Time to pull out the test tubes!
In
the next few entries, I’m about to go down another path with respect to the
“experiments with God” that we have been discussing. I hate it when people don’t tell me where
they are going first. If you want me to
go with you, I want to know where I’m going to end up. So, I’m going to tell you in this entry; then
we will get into the details in the future.
I
will state this as simply and as clearly as I can, and I will state it as
something “I” want. But recognize that
this is also something I am hoping some of you will personalize to your own
situation.
I
want to find out if Jesus Christ is still alive and still active in people’s
lives, as we have discussed before <here>. I want to see some physical, tangible
evidence of his work in my own life. I am
being a bit selfish here in the sense that I’m not really worried about anyone
else. I want evidence that is sufficient
and fully-convincing for me personally.
Whatever Jesus may have done in the past for others is not enough – I
want my own personal audience. But, as
such, I’m also not looking for a second “rising from the dead” or “feeding of
the 5000”. I just want something that is
fully convincing to me. And though I
don’t believe it will ever happen, I’m ready to follow this Jesus if he comes through.
I
recognize that I can’t tell Jesus what to do.
I can’t just dream up something and say “do this” and expect him to do
it. If Jesus really is there, then he
surely isn’t so weak as to be constrained to do what I tell him to do.
But,
on the other hand, I am looking for evidence of the type of Jesus/God who
really does want me to believe. So, ultimately it comes down to this: if I
can’t tell God what to do, then he’s going to have to tell me what he is going
to do.
Can
Jesus talk to us? Does Jesus talk to us? Well,
if he is there and he wants me to believe…and he is all-powerful…then surely he
can figure out how to talk to me, can’t he?
But how would that happen? Does
he tell me in a dream? Does he appear in
front of me in a vision and say something audible? Does he show up next to me as I’m
walking along the road, and start talking?
Actually, in the broad range of
Christian experience, all of these things have been reported to have happened,
and much more. And I, personally, don’t
discount that they could still happen.
But I’m not sure these things do it for me. God speaking in a dream? Dreams are random – they’re just neurons firing
when they have nothing else to do. God
speaking in an audible voice? Sounds
like hallucinations. Drugs, maybe. God showing up next to me? Sounds creepy. I met a guy at the bus station once who told
me that he was the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I just laughed. I didn’t stick around to find out if he had
any heavenly guidance for me!
I am going to look for God to make
clear to me something that he is going to do; and then ask him to do it. The process of God “making it clear” is not
necessarily going to be anything miraculous in and of itself. The miraculous evidence will be when I ask
God to do what he made clear, and he does
it. But he and I both have to agree
that whatever that thing is, it is of sufficient evidence that I will believe
and will believe wholeheartedly and will “live my life on his terms” <see earlier discussion of this point>.
How
will God make it clear? I’m going to
suggest three things, in order of importance and usefulness. Then we will have to dig deeper into these
three things in future entries. The
three things are: 1) the Bible as a
foundation, 2) my mind, and 3) circumstances.
I am going to suggest that through these three things, God can make
clear to me what he wants to do to prove himself to me. Then I am going to ask him to do it and wait
and see what happens.
I have to just make one caveat
here. First, if this happens, it’s only
going to happen once. By that I mean
that if you say “God, if you do this I’ll believe in you for the rest of my
life”, and then you renege on the “rest of my life” part, you shouldn’t expect
that you’ll get another (and another, and…) chance. Therefore, if God has already made himself clear to you, then you’ve got what you’re
going to get.[1] Well…except I know from personal experience
that God can give you a second chance…he’s allowed. The point is, if you’re coming back a second
time, you better be ready to duck!
Well, that’s where I’m going. Want to come?
[1] It
would also be reasonable for God to say “I already rose from the dead once –
why isn’t that enough?” However, we’re
just hoping that God will go easy on us since we weren’t there to see it.
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