Relationship, not Religion

When people start thinking about God, they almost always begin to think about religion -- going to some church to find God.  But as human and "natural" as the process seems to be, it is really backwards.  If we were not raised in a church, we begin looking for the 'right' church -- and really, God in His love and mercy will very often lead us to the place that can nurture our hungry souls.  But the truth is that we would not have been looking for a church unless there had already been some call in our hearts -- the beginning of a relationship with God.  We would not look for Him unless He had already found us.

If we have been raised in a church, we may have felt the intimation of a relationship already as children, but the "cares and concerns" of our lives may have choked out the relationship until we find ourselves just going through the motions of attending church services and thinking that this is all there is to it.

God wants a relationship with us.  Throughout the entire Old Testament, He calls Himself "husband," "father," "mother," "intimate lover," "brother," "friend."  In the first chapter of Genesis, He is "El," (God).  That is His title: The Supreme God, the Creator."  But very quickly, He gives mankind His Name: Yahweh.  By the second chapter of Genesis, He is referred to as (in English) "The LORD God," Yahweh El, in Hebrew.  The Jews did not allow the sacred Name to be pronounced, so wherever it occurs in Scripture, they substitute "Adonai," meaning "Lord."  That way, when the text is read aloud (the only way it could have been read for centuries), the Name Yahweh could not be pronounced aloud.)   I respect the awe and reverence this practice embodies, the "fence" the Jews put up around the Sacred Name -- but in some ways, it also hides the truth from us. 

God did not want to be called "God,"  (or whatever title we use in our culture).  He has a Name, and He gave that Name to mankind so that we could address Him as a Person, face to face.  We have names, and we give those names to those we trust (as identity theft has taught us not to give our names to those we don't trust).  Those who know our name have a relationship with us (in the simple world before the internet).

John Paul II said this:  God in his deepest mystery is not a solitude but a family because he has within himself Fatherhood, Sonship, and the essence of the Family, which is Love.

From the beginning, God wants us to participate in and image His Life of Love, of Family, of dynamic relationship, of pouring out and receiving and giving back in love.  We are His Image and Likeness; we are made for relationship, as the first lesson of Genesis teaches us.  Adam had the entire world at his fingertips; there was nothing he needed or wanted -- except companionship, except a lover who could receive him and give back to him what he most needed and wanted-- love.  He needed relationship, family, dynamic love.  Adam was not sent to church; he was given a wife, and sons.  The Garden was the 'church' where they walked with God and with one another.

Yesterday, a friend who was raised as a militant atheist, who  had been taught that anyone who believes in God is ignorant or stupid, said to me, "I am now off all my medication, and I am better; I think there's something out there, but I don't want to go to church and have a preacher take all my money. Maybe Buddhism." 

I want to cry that she identifies Yahweh who seeks to fill her soul with love with 'going to church,' and religion, and yet, I know that she is now off her meds and no longer depressed and looking for life because so many people have been praying for her for so long -- and Yahweh Who Loves Her is calling her forward out of darkness into His marvelous light.  It is not yet time to tell her that, but she has accepted that people have been praying for her.  It is not that our prayers have moved God on her behalf; it is that God on her behalf has wanted us to be a part of what He wanted to do for her all along.  He could have done it without us, but he wants a "family" of love and support around her as she emerges from the shadow of death into life.  Unfortunately, Buddhism would take her, if truly practiced, out of relationship back into her own inner world, shutting off all that might distract her from "nirvana."

When God called Abraham out of his father's house and his people/ his pagan culture, there was as yet no religion, no church -- only worship of the stars, sun, and moon, and child sacrifice to appease the gods.  It would still be about 600 years before any semblance of "religion" would be formed among Abraham's descendents at Mount Sinai.  So my point is this:  if we want to know God as "husband," "father," "mother," "lover," "friend," we will have to cultivate a relationship with Him through prayer.  Then, and only then, He will lead us to "church," where we can celebrate and share His relationship with us and others in the family of God.  Then the dynamic giving and receiving can spill over into the lives of others; then we can be truly family ('father,' 'mother,' sister, brother, lover, friend) with Him and with the world around us.

To say we are all "family" without the loving relationship that originates in the Trinity is simply untrue and misleading.  A church can gather us together, but it cannot give us love unless we are gathered together by the love of God.