easy to go to church and to treat it like a social club. After all, almost no one there has actually seen God; He's just sort of this idea that we all have and kinda sorta hope is real or something, but no one has ever seen it or even, sadly, expects to see it any more. That's right - most of today's Christians no longer expect to see God reveal Himself. 

They don't even expect to see God reveal Himself in Heaven. Rather, we believe that Heaven is just something that God does, and what we're most looking forward to is being in that place where everything's perfect and we can finally live with our loved ones again. 

Forget the fact that only there will we know Perfect Love. 

That ought to rattle you. That ought to shake you down to the core of your very being. The very same God who created this entire world so that He could walk in it with us longingly awaits the day when we talk together again...and we're more interested in seeing our moms, dads, aunts, uncles, and every dog we've ever owned (because all dogs go to Heaven).

And Christ? Christ was the promise and the reminder that this is really what it's all about. He was the physical, tangible, intimate incarnation of an infinite God who wants nothing more than to be with us and today's Christians would be hard-pressed to bring the story of Christ down to earth at all. To many, it seems more like the mythology of all of the pagan religions, a story that took place in the heavenly realms, one of those god vs. god stories of good vs. evil that has no flesh on it at all. 

It was no large jump for us to go from a people of God who will not dress for battle to Christians who will not go out to the Cross. 

We're far too comfortable in Jerusalem, where all we have is whispers and rumors of a God who dwells among us and is doing amazing things, but Whom we have never seen. 

And somehow, that's okay with us.

It's perfectly fine with us. Sure, there's something in our souls that is stirred by the idea that God could be present and working, but that's foolishness. Truth is, we don't even expect to see God at work among us any more. It doesn't shock us that we don't witness miracles. It's painful sometimes, especially when we are in dire need of a miracle, but it's not shocking. After all, who are we to expect anything of God at all? He is God. He does whatever He desires whenever He desires it.

Gosh, how entitled do you have to be to think you should expect anything from God just for being His person?

Our hands-off theology that no longer requires anything of us has led us to this place where we expect nothing of God and worse yet, has brought us to expect that we should expect nothing. We are a people who refuse to dress for a battle we will not have to fight, who will not walk to the front lines even to witness our own victory, and who have forsaken the hillside in the shadow of the Cross because, we think, there's nothing at all to see here. 

But, oh, there is everything to see here, for here, children of Israel, is your God. 

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