On walking the Way

How can we know God? This is a pretty basic question and an important one. And people approach this question in many ways. With our modern fascination with science, technology, and philosophy, we often approach this question as a question of logic and evidence. As if God were a hypothesis or a proposition we are trying to test or prove. And there is a place for this approach. But if we are not careful, this approach can cause us to overlook the forest for the trees. Knowing God exists is one thing; knowing God is another thing altogether. And here is where even longtime believers need to slow down and allow themselves to ask the harder questions.

We have all been raised with stories about brave knights, handsome princes, and beautiful princesses. And we have thrilled along with all their struggles until, at last, they find each other and live happily ever after. We all know this is nonsense, and yet it is a beautiful lie and one we like hearing because we want it to be true. But why do we never see this happy outcome in the real world? Why is there no happily ever after in the person of our dreams? The reason may surprise you.

When I was just a kid, I was always amazed at how stupid the various Bible characters appeared to be. And Adam and Eve seemed like the silliest of them all. I used to think, “These people were literally walking with God in the garden of Eden. God had given them the whole world, and their first thought was. ‘Where is that tree God told us to stay away from? He called it the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Hmm… sounds interesting.’”

Imagine a world where everything happens just as it must. No choices, nothing but the necessity of existence. Each piece playing its part no more, no less. Complete harmony of motion, nothing out of place.

John Lennon wrote the song Imagine about a world like this(though I doubt he realized what he was suggesting). And people ask all the time, “If there is a God, why didn’t He create the world without evil?.” So, let’s look at that question as we begin our discussion of love. Couldn’t God create a world where no one did anything wrong, where there was no hate, greed, division, or violence?

Last week, we discussed the difficulties of navigating all the so-called expert voices in the world today. Today I want to think a bit more about why these voices are so appealing and one of the best ways to avoid the dangers of this media-driven world.

We are all drowning in information every day thanks to the internet. And Christians have the voices of a thousand teachers clamoring for our attention non-stop, each with their particular spin on whatever topic you might imagine. What are we to do?

What is it about children that Jesus loved so much? I often read this passage without stopping, thinking it’s obvious; they’re cute, they’re innocent, and they’re trusting. Well, they are all of that, but is that all? What was he trying to teach his disciples, and what did he want them to hear?

Today, I want to push into this question a bit more and see what we might learn from these simple interactions with children. Let’s begin in the gospel of Mark.

This Substack is about walking the path of Jesus. But since the lion’s share of my audience is already trying to walk this path, I have not spent much time discussing why this path is better than all the other paths on offer. Today I want to go back to first principles and look at why the path of Jesus is the only possible path to life.

Our life is not a gift that was delivered to our door in a box for us to use as we will. It is a gift we only find and have in Jesus. Our life is in Jesus like a fish’s life is in water. There is no life apart from Jesus.

There are two phrases that are repeated often in the Bible, and when taken together, they seem a bit puzzling.

* Fear God

* Fear Not

Today I would like to give each of these statements a little thought.