g
|
The Prize - Relationship with God
:
Now, Tell Me the Cost |
The Prize - Relationship with God…“Now,
Tell Me the Cost”.
Author: William S. Doolittle
“…anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my
disciple”
- Jesus of Nazareth
Anyone considering casting off the shackles of bondage to religion, and
then stepping into the fresh air of freedom of simple relationship with
God, needs to first consider the price tag of such freedom. “What?” you
ask; “You mean freedom comes at a price? I thought freedom is free!” The
answer to that question is both yes and no. Freedom is free in the sense
that Christ paid for our freedom on the cross. It is not free in the
sense that since we were bought with a price [1] (through His death on
the cross) we are thus obligated to serve and follow Him who paid that
price. It is in the following that the costs of becoming a true disciple
of Christ begin to reveal themselves. In this article we will examine
the particular costs that seem to attend following Christ out of
religion and into relationship with Himself, and seek to provide some of
the answers as to why those costs must be born. All this in the hope of
a.) Preparing people to count the cost before they commit, lest they
find out, too late, that they can’t afford it, and b.) Be a support and
source of encouragement to those who do decide to “take up (their)
cross” [2].
If you have found that pursuit of Christ through religion has left you
unfulfilled, than you may be one of many Christians who are abandoning,
or thinking of abandoning, religion in favor of the simplicity of direct
relationship with God. For many, this means deciding to no longer attend
regular religious services, or at least no longer engaging in any of the
“oughts” imposed by religion. This is a place of tremendous freedom, and
usually results in the growth in your knowledge, understanding and
relationship with God, but is that all that believers who take this step
experience? The consensus among those who step free from religion, is
that such a step is almost invariably followed up by a wilderness
experience, and quite frequently, personal difficulties sometimes
culminating in catastrophe. The reader may remark the absence of any
sugarcoating in the last statement, but may also wonder why anybody
would then want to step free of religion. The reason is simple - such a
person believes that the prize, namely, intimacy with God, is worth it.
This begs the question of - Why? Why does drawing closer to God almost
invariably lead to a wilderness experience, and why does it often lead
to personal catastrophe? We seek to answer these questions here.
Wilderness is a place where God can strip us of everything we have
learned prior to intimacy with Him. There are many biblical metaphors
that illustrate this truth. It was only after 40 years in the wilderness
that God finally revealed Himself to Moses, and even then Moses was bid
to remove his sandals, for he found himself standing in the presence of
a holy God; again, even 40 years of being cleansed in the wilderness did
not bring Moses to the point where he could presume unconditional
intimacy with God.
Now, Christians enjoy this high privilege over and against Moses, since
through Christ we are dead to our old selves and have new life in Him
[4]. Once we have accepted Christ as savior, we do not need to die to
our selves, as though it were some kind of work or process; instead we
share in His death on the cross and become (are made) a new creation –
instantly. Why then the wilderness experience for Christians who seek
relationship with God over religion? It is helpful to keep in mind that
Paul was a Christian in every sense of the New Testament word, and yet
God led him, literally, into the Arabian wilderness for a period of time
[5]. I think one important reason that God leads us to wilderness
before, and while, He is drawing us to intimacy with Himself is because
we need to be stripped of the false teaching, and errant socializing
influences of a culture that belongs to the evil one. Some of us may
sense this need going into a wilderness experience, but I think few of
us are prepared for the depth and breadth of cleansing, or “detoxing”,
that needs to take place in our lives. God’s standard is not our
standard. We are of the flesh, and our origin is dust; our body’s
finite. God is spirit; without origin; His being eternal. He is holy,
which essentially means “other”, or “apart”. Again we have this
advantage over Moses that, unlike him, we as Christian can approach God
boldly, but again, for our own sake God needs to cleanse and detox us
from the culture to prepare us to better relate to Him and serve Him.
God is utterly selfless; He doesn’t cleanse believers anymore owing to
our sinfulness; no that was taken care of on the cross; he cleanses
those who seek true intimacy with Him so we can better accomplish what
we are seeking – that very intimacy. We need to have the static of
Satan’s culture cleansed from our minds, the filth of impure sights and
sounds cleansed from our senses, so we can better see and hear Him. He
is with us all the time in the wilderness; we are clean in His sight
owing to the work of Christ. The wilderness is an act of mercy for
believers who have been damaged by culture and religion.
Another important reason for the wilderness is that as we are cleansed
of the bad effects of culture, God is right there teaching us new ways
of being and acting. He helps us to change our patterns of thought,
perhaps choose new associations, and likely discourage us from
unfruitful conduct. As the scripture says, everything is lawful for us,
once we are in Christ, but not everything is beneficial. As he cleanses
us from the non-beneficial, He guides us into new thoughts and ways that
are beneficial. This latter may sound easy, but it is not; instead it
may be the hardest part of the wilderness experience. The flesh rebels
against law – and that’s OK, Paul says we are not under the Law – but
when God tries to gently guide us into what He knows is best for us, it
can feel like law, and Satan fans that feeling into flames. As Paul
point out, the spirit within us and the flesh our bodies wage war
against one another so that we do what we don’t want to do, and leave
undone the thing we wanted to do. As God tries to gently help us to make
good choices of what to think about [6], and what to do with our time,
we “kick against the pricks [7]”. It’s no
use thinking that this won’t happen to you; it will. God doesn’t lead us
out to the wilderness for a picnic; He leads us out for hard work.
We have covered some of the reasons for the wilderness experience. There
are more, many of which are unknown to us. We must keep in mind always “…the
depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable
his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!” [8], also that
“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter”
[9]. We must not to pry too hard to into the ways of God. Sometimes it
is best to just “Be still, and know that (He) is God” [10]
This finally bring us to catastrophe…why do so many who come out of
religion, so as to experience God face to face, wind up in catastrophe?
Again, the life of Moses and Paul shed some light on the mystery.
Moses was not only led out into a wilderness, but at that same time he
lost the status of being a member of Pharaoh’s household to become a
keeper of flocks (to an ancient Egyptian, a detestable thing). This is
roughly comparable in our culture to losing status as a cabinet
secretary to the President of the United States to become a garbage
collector. Some would describe this as catastrophe. Also, after
instructing Moses to lead the Israelites out of the Egypt, God put Moses
on a deathbed, up to the very brink, for failing to circumcise his son.
Some would describe this as a catastrophe. Later on, after speaking to
Pharaoh exactly as he had been commanded by God to do, Pharaoh responded
by ordering the Israelites to make bricks without straw, and without
lessening productivity. This also appeared to be catastrophe.
Paul, whom many consider to be the greatest apostle, describes his
experience in that exalted office as follows: “I
have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged
more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I
received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was
beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I
spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the
move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in
danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the
city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from
false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without
sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food;
I have been cold and naked.” [11] I think many of us would
consider receiving forty lashes, meted out by out worst enemies, as a
catastrophe; especially if we received them for being perfectly obedient
to God. Bob Humphrey of Family Room Media, a ministry that assist
persons who leave religion and seek true relationship with Father, has
suggested that God brings us to catastrophe once we leave the many false
supports provided by religion, “so as to bring us to an end of
ourselves”. In true relationship, God wants us to understand that the
sufficiency is all on His part. We bring nothing but our filthy rags, He
bring everything else. Isn’t that we are all seeking for, after all? Do
we really want to bring anything to Father, or do we instead want to
find security, comfort, love, meaning, forgiveness, intimacy, fullness
and more all within the embrace of His strong arms?
God is all-in-all. We can offer Him nothing. He is our complete
sufficiency. We resist resting in that reality or accepting that
blessing. It makes no sense, but we do. Time we start letting go, and
letting God.
[1] 1 Corinthians 6:20
[2] Matthew 16:24
[3] Luke 14:28-33
[4] Colossians 2:13
[5] Galatians 1:17
[6] Philippians 4:8
[7] Acts 26:14
[8] Romans 11:33
[9] Proverbs 25:2
[10] Psalm 46:10
[11] 2 Corinthians 11:23-27
William's Blog |
|
OTHER ARTICLES
|
|
