Down-to-Earth Guides
Christian jargon-buster |
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| sin | anything we do that is wrong in the sight of God - usually anything that is self-centred |
| repent | change your value system - change the way you think about God, others, yourself |
| believe in Jesus | put your whole trust and confidence in Jesus, to rely upon him |
| give your life to Christ | surrender control of your life to God |
| born again | given a fresh start with a new nature - one which is switched on to God and can feel his love and guidance |
| crucifixion | death on a cross |
| resurrection | returning from death to life |
| ascension | rising or going up (in Jesus's case, going up into heaven) |
| sacrament | an outward, visible act (such as baptism, marriage and communion) to help celebrate (with God) an inward reality |
| grace | unmerited favour - getting what you don't deserve |
| mercy | no/reduced consequences for sin - not getting what you do deserve |
| faith | the assent of the mind to a truth revealed by God (strong enough for you to trust in it and reorder your life around it, if necessary) |
| Christ | a title given to Jesus, meaning Anointed (which is also what Messiah means) |
| Holy Spirit | the Spirit of God who is holy (perfect) and helps us to become holy |
| meditation | thinking steadily and methodically about spiritual things |
| Evangelicals | place especial emphasis upon the supreme authority of the Bible and the atoning death of Jesus |
| atonement | making up for our past mistakes, so we can be at one with God, united and reconciled to him |
| incarnation | the assumption of human nature by God, in the person of Jesus Christ |
| creed | a formal definition or summary of the Christian faith |
| exegesis | explain what the author of a particular Bible passage meant |
| exposition | explain how we can apply a particular Bible passage to our lives today |
| eschatology | study of the last things (not days) i.e. death, what happens between death & the return of Christ, the return of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, the day of judgment, heaven & hell |
| Amen | the traditional ending of prayers, means "so be it" |
Who is Jesus? |
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There were a number of things that were special about Jesus. Here are some of them:
1. The things he said
Jesus taught his followers to love God with all their heart. You could speak to God as your heavenly Father, because he was a kind, friendly, loving God who was always ready to listen. You also had to love everyone else - including even your enemies. No matter what they did to you, you always had to forgive them and must never treat them badly in return. You also had to live a good life, keeping God's commandments, and that thinking of doing bad things was as bad as actually doing them.
2. The things he did
Jesus lived a perfect life. He never did anything wrong. He lived out what he taught. He was always helping the poor, comforting the sad, sticking up for those who were badly treated, and healing people with all sorts of ailments. He even raised some people from the dead. He mixed with all sorts of people - not just the important ones, and as for children, he thought the world of them.
3. The death he died
Jesus was arrested and tried for a crime he was not guilty of. He was tortured and sentenced to death on a cross, where he died in terrible pain. Yet Jesus never complained. As the nails were being hammered into his hands and feet he forgave those who were doing it. Jesus could have saved himself from the cross. But he chose not to, because God asked him to go through with it. For God had decided that Jesus' perfect sacrifice of himself on our behalf would enable him to forgive all our wrong-doing.
4. His return from death
A couple of days after Jesus died and was buried, he was seen alive again. His friends were stunned. They had known all along he was the best man who had ever lived, but this showed he was even more than that. They came to realise that Jesus was none other than God himself. The Lord of the whole universe had come to earth in the form of a human being, to put everything right again between God and us. We had all deserved death because of our wrong-doing, but now Jesus had died in our place, and we could enter heaven instead.
5. His departure to heaven
A human being could only be in one place at a time, and so after a while Jesus withdrew to heaven. From there he sent his Holy
Spirit into the hearts of all his followers, so that through the Holy Spirit, he could be with all of them all the time. And one
day, when this life is over, we shall join him there in heaven.
1. The things he said
Jesus taught his followers to love God with all their heart. You could speak to God as your heavenly Father, because he was a kind, friendly, loving God who was always ready to listen. You also had to love everyone else - including even your enemies. No matter what they did to you, you always had to forgive them and must never treat them badly in return. You also had to live a good life, keeping God's commandments, and that thinking of doing bad things was as bad as actually doing them.
2. The things he did
Jesus lived a perfect life. He never did anything wrong. He lived out what he taught. He was always helping the poor, comforting the sad, sticking up for those who were badly treated, and healing people with all sorts of ailments. He even raised some people from the dead. He mixed with all sorts of people - not just the important ones, and as for children, he thought the world of them.
3. The death he died
Jesus was arrested and tried for a crime he was not guilty of. He was tortured and sentenced to death on a cross, where he died in terrible pain. Yet Jesus never complained. As the nails were being hammered into his hands and feet he forgave those who were doing it. Jesus could have saved himself from the cross. But he chose not to, because God asked him to go through with it. For God had decided that Jesus' perfect sacrifice of himself on our behalf would enable him to forgive all our wrong-doing.
4. His return from death
A couple of days after Jesus died and was buried, he was seen alive again. His friends were stunned. They had known all along he was the best man who had ever lived, but this showed he was even more than that. They came to realise that Jesus was none other than God himself. The Lord of the whole universe had come to earth in the form of a human being, to put everything right again between God and us. We had all deserved death because of our wrong-doing, but now Jesus had died in our place, and we could enter heaven instead.
5. His departure to heaven
A human being could only be in one place at a time, and so after a while Jesus withdrew to heaven. From there he sent his Holy
Spirit into the hearts of all his followers, so that through the Holy Spirit, he could be with all of them all the time. And one
day, when this life is over, we shall join him there in heaven.
What is a Christian? |
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You might think that a Christian is someone who follows Jesus Christ and who tries to live by the principles that Jesus taught. But it is not possible to live up to those principles in our own strength. When we try, we always fail and commit sins by doing things wrong. In his death on the cross, Jesus provided a means by which we would no longer have to try to follow him in our own strength any more.
Firstly, God accepted Jesus' perfect sacrifice of himself on our behalf, as a way by which our sins could be permanently forgiven. Previously our sins had formed a barrier between God and us, but through Jesus' death that barrier was removed.
Secondly, God placed his Spirit in us. This had not been possible while we were still sinners, but now it is possible. It means the help of God's Spirit within us to live by Jesus' principles, and it also means that a permanent connection is established within us with God. We can now have a personal relationship with God the Father and with Jesus his Son, because God's Spirit lives in us.
This is such a momentous experience that the Bible likens it to being born again. But God does not force this new life onto everyone. He will only give it to you: a) if you want it and b) if you believe in Jesus and want to follow him whole-heartedly.
Because of God's nature, the only relationship he can have with us is a whole-hearted one. We must be willing to let go of all our self-centredness, all our desires for our own pleasure or status, all our desires to go our own way, and be willing to go whatever way God wants us to go.
God knows that we can never achieve this in our own strength, so all he asks of us is to decide whether that is what we want to do or not. If it us, then because his Spirit lives in us, he will start changing us inside to be like that. And, after this life is over, he will complete that change and enable us to have the whole-hearted relationship with him that we want and that he wants.
Believing in Jesus means accepting him as your living Lord and Saviour. Your Lord because you want to follow him whole-heartedly, and your Saviour because his death on the cross is the only way to enable you to do that (by saving you from the barrier that your sins have created).
A better definition therefore is that a Christian is someone who has invited Jesus Christ to be the Lord and Saviour of their lives. If you have not done this and want to, then here is a prayer that you can make your own:
Lord Jesus Christ,
I admit that I have sinned and gone my own way.
I need your forgiveness.
I am willing to turn away from all that I know is wrong.
I want to go with you
I want you to be first in my life.
Thank you for dying on the cross to take away my sins.
Thank you for your gift of forgiveness and new life.
I now take your gift.
I ask you to come into my life by your Holy Spirit.
Come in as my Saviour and Lord.
Thank you Lord Jesus.
Amen
Firstly, God accepted Jesus' perfect sacrifice of himself on our behalf, as a way by which our sins could be permanently forgiven. Previously our sins had formed a barrier between God and us, but through Jesus' death that barrier was removed.
Secondly, God placed his Spirit in us. This had not been possible while we were still sinners, but now it is possible. It means the help of God's Spirit within us to live by Jesus' principles, and it also means that a permanent connection is established within us with God. We can now have a personal relationship with God the Father and with Jesus his Son, because God's Spirit lives in us.
This is such a momentous experience that the Bible likens it to being born again. But God does not force this new life onto everyone. He will only give it to you: a) if you want it and b) if you believe in Jesus and want to follow him whole-heartedly.
Because of God's nature, the only relationship he can have with us is a whole-hearted one. We must be willing to let go of all our self-centredness, all our desires for our own pleasure or status, all our desires to go our own way, and be willing to go whatever way God wants us to go.
God knows that we can never achieve this in our own strength, so all he asks of us is to decide whether that is what we want to do or not. If it us, then because his Spirit lives in us, he will start changing us inside to be like that. And, after this life is over, he will complete that change and enable us to have the whole-hearted relationship with him that we want and that he wants.
Believing in Jesus means accepting him as your living Lord and Saviour. Your Lord because you want to follow him whole-heartedly, and your Saviour because his death on the cross is the only way to enable you to do that (by saving you from the barrier that your sins have created).
A better definition therefore is that a Christian is someone who has invited Jesus Christ to be the Lord and Saviour of their lives. If you have not done this and want to, then here is a prayer that you can make your own:
Lord Jesus Christ,
I admit that I have sinned and gone my own way.
I need your forgiveness.
I am willing to turn away from all that I know is wrong.
I want to go with you
I want you to be first in my life.
Thank you for dying on the cross to take away my sins.
Thank you for your gift of forgiveness and new life.
I now take your gift.
I ask you to come into my life by your Holy Spirit.
Come in as my Saviour and Lord.
Thank you Lord Jesus.
Amen
A personal relationship with God |
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It is possible to get to know some people on television quite well and we can have strong feelings for them. Some we may dislike, others we may like or even love.
Yet, unless we actually meet them and spend time with them, we will never find out what they are <I>really</I> like. Our relationship with them will be very limited, by the little that we (think we) know about them, and by the fact that we can never do things together or share with one another. It is not a personal relationship.
Some people have this kind of relationship with God. They get to know about him from the Bible rather than television, but the
principle involved is just the same. They may love God and have a desire to follow him and be like him, but their relationship with him will always be very limited if they do not get to know him personally.
When we invite Jesus into our lives as our Lord and Saviour, God makes a personal relationship with him possible by putting his Holy Spirit inside us. Somehow the Holy Spirit forms an inner connection between us and God, and allows something within us to know we are in God's presence and to feel his love and hear him speaking to us.
Communication is the heart of any relationship. It helps us get to know what the other person is feeling and thinking, and enables us to share things together. But while it can be easy for us to talk to God, by addressing him in silent or spoken prayers, it is much harder to hear what God is saying to us, and to experience expressions of his love (or any other feelings that he has about us).
Some people find God speaks to them most through external religious activities - like studying the Bible, worship, Christian
speakers or Christian books. Some find that God can talk to them at any time during the day, putting thoughts into their minds, or feelings into their hearts, which they know can only have come from him. Others find that by stilling their own thoughts and
feelings they can get a sense of God's presence and meet with him in that quietness.
It can take quite a while to develop this relationship, for it is not like any other that we have experienced before. But if we want to hear what God is saying to us and to be able to spend time with him, then God will help us learn how to do that.
God has created us so that our relationship with him can be endlessly rewarding and fulfilling. It is not easy at times, but ultimately it is the most satisfying relationship that it is possible for us to have.
God has a rich variety of characteristics. Probably the most common titles that are given to him in the Bible are Father, Lord, Saviour and King, but there are many others as well. There is always some new aspect of God's personality for us to get to know, appreciate and experience for ourselves.
Love is God's central characteristic, and it is perhaps as a loving Father that God may want us to know him most. To share our lives intimately with him, to live in his love, to let him provide for us, and to let him help us grow and develop and change our lives for the better.
Just as with any other relationship, our relationship with God will be affected by what we put into it. It is doubtlessly true that we will both please God and find pleasure ourselves the more that we open up to God, and the closer we get to him, the more we talk with him and share things with him, the more we get to know him and love him, the more we trust him and follow him, and the more we honour and respect him.
Yet, unless we actually meet them and spend time with them, we will never find out what they are <I>really</I> like. Our relationship with them will be very limited, by the little that we (think we) know about them, and by the fact that we can never do things together or share with one another. It is not a personal relationship.
Some people have this kind of relationship with God. They get to know about him from the Bible rather than television, but the
principle involved is just the same. They may love God and have a desire to follow him and be like him, but their relationship with him will always be very limited if they do not get to know him personally.
When we invite Jesus into our lives as our Lord and Saviour, God makes a personal relationship with him possible by putting his Holy Spirit inside us. Somehow the Holy Spirit forms an inner connection between us and God, and allows something within us to know we are in God's presence and to feel his love and hear him speaking to us.
Communication is the heart of any relationship. It helps us get to know what the other person is feeling and thinking, and enables us to share things together. But while it can be easy for us to talk to God, by addressing him in silent or spoken prayers, it is much harder to hear what God is saying to us, and to experience expressions of his love (or any other feelings that he has about us).
Some people find God speaks to them most through external religious activities - like studying the Bible, worship, Christian
speakers or Christian books. Some find that God can talk to them at any time during the day, putting thoughts into their minds, or feelings into their hearts, which they know can only have come from him. Others find that by stilling their own thoughts and
feelings they can get a sense of God's presence and meet with him in that quietness.
It can take quite a while to develop this relationship, for it is not like any other that we have experienced before. But if we want to hear what God is saying to us and to be able to spend time with him, then God will help us learn how to do that.
God has created us so that our relationship with him can be endlessly rewarding and fulfilling. It is not easy at times, but ultimately it is the most satisfying relationship that it is possible for us to have.
God has a rich variety of characteristics. Probably the most common titles that are given to him in the Bible are Father, Lord, Saviour and King, but there are many others as well. There is always some new aspect of God's personality for us to get to know, appreciate and experience for ourselves.
Love is God's central characteristic, and it is perhaps as a loving Father that God may want us to know him most. To share our lives intimately with him, to live in his love, to let him provide for us, and to let him help us grow and develop and change our lives for the better.
Just as with any other relationship, our relationship with God will be affected by what we put into it. It is doubtlessly true that we will both please God and find pleasure ourselves the more that we open up to God, and the closer we get to him, the more we talk with him and share things with him, the more we get to know him and love him, the more we trust him and follow him, and the more we honour and respect him.
Prayer |
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Communication is the heart of any relationship, and prayer is the main way we communicate with God. Just as in any relationship, that communication will take many forms - talking and listening; asking questions and making requests; sharing information, ideas, feelings and experiences; saying thank you; saying sorry, and so on.
Sometimes we will just exchange brief words with God - perhaps sharing what is on our minds or our hearts at that moment, or maybe asking his blessing on a particular person or situation. Other times we will talk more deeply with him - taking time to get to know him and to share our innermost feelings with him and also to allow him to share his wishes and feelings with us.
We need not be discouraged if we don't feel we know God very well, or if we are not sure how to pray or what to ask for. God does not mind these things. The important thing is whether we want to get to know him better and whether we want to share our lives with him. If we do, then God will help us to do that.
God is more interested in the quality of attention we give him, than in the length of time we spend talking to him, or the wisdom of the words that we use. You probably feel the same about your relationships with other people as well. You don't want to be bored by people talking about themselves the whole time. Yes, you want them to share openly and honestly about what is happening in their lives, but you also want them to show some genuine interest in you as well.
You may have wondered why, if God is so interested in getting to know us, that prayer can often be so difficult. It can be very hard sometimes when he does not seem to grant our requests, and it can be very frustrating when we ask him questions and he does not seem to give us any answers.
God must treat us this way for a purpose. There must be greater things that he can accomplish through not answering our prayers at those times, than he can through answering them. If we care about God and others we should ultimately be grateful for this, even though it may be painful at the time.
What might these "greater things" be that God wants to accomplish? Well, God's chief purpose on this earth is to bring people to know him in such a way as they will allow him to be the Lord of their whole lives.
It is not that he wants a set of completely docile and subservient slaves. Rather he wants to lavish love, gifts and pleasure on us as treasured children - but he can only do that when we have a similar desire to love and give ourselves to him, as he has for us. God is always working to help develop that desire in us. He never wants us to be satisfied with a half-hearted relationship with him when he knows that it can become so much deeper.
God wants you to understand that it is actually better for you if he does not answer all your prayers. Saying no to some of your requests is actually part of his love for you. It is his way of trying to encourage you into a deeper relationship with him, and to help you to grow to be more like him and to receive all of the things that he wants to give you.
God is always looking to help you open your heart and your mind to him more. Share your whole day with him. Give him permission to do whatever he wants to do in your life. Allow him to bring thoughts into your mind or to use whatever you experience to speak to you.
Prayer is not so much about seeking God, but more about letting yourself be found by him. Allowing him to help you to learn and grow, so that you can share more and more of his desires and perspectives and so that his will can gradually become your will. Opening yourself up to God is so simple that anyone can do it. But the potential is enormous. God is a great God and when we allow him into our lives he can do great things in us.
Sometimes we will just exchange brief words with God - perhaps sharing what is on our minds or our hearts at that moment, or maybe asking his blessing on a particular person or situation. Other times we will talk more deeply with him - taking time to get to know him and to share our innermost feelings with him and also to allow him to share his wishes and feelings with us.
We need not be discouraged if we don't feel we know God very well, or if we are not sure how to pray or what to ask for. God does not mind these things. The important thing is whether we want to get to know him better and whether we want to share our lives with him. If we do, then God will help us to do that.
God is more interested in the quality of attention we give him, than in the length of time we spend talking to him, or the wisdom of the words that we use. You probably feel the same about your relationships with other people as well. You don't want to be bored by people talking about themselves the whole time. Yes, you want them to share openly and honestly about what is happening in their lives, but you also want them to show some genuine interest in you as well.
You may have wondered why, if God is so interested in getting to know us, that prayer can often be so difficult. It can be very hard sometimes when he does not seem to grant our requests, and it can be very frustrating when we ask him questions and he does not seem to give us any answers.
God must treat us this way for a purpose. There must be greater things that he can accomplish through not answering our prayers at those times, than he can through answering them. If we care about God and others we should ultimately be grateful for this, even though it may be painful at the time.
What might these "greater things" be that God wants to accomplish? Well, God's chief purpose on this earth is to bring people to know him in such a way as they will allow him to be the Lord of their whole lives.
It is not that he wants a set of completely docile and subservient slaves. Rather he wants to lavish love, gifts and pleasure on us as treasured children - but he can only do that when we have a similar desire to love and give ourselves to him, as he has for us. God is always working to help develop that desire in us. He never wants us to be satisfied with a half-hearted relationship with him when he knows that it can become so much deeper.
God wants you to understand that it is actually better for you if he does not answer all your prayers. Saying no to some of your requests is actually part of his love for you. It is his way of trying to encourage you into a deeper relationship with him, and to help you to grow to be more like him and to receive all of the things that he wants to give you.
God is always looking to help you open your heart and your mind to him more. Share your whole day with him. Give him permission to do whatever he wants to do in your life. Allow him to bring thoughts into your mind or to use whatever you experience to speak to you.
Prayer is not so much about seeking God, but more about letting yourself be found by him. Allowing him to help you to learn and grow, so that you can share more and more of his desires and perspectives and so that his will can gradually become your will. Opening yourself up to God is so simple that anyone can do it. But the potential is enormous. God is a great God and when we allow him into our lives he can do great things in us.
How God sees you |
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To have a relationship with someone it is necessary to know something about them first. We need to talk together to find out some of each other's experiences and abilities, what we each like and dislike, whether we have common interests and attitudes that we can share, and what differences we have too.
Gradually as we get to know one another, then if we like what we find out about each other, it is likely that we will develop a closer and deeper relationship with one another.
It is similar with our relationship with God. How well we know God will have a big influence on the sort of relationship that we have with him. And while we can learn certain things about God from the Bible, it is only when we get to know him personally, and talk to him one-to-one in prayer, that we will really get to know him.
Some relationships do not involve our emotions, however it is those relationships that are emotional that we usually value the most - with people who are close friends rather than acquaintances. And to get involved in such a relationship you need to know something about how the other person actually feels about you.
God is frequently described in the Bible as having emotions and there is little doubt that he wants to have an emotional relationship with us. And that relationship will be all the closer and more complete the more we understand how God really feels about us.
How does he feel about us when we when we are selfish or sinful, or when we simply forget him? How does he feel about us when we lack faith in him or love for others? How does he feel when we are sad or angry? How does he feel about the desires in our heart, or what we are spending our time on?
When we consider such questions the most appropriate way to think about God is probably as a loving parent. A loving parent wouldn't expect perfection straightaway. A loving parent would not be surprised when their child does selfish things, but rather this would be considered perfectly normal, and that it was just part of the parent's job to try and help the child learn to be less selfish over time.
And a loving parent does not try and teach their child everything all at once. They will concentrate on certain things at certain times in their child's development. And if the child finds something particularly difficult then again it is the job of the parent to put in extra time and effort to help their child gradually overcome that difficulty.
A loving parent also takes great joy in their children's achievements. By itself a first step or a first word is not very much at all, but a parent will treasure it because of the significance for the child. It is a big advance for them and the promise of so much more to come.
God loves us more than any human parent loves their child. He does not get angry with us when we make mistakes. He does not love us any less if we are naughty. He does not get disappointed or frustrated if we are not making much progress. He loves us and will always be there for us, always willing to help us no matter what.
And God delights in our achievements, both our physical ones and our spiritual ones. He loves it when we make advances in the things he has been trying to teach us, when we become more loving, more holy, more peaceful, more merciful, more full of faith and grace, and more centred on him. These things give him great joy and pleasure, as does seeing us enjoy the life that he has given us, and making use of the gifts and abilities that he has given us too.
But most of all God just delights in us. He loves to spend time with you and he loves to love you. As a result of this, getting to know God and to love him, just might be the most important and valuable thing that you ever do in your whole life.
Gradually as we get to know one another, then if we like what we find out about each other, it is likely that we will develop a closer and deeper relationship with one another.
It is similar with our relationship with God. How well we know God will have a big influence on the sort of relationship that we have with him. And while we can learn certain things about God from the Bible, it is only when we get to know him personally, and talk to him one-to-one in prayer, that we will really get to know him.
Some relationships do not involve our emotions, however it is those relationships that are emotional that we usually value the most - with people who are close friends rather than acquaintances. And to get involved in such a relationship you need to know something about how the other person actually feels about you.
God is frequently described in the Bible as having emotions and there is little doubt that he wants to have an emotional relationship with us. And that relationship will be all the closer and more complete the more we understand how God really feels about us.
How does he feel about us when we when we are selfish or sinful, or when we simply forget him? How does he feel about us when we lack faith in him or love for others? How does he feel when we are sad or angry? How does he feel about the desires in our heart, or what we are spending our time on?
When we consider such questions the most appropriate way to think about God is probably as a loving parent. A loving parent wouldn't expect perfection straightaway. A loving parent would not be surprised when their child does selfish things, but rather this would be considered perfectly normal, and that it was just part of the parent's job to try and help the child learn to be less selfish over time.
And a loving parent does not try and teach their child everything all at once. They will concentrate on certain things at certain times in their child's development. And if the child finds something particularly difficult then again it is the job of the parent to put in extra time and effort to help their child gradually overcome that difficulty.
A loving parent also takes great joy in their children's achievements. By itself a first step or a first word is not very much at all, but a parent will treasure it because of the significance for the child. It is a big advance for them and the promise of so much more to come.
God loves us more than any human parent loves their child. He does not get angry with us when we make mistakes. He does not love us any less if we are naughty. He does not get disappointed or frustrated if we are not making much progress. He loves us and will always be there for us, always willing to help us no matter what.
And God delights in our achievements, both our physical ones and our spiritual ones. He loves it when we make advances in the things he has been trying to teach us, when we become more loving, more holy, more peaceful, more merciful, more full of faith and grace, and more centred on him. These things give him great joy and pleasure, as does seeing us enjoy the life that he has given us, and making use of the gifts and abilities that he has given us too.
But most of all God just delights in us. He loves to spend time with you and he loves to love you. As a result of this, getting to know God and to love him, just might be the most important and valuable thing that you ever do in your whole life.
A Church Member's Story |
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When I was growing up, one of the things that I picked up from my parents was the importance of doing what was right. Being good, honest, polite, respectful, conscientious and so on. This was not a bad thing in itself. Amongst other things, it laid the foundation for my particular concern for the poor in the world, which has led me eventually to working for a charity.
However the approach I took to 'doing what was right' was not very balanced. Duty was very much my motivating factor and somehow I ended up knowing very little about love.
When I became a Christian my eyes were opened to this lack of love in my life and I was almost horrified by it. I had grown up in a Christian family, been to church all my life, and tried to live as a good Christian should, but somehow I had missed out on the very thing that was most important to God. How could I have got it so wrong?
I was no doubt partly to blame myself, but I came to understand that the church I had grown up in did not help much either. They were very sincere and good people, but they didn't have a personal relationship with God. And as a result their religion naturally focused on their own response to God, and only served to reinforce the importance in my mind of doing what is right and living as a good Christian should.
Over the years I have come to realise that the same kind of problem can exist in churches that do talk about a personal relationship with God as well. 'Doing what is right' seems to be a very British attitude, and seems to be an important element in a lot of churches' teaching.
After all, God is a hugely powerful and awesome being, and he has shown amazing love to us in sending Jesus to die for us on a cross. Doesn't he deserve our very best service, and our whole-hearted commitment to living as he wants us to live? Well, yes ... and no. The problem is what are you going to give your best service and your whole-hearted commitment to? I thought I was getting it right, when I was growing up and trying to lead a good life. The Pharisees in Jesus' day thought they were getting it right when they were trying to live very devout and godly lives. But both I and the Pharisees were getting it very badly wrong.
If we really want to serve God aright, then there is really no substitute for talking to him a lot - about the detail of each day and about the general direction of our lives. We cannot have any confidence in our own understanding! Only if we are prepared to spend time with God, and to listen and to learn from whatever he wants to say to us, are we ever likely to live the way that he really wants us to live.
It has been my experience that God is not that interested in saying do this and do that to us anyway. As I have got to know him better, he has seemed to be more interested in how much I love him, how much faith I have in him, and how central he is in my life. the most important thing I can do is to ensure there is an environment in my life in which these things can grow. This means giving him quality time and attention, so that I can get to know him better. And it means recognising areas of my life that are hindering these things, and talking them over with him.
I think love matters more in my own human relationships than anything else. It is not the individual words I speak or the actions I perform that are important to others I am close to, but the underlying love that they feel from me. If they can see that I care about what they have been doing and how they are feeling, and what is important to them at the moment. And I think God probably feels much the same way.
I have also noticed things like: just seeing me happy can make those who love me happy as well; that there are few things that please my wife more than when I tell her how much I love her; that people value unconditional love very highly; and that they usually love simply being loved. Is God really likely to be any different?
However the approach I took to 'doing what was right' was not very balanced. Duty was very much my motivating factor and somehow I ended up knowing very little about love.
When I became a Christian my eyes were opened to this lack of love in my life and I was almost horrified by it. I had grown up in a Christian family, been to church all my life, and tried to live as a good Christian should, but somehow I had missed out on the very thing that was most important to God. How could I have got it so wrong?
I was no doubt partly to blame myself, but I came to understand that the church I had grown up in did not help much either. They were very sincere and good people, but they didn't have a personal relationship with God. And as a result their religion naturally focused on their own response to God, and only served to reinforce the importance in my mind of doing what is right and living as a good Christian should.
Over the years I have come to realise that the same kind of problem can exist in churches that do talk about a personal relationship with God as well. 'Doing what is right' seems to be a very British attitude, and seems to be an important element in a lot of churches' teaching.
After all, God is a hugely powerful and awesome being, and he has shown amazing love to us in sending Jesus to die for us on a cross. Doesn't he deserve our very best service, and our whole-hearted commitment to living as he wants us to live? Well, yes ... and no. The problem is what are you going to give your best service and your whole-hearted commitment to? I thought I was getting it right, when I was growing up and trying to lead a good life. The Pharisees in Jesus' day thought they were getting it right when they were trying to live very devout and godly lives. But both I and the Pharisees were getting it very badly wrong.
If we really want to serve God aright, then there is really no substitute for talking to him a lot - about the detail of each day and about the general direction of our lives. We cannot have any confidence in our own understanding! Only if we are prepared to spend time with God, and to listen and to learn from whatever he wants to say to us, are we ever likely to live the way that he really wants us to live.
It has been my experience that God is not that interested in saying do this and do that to us anyway. As I have got to know him better, he has seemed to be more interested in how much I love him, how much faith I have in him, and how central he is in my life. the most important thing I can do is to ensure there is an environment in my life in which these things can grow. This means giving him quality time and attention, so that I can get to know him better. And it means recognising areas of my life that are hindering these things, and talking them over with him.
I think love matters more in my own human relationships than anything else. It is not the individual words I speak or the actions I perform that are important to others I am close to, but the underlying love that they feel from me. If they can see that I care about what they have been doing and how they are feeling, and what is important to them at the moment. And I think God probably feels much the same way.
I have also noticed things like: just seeing me happy can make those who love me happy as well; that there are few things that please my wife more than when I tell her how much I love her; that people value unconditional love very highly; and that they usually love simply being loved. Is God really likely to be any different?