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I followed an electrical storm for about 30 minutes tonight. What a show! Impressive does not begin to describe it. It’s no wonder, really, that the predominant mindset in Christianity is the same as in pagan and religious cultures worldwide…that God is infinitely big and therefore infinitely distant.

In reality, however, this infinite God has gone to infinite lengths in Jesus to bridge this distance. Jesus was a man indwelt by God, meant to be the first among many (Rom 8:29). God, whose power and holiness can never be compromised, chose instead to lay it down and demonstrate His desire for connection with His most prized creation.

Our philosophies cheat us today as they did in Paul’s day. We see the Majesty of God and we feel small, insignificant, and powerless, while God seems great, omnipotent, and distant. Though that may seem a noble and spiritually enlightened thought, it is anything but noble, and full of darkness. In fact, the problem with it is that it’s not a spiritual thought at all, but a natural one.

To have a mind that is set on the spirit, as Paul instructed us, is to reject the notion that things are as they appear, feel, or reason out. The spiritually enlightened thought at the sight of a great storm, the oceans, canyons, or mountains, is that these things are but a sampling, a glimpse, a hint, if you will, of what power and holiness has literally taken up residence--in us.

Selah.

Chocolate Milk or Tea?

So, which are you, a chocolate milk thinker or a tea thinker? It's more important than it sounds. Think about it, do you believe you're one spirit with Him or do you see Him as just an additive to your old self?

Throw some Hershey's syrup in a glass of milk and the name we give what you just made suggests that one thing has been added to another--an obvious improvement, but still an additive. However, take a teabag and steep it in water for a few minutes, and no one calls the result "tea-water." We call it tea.

Why? Because we didn't just improve a cup of water, we made something completely different. In fact, the tea didn't simply alter the water, it took over. The water is no longer called what it was, but is now defined solely by what has transformed it. We just call it "tea."

The Holy Spirit is not an additive. He didn't improve you, He re-created you. You're not a better person, you're something completely different. You are not a combination of the old and new, either. You are defined solely by Him who has re-made and transformed you.

At some point I hope to develop a theology of sweet tea, but that will take further study. For now, try to see yourself as something re-made, not just improved. Think tea, not chocolate milk.

What the World is Waiting For

"For those He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers." Romans 8:29

To me, this is the real meaning and purpose of Christianity. God sent His Son to give birth to many sons. God chose to reveal Himself to a generation through His Son, a man infused with the life of God. Now His purpose is the same, multiplied. He infuses His life into people who believe in Him, and reveals Himself through those God-soaked people.

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The world is definitely waiting for something. The world is missing something, needing something, yearning for something. You’ve seen the pictures of war-torn or poverty-stricken countries around the world. You’ve heard the stories of violence and hatred and poverty in our own country, and perhaps even experienced some of it yourself. Yes, the world is in need. Something just isn’t right.

Considering the exponential growth in human knowledge, the advances in medicine and technology, it may be logical to assume that the human community would be living in Utopian bliss by now; but it seems like the opposite is true. Even the super-rich, who actually have access to all these gifts brought to us by the triumphs of human creativity, seem to be floundering…perhaps more than anyone. The world needs something.

Romans 8:19 says, “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.” In other words, the missing element in the human formula is not greater ingenuity or effort; it’s not in technology or medicine or knowledge or achievement of any kind. The missing puzzle piece is a personal encounter.

What might surprise you most, however, especially if you’re an evangelical, is that it’s not a single person that the world needs...specifically, it’s not Jesus. If it were Jesus, Paul would have written that the “Son,” not “sons” of God needed to be revealed. God already revealed His Son to the world. What the world hasn’t seen, at least not with much frequency, are “sons” of God.

The beauty, richness, power and authenticity that the world yearns for will not be found in an encounter with God’s Son, although that’s the goal and the eventual result. Again, this may be tough to swallow if you were raised in Church, but the creation is not waiting for an encounter with Jesus; they’re waiting for an encounter with you and me.

This floundering system of unhealthy relationships, dysfunctional families, greed-driven institutions and market-driven churches has been confronted with the truth of Jesus and has rejected it, but that’s not God’s whole plan. The second phase of His plan, the one most of us have missed, is to reveal sons and daughters just like Jesus who live and work and move through this natural system in a supernatural way.

What this world needs is an encounter with people of flesh and bone whose lives and love prove that God is real and that Jesus is alive. That’s the prize they deeply long for, but do not even know to seek. What the world is waiting for, what the world is missing, what the world needs in order to finally be made right, is you.

To me, this is the real meaning and purpose of Christianity. God sent His Son to give birth to many sons. God chose to reveal Himself to a generation through His Son, a man infused with the life of God. Now His purpose is the same, multiplied. He infuses His life into people who believe in Him, and reveals Himself through those God-soaked people.

So am I saying the world doesn’t need Jesus? No, of course the world needs Jesus, but Jesus is in us. Look at it this way. What you need is Jesus—what the world needs is you. God put you where you are so that He could use you to show Himself and His love to your little corner of the world. God has heard the world’s cry for help, and He has responded by giving them His next greatest gift…you and me.