So as things now stand we have, on the one hand, some kind of "faith in Christ" and, on the other, the life of abundance and obedience he is and offers. But we have no effective bridge from faith to life.
This has actually proved somewhat frustrating even in these last few months. Reading so much about the life of abundance that Christ offers, I have often found myself desiring access to it immediately. However, my years of history discovering Christ has not given me an automatic berth into living the eternal life now.
Granted, things have been improving. I see so much growth in myself even in the past two months, and especially in the last year, as though God has known all along the path down which he was leading me. Actually, that's probably quite an accurate statement.
Moving on.
If we have not been living the life eternal, what have we been living?
We settle back into alienation of our religion from Jesus as a friend and teacher, and from our moment-to-moment existence as a holy calling or appointment with God. Some will substitute ritual behavior for divine vitality and personal integrity; others may be content with an isolated string of "experiences" rather than transformation of character. Right at the heart of this alienation lies the absence of Jesus the teacher from our lives.
All other thoughts aside, he makes a valid point here. We love to cling to rituals and experiences in religion, as though these alone will solve our spiritual problems and make us closer to God. But the unfortunate thing about both of these is that they require little to no effort on our part. Think about it, the pastor hands out communion, asks you to rise, asks you to sit, sends you his blessing and on your way you go.
How can you, as a being of free will, come upon a new life of abundance if you never consciously will yourself to take some part in it? If all you do is go from church service to church service hoping to "feel" God's presence one of these days like you did that one time when you were a kid, then you are accomplishing no more than a child who throws a basketball haphazardly towards sky hoping that it will again land in the hoop as it once did.
Let's call this fictional child Rich. Rich likes basketball. He's heard of Michael Jordan. He likes to play it because his friends and family play it. He is enthusiastic about going out every day and throwing the basketball in a random "up" direction and waiting to see if it falls through the large open hole.
The only problem here is that Rich will not get any better as a basketball player, even though he performs all the same rituals as other players. He walks out to the hoop every day. He stands where they stand; he looks where they look. The ball is in his hands, then it is in the air. One time he makes it in, and he spends the rest of his life explaining to the friends that he must be a pretty good player to have made the ball in the hoop, just like they did.
Years will pass. Rich's friends will steadily be pursuing the sport of basketball and they will learn how to become better basketball players. They will advance in their teams and careers and go on to play in high school and college and coach their own children. Meanwhile, Rich will remain exactly where he started, still performing the same rituals and occasionally reliving his glorious experience of seeing the ball go into the hoop.
Now come back in from the land of basketball metaphors and understand that when I speak of Rich, I am actually speaking of the spiritually poor. They are many, and they are everywhere. Take a look at your own past, and you may find that you are one of them. God is real, but seemingly inaccessible. Friends and family members talk to you occasionally about what they are "learning" about God. This confuses you because, "Isn't God just a feeling? Isn't he just out there? Aren't you just supposed to do your thing every Sunday and he's happy enough not to interfere in your life?"
Maybe this isn't you. But I'll bet you know someone that fits the description pretty well. Most of these people know Jesus' name while being utterly clueless on what he said, did, or preached. He is not a teacher in their lives any more than Michael Jordan was a teacher for Rich.
The disappearance of Jesus as teacher explains why today in Christian churches little effort is made to teach people to do what he did and taught. We do not seriously consider Jesus as our teacher on how to live, hence we cannot think of ourselves as his students or disciples. So we turn to popular speakers and writers on matters that concern us. Jesus' invitation to eternal life now - right in the midst of work, business, and profession - remains for the most part ignored and unspoken.
And so ends this highly depressing chapter on the current state of affairs. Before we exit this darkness into a brighter land, answer me these questions three, dare the other side you see.
1) Does the gospel you preach and teach have a natural tendency to cause people who hear it o become full-time students of Jesus?
2) Would those who believe it become his apprentices as a natural "next step"?
3) What can you reasonably expect would result from people actually believing the substance of your message?
Think carefully about you answers before moving into the next chapter.
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