concept –noun
Definition:

1. a general notion or idea; conception.
2. an idea of something formed by mentally combining all its characteristics or particulars; a construct.
3. a directly conceived or intuited object of thought.

being –noun
Definition:

1. the fact of existing; existence (as opposed to nonexistence).
2. conscious, mortal existence; life: Our being is as an instantaneous flash of light in the midst of eternal night.
3. substance or nature: of such a being as to arouse fear.
4. something that exists: inanimate beings.
5. a living thing: strange, exotic beings that live in the depths of the sea.
6. a human being; person: the most beautiful being you could imagine.

I think it is really easy for me to treat God as just another thing to understand.  Like a concept in physics or math, it’s easy to slip into seeing God as something I can read about, think about, understand, explain to others, and answer questions correctly about if I were given a quiz on him.  How sad it is to entertain this view of God!  The fact of the matter is that God is a being.  He’s a being that chose to create the universe and creatures to inhabit it.  He’s a being that chose to interact with his creation in a relational way.  He’s a being who chose to die on the cross for his creation.  In short, He’s a pretty amazing being!  But again I have to stop myself, look back over that list and ask myself: am I truly believing what I just wrote?  Surely I know all these things.  I’ve been taught them in church all my life and they are written in the Bible.  However, Jesus himself says that knowing things about him and doing things for him aren’t the same as knowing him.  In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus says:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  On that day many will say to me,’Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’  And then will I declare to them,’I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”

Okay, first of all, I think that those would probably be the most crushing words I could ever hear.  The God of the universe telling me that He never knew me and to depart from his presence.  Man, that would be a bad day.  Jesus though does make this distinction between people that know about him and do things in his name and people who actually know him.

I’m a big fan of analogies.  They help me to visualize things and lock them into memory (which is the purpose of them so that’s good).  One of my favorite analogies that I have heard was from a pastor named Bryan Loritts in a sermon where he was talking about the nearness of God in our lives.  So buckle your seat belts and get ready to visualize and lock into memory!  Let’s think of Niagara Falls for a minute.  Picture it in your mind.  You can even head over to google and get a great image to gaze at.  Now drive to Niagara Falls, buy a ticket for the Maid of the Mist, don the sweet rain poncho the staff give you and prepare to experience Niagara Falls up close and personal.  I’m just going to assume that you didn’t actually do that, but if you did, what would be the difference between that and looking at a picture of Niagara Falls?  Probably a lot right?  I mean, a picture of Niagara Falls is never going to do it justice; they say even standing from afar doesn’t do it justice.  You don’t get the experience.  You won’t hear the thunderous roar of several hundred thousand gallons of water cascading over the falls each second.  You won’t feel the mist in the air on your face.  You won’t feel the bobbing of the boat as it is swayed by the down pour of the water from the falls.  If the difference between looking at a picture of Niagara Falls and experiencing Niagara Falls is so stark, how much greater it must be for God!  We have a major choice (among many) as humans and that is to experience God or not.  To read about God and know things about him is much different than experiencing him and a person’s life will reflect which one is true.

Paul experienced Jesus in person when He appeared to him on the road to Damascus and from then on it would seem he couldn’t get enough of Jesus.  In Phillipians 3:8a Paul writes, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”  In the original Greek, the word knowing used here doesn’t refer to knowing from an academic standpoint but from an experiential standpoint.  I have to ask myself, how much different would my life be if I counted everything as a loss compared to the worth of knowing and experiencing Jesus.  Aren’t I crazy not to live in such a way if Jesus is the creator and lord of the universe who wants to know me personally and who I can know personally?  I think a great example of this type of living comes from a chapter in Francis Chan’s book, Crazy Love, called “Profile of the Obsessed”:

[...]my wife’s grandma Clara offered a real-life example of a person consumed with Jesus.  I once attended a play with my wife and some of her relatives, including Grandma Clara.  During intermission, I leaned over and asked what she thought of the play.  She said, “Oh honey, I really don’t want to be here right now.”  When I asked why, she replied, “I just don’t know if this is where I want to be when Christ returns.  I’d rather be helping someone or on my knees praying.  I don’t want Him to return and find me sitting in a theater.”

Man, what a beautiful faith in Jesus!  It leaves me asking myself if I feel this way when I’m watching a movie in a theater, or anytime for that matter.

I have so many incredible opportunities to experience God on a daily basis that I find myself easily taking for granted.  For instance, what is prayer?  Prayer is talking to God.  Let me repeat that.  Prayer is TALKING to GOD.  What an incredible thing!  But so often I find myself ritualistically and thoughtlessly praying before meals, not even realizing who I’m talking to or what I’m praying for.  How sad!  Worship can be a similar experience.  Worship isn’t just about singing.  If it was, we would call it singing.  It’s called worship because we are showing our adoration and praise for God.  Half of the time I’m thinking about something else or worrying that I’m off key and sounding horrible to the people around me.  Who cares!  I just asked the God of the universe to “consume me from the inside out”! (From the Inside Out – Hillsong United)  That seems a little more significant than if I’m flat on my pitch or not.

This has been something heavy on my mind and heart for a couple of months now and I felt compelled to get my thoughts down on pixels (instead of paper, man I’m such a nerd).  I believe that looking at God as a concept rather than a being causes stagnant, non-sacrificial Christians instead of vibrant, joy-filled Christians who have an obvious passion for God and a changed life because of God.  From the perspective I write in I am an obvious victim of, at times, looking at God as a concept.  I do wish to not sadden him by holding this view.  God is something more than a subject to study or a topic to debate over.  He’s a being that desires to be loved and interacted with.  I just need to treat him as such.

P.S. There is a book that recently came out by Craig Groeschel called The Christian Atheist that looks like it addresses this topic.  I discovered the book randomly after I had been thinking about this for a couple months.  I’m planning to read it this summer.  The website for the book is http://christianatheist.com/.

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