Scott,
I have been trying to figure out how to respond to you for the past few days. Based on the subject of your email and the general feel of the body I assume that the big issue right for you now really concerns relationship with God rather than the validity of the Bible. If I have assumed wrong please correct me and get me back on track.
I have not been able to come up with a better or replacement term for ‘personal relationship with God’, so let me attempt to define it for you instead. One way to divide relationship is between those that are personal and those that are not; the impersonal. I have a personal relationship with people that I directly interact with like my wife & kids, co-workers, store clerks. I have an impersonal relationship with people that I do not directly interact with. My connection with them is via some other person, organization or thing. Examples of this might include the president or governor, my insurance company or even historical characters. My personal relationships can be further divided based on the level of intimacy that we share. I am not talking here about physical intimacy but rather the sharing; who I am, my heart, my thoughts, my desires, my hurts, etc.
Obviously the level of intimacy I share with my wife is much greater than with my co-workers. They in turn generally share a higher level of intimacy with me that does the store clerk that I only occasionally encounter.
In general, the deeper the level of intimacy I have with a person, the better I know them; what makes them laugh, what makes them cry, what their dreams are. I know a lot about George Washington but I do not know him nor could he know me. I know quite a bit about many of my co-workers and to some extent I know them and vice-versa. Of all my human relationships, I know my wife the best. I can typically tell at a glance how she is feeling.
I can generally predict how she will respond in any given situation. And I know that I can trust her with anything. I do not doubt her.
So how does this relate to my relationship with God? First of all I would claim that it is personal. I do not have to go through some type of intermediary in order to be able to relate to him. And of course that brings up the question of how that interaction occurs. Obviously we do not sit across the table from each other over a cup of coffee every morning.
There is no physical presence that I can see, touch or hear. My connection with God is primarily non physical. My part of the dialog is pretty easy to describe. It is primarily in the form of prayer. And the prayer is most often just in the form of conversation, sharing my thoughts and feelings about things rather than asking for stuff. I share with God things that I would never share with another person, including my feelings and doubts.
There are several ways that God responds to me. One of those is through the Bible. I can not tell you how many times he has answered specific questions and issues through something I have read. That is not limited to the Bible but it is the primary source. Meditation is another way of ‘hearing God’ speak. As I pray and dwell on specific issues oftentimes answers come to mind. And frequently those answers are not what I wanted to hear but on reflection I recognize them as being best. God can also sometimes speak to me through other people or circumstances as well. I realize these all are rather nebulous and not as satisfying as hearing an actual voice, but it is real nonetheless. And I have an assurance that no matter who I am or how well or poorly I do, that he loves me and accepts me.
What does God want from me as a person? I believe it is much more that to just be called a Christian; more than attending a church on a regular basis; more than giving 10% of my income to the church; even more than being a preacher, deacon or teacher. I believe that what God wants from me is my heart, he wants me. He wants me to put off myself and put on Jesus (Colossians 3:1-17). He wants me to be one with him (John 17:20-23). He wants me to be ‘in Christ’, an expression that is used 89 times in the NIV version of the New Testament. The majority of these occurrences are dealing with position, being contained within Christ. I believe that God’s purpose in creating this universe has been to create a people who would live with him throughout the remainder of eternity. I do not know why he chose to do that or all that that involves, but that is what the scriptures tell me.
And his desire for us, even now, is to enter into an intimate relationship with him. God loves us more than we can imagine. And I want to love him in return. That is really the basis for a personal relationship with God.
I am not satisfied yet that this will answer your questions but I do not want to delay getting it sent any longer. So, until next time…
Oldman