There's knowing of someone and knowing someone.

A few years ago I took Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University class and it changed my life. Since then I have paid off my credit cards, student loan, bought a car with cash, replaced my hot water  heater, air conditioner & blower, gone on a few major vacations and I'm debt free! Its awesome! I had lived for years just a bit in the red. Now I teach his Foundations in Personal Finance to my high school kids. They don't love it because its more math but I keep telling them I'm changing their lives.

Now I could read all of Dave's books, listen to his radio show and teach his program for years and I can know all about Dave and his financial principals but I don't KNOW Dave. We aren't friends. If I need advice I can't call him on the phone to ask him for help. He isn't training how to make good financial decisions. Someday some situation might come up that Dave's rules don't really cover. I'm not growing into a financial wizard. I have some good knowledge but there are things Dave gets that I don't.

Similarly I can love a famous person, I'll pick Hugh Jackman- because I think he's amazing. I can read every article written, watch every interview, read biographies, follow him on Fb and twitter. I can know every publicly made fact but I don't KNOW Hugh. I've never met him. He doesn't know my name. He won't show up to help me move. I know OF him but I don't know him.

So how is this like God?

God wants us to be in RELATIONSHIP with Him. I can read the bible, go to church, listen to podcasts and know all ABOUT God but if I don't let The Spirit in, get to know God relation-ally, its going to fall apart. God wants us to talk TO him, not just ABOUT him. He wants us to let him guide our future, not just ask Him if the plan we've made is ok with Him.

There's a reason He doesn't give us a road map, show us his long term plan. If we knew the way we wouldn't need to talk to Him. If I knew the long term plans he has for me I wouldn't need God. He made us to be in community with Him.

If we know about God we can do a lot of good. We can learn what he wants from us and we can act "correctly." I can make a great impression of a Godly person without ever talking to God. The Bible leaves a good description of what it looks like to be a "good christian." But being a "good christian" isn't what God wants from us. Just like a parent doesn't just want "good kids." We want our kids to sit in our lap so we can read them a story. We want to teach them, guide them, love them. I don't just want robot children who say "yes Mommy" and always behave well but don't love me. I want to love them and I want them to love me.

God doesn't just want us to ACT like we love Him, he wants us to love him. He wants us to trust him. He wants to guide us but in order for that to happen we have to learn how to talk to Him and listen for Him.

I recently watched a podcast where a woman told a story about watching a shepherd with his sheep walking through the desert. The sheep all walk in a straight line while the shepherd zig zags through them knocking rocks aside. The woman asks someone what he's doing. The person explained that grass doesn't grow well in the desert, it grows under rocks. The shepherd goes along knocking rocks aside to reveal small amounts of grass for the sheep to eat. When we read Psalm 23 we think of a lush field where we can eat all we want. but what if that's not what is meant? What if God leads us through the desert just giving us a mouthful of grass at a time to keep us close to Him?

It can be really frustrating when God doesn't give us the big picture, a set of rules to follow. But what if He does that so that we stay in relationship with Him? When we allow the Spirit to guide us we stay close to Him. Its scary. Its frustrating. It teaches us trust. Its exciting too. Its an adventure.

I have a neighbor who likes to bring me books. Now this neighbor and I are not good friends. We are the kind of people that wave to each other and maybe stop to have a five minute conversation. He's never been inside my house and I've never been in his. We don't really  have a relationship. I don't know where he's from, what he did for a living, if he has kids or what his hobbies are. I do know that we have polar opposite views politically. Sometimes he will bring me books. They are brand new and they are usually on his political view. From what I have read on the book jacket they spread fear about what (my) political party is going to do to end the world and freedom as we know it.

Now I hate politics anyway. I do my research at voting time and I vote the candidate I think will do the best job but I don't get really into it. I feel like most politicians are only after their own agenda anyway and don't really take into account the people they serve. But ultimately, I don't put my faith in politicians; I put my faith in God. God will control my future no matter what happens to this country of ours.

So I usually take the books, unread, to Half Price Books and sell them. This most recent time I tried to explain that I won't read this book. All I  had to do was look at who wrote it to know that I had no interest in reading it. He wouldn't take no for an answer, just kept saying "read it!" So I thanked him and he left.

I think to myself "why does this guy keep bringing these books? He doesn't know anything about me. I don't want to read his political garbage. I should take him a Bible and say 'Here, read this. It will show you how to live without fear of the current political regime.'" But then I started thinking which brings me to ...

How does this relate to God and the Kingdom?

When people try to evangelize by just handing out cards or books or stand on a street corner with a megaphone telling people they are going to Hell unless they repent, they are doing the same thing my neighbor is doing. They are trying to push their idea off on people who they don't know. I can't imagine this method works. In fact I often feel like this method probably repels more people than it attracts. They showed a picture in church one day of a guy with a megaphone at a college football game. He was trying to preach the gospel. There is this huge circle around him where no one is standing.

We aren't willing to think or believe something that is contrary to our own beliefs when someone is trying to blindly shove it on to us. I find personally that when people try to just shove their agenda down my throat that I dig my heals in and fight back.

That's why God comes to us where we are. He didn't shout out from a cloud "Repent and believe or go to Hell!" He comes to us each in the way that will make us want Him. For me He came through friends. He gave me a new set of friends who were seeking. I liked being with those people so I became a Seeker too.

It goes back, once again, to relationship. If we don't have a relationship with people they don't want to hear what you have to say. They aren't going to believe you. People need to see you doing it. They need to learn to trust you before they believe you. If we want our non-believing friends to come to know Christ we need to go and walk WITH them, not pull them or push them into it.

Think of a horse that is untamed. If you put  a halter on it and start jerking its going to buck and back away from you. But if you go into his pen daily and feed him and speak soothingly to him and pet him, he'll start to follow you around.

Just handing out a book isn't loving. If you know someone and you have a relationship with them and you say "I think you might be interested in this, I would love it if you would be willing to read it and then we can discuss it." is so much more inviting.

Its the old saying "you get more bees with honey." We need to be giving our non-Christian friends honey so they are attracted to us and THEN willing to see why we are different. Maybe then they will accept our invitation to church or to read biblical books. Maybe then they will be willing to give God a chance.

Its not about the Golden Ticket, its about love

Have you seen Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory? Willy Wonka has this amazing chocolate factory and he is looking for a successor. So he sends out five golden tickets, ostensibly for a tour but Wonka is looking for someone to take over his business. People go crazy trying to get these Golden Tickets because NO ONE is allowed in the factory. Wealthy people buy their children hundreds of candy bars searching for the Golden Ticket. It works for four of them and then one poor kid, Charlie gets a chocolate bar for  his birthday and he gets a ticket. No one wants to befriend Wonka, they just want a look into the highly select club. Wonka then uses the tour to weed at the spoiled brats and find someone with a pure heart to succeed him.

Let me, seemingly, go off into a tangent here, I promise I'll bring it all back together later. I have been single for a LONG time. I'm a go getter. I'm one of those people that when I get a goal, I work toward it  until I get it. Most worldly things work out that way. You want to be a lawyer? You work hard, you get yourself through college, you take the right classes and you are most likely to get in. You want to buy a house? You save up, get pre-approved, find yourself a realtor and you get a house. But relationships don't work that way. I tried EVERYTHING to find "Mr. Right." I tried on-line dating, set ups, went out to bars, joined intramural teams, heck I even went to a specific grocery store that was known for being a place people found people. But it never worked. Because love isn't a worldly thing. You can't force someone to love you. You can force them to act like they love you with the right leverage but you can't actually make them care about you.

So how is this like God and how do these tie together?

I was reading the story of the rich young ruler. (Mark 10:17-22) You know, the guy that comes up to Jesus and says "Good Teacher, What must I do to inherent the eternal life?" Jesus asks the man if he has followed the commandments and the man says yes. Then "Jesus looked at  him and loved  him. 'One thing you lack.... Go, sell everything you have and give it to the poor, and you will  have treasure in heaven."' The man goes away sad because he is wealthy and is  unwilling to give it all up.

First of all, quickly. I LOVE that Jesus first LOVED him and then threw down the gauntlet. Jesus didn't make this guy prove himself before he was loved. That is my favorite thing about Jesus.  He loves us before we make ourselves good.

On to the point though. The man asks how to inherent eternal life. He wants the Golden Ticket into heaven. This guy is a go-getter. He's a doer. He's one of those guys that sets out to accomplish a goal, breaks it down into measurable steps and then works at it until he gets it. But the problem is, Heaven doesn't work like that. Its not an earthly thing to be bought or earned. We get it through love and grace. The rich ruler doesn't understand how to get something without working for it. If he is wealthy, he has worked his whole life to get what he wants. For him its a tried and true method of attaining things. But Heaven isn't a THING. Heaven is being close to God because wherever He is- there Heaven is.

The problem is, he's asking the wrong question. He's acting like the brothers in the story of two sons (people call it the Prodigal Son story.-Luke 15) Remember? The younger son demands his inheritance, squanders it and then comes back asking for forgiveness. The father runs out to the son rejoicing that he is home. The older brother is mad because he has worked and never left and he feels cheated. In this story, neither son wants the father's love. They just want his money and land. They don't love their Dad, they just want his wealth. They just want the Golden Ticket. The father tries to explain that so long as they are together, in relationship, that's what counts.

This rich young ruler should have asked "Jesus, how can I be one of your disciples? How can I be in relationship with you?" THAT'S the question we need to all be asking. That's what God wants. Look at Creation. If God just wanted carbon creatures to follow rules so he could let them into heaven he would have created Stepford Wives. (see my earlier post if this doesn't make sense). He would have created robots who will go through the motions of acting loving and then let them into Heaven. But that isn't what He wanted. He created us to be in relationship with him! He created us so we could choose to love him. Not just obediently follow his rules. He isn't a tyrant who only wants obedience. He is love. He wants our love and He wants to give us His love.

We need to make sure we're asking the right question. Are we asking God "Am I doing enough to get into Heaven?" or are we asking "How can I get closer to you?"