Earlier in my life, I realized that my pursuit of God had slowly and imperceptibly turned into a pursuit of religion. I had become the very thing I’d spent so many years trying to avoid when I was younger and still skeptical of church.
I’d fallen into the comfort and security of rules, rather than the personally satisfying, intimate relationship with God we are called to cultivate. I had set aside the truth of Romans 12:
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
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It’s surprisingly easy to set this aside, and to fall short of transformation. In fact, it’s a very common path for Christians. We get mired in misconceptions about God, ourselves and His will for us, all of which hold us back from a life-changing experience with Him. If this is you, be encouraged rather than disheartened about your relationship with God.
The first helpful step you take might be turning unhealthy thoughts about God into healthy ones.
When God isn’t attractive to us, we have to discover the root cause of our disinterest. Some of the unhealthy assumptions we make come from the lives we see others lead, and sometimes from our own emotional lives. No matter where these assumptions come from, or where they lead, they alienate us from what and who God truly is.
A great example of this at play in the Bible is the parable of the bags of gold.
In Matthew 25:14-25, three servants receive different amounts of gold to steward while their master is away. The one entrusted with the most acts confidently and prudently while his master is gone and doubles his master’s money. The one entrusted with less — but not the least — does the same.
The one given the least to steward, a single bag of gold, simply hides the money. Upon his master’s return, he tries to justify himself. He calls his master a “hard man,” and explains that he was afraid.
This last servant’s perception of his master is what hinders him the most. His fear and anger colored his relationship with the master. And that’s what this parable is about: Relationships.
The first two servants have a healthy relationship with their master, as God invites us to have with Him.
Signs your relationship with God might be unhealthy is that you feel He hurts you, accuses you, limits you or merely wants a performance. Shifting these thoughts into a place of trust and love will help restore health.
“He hurts me” becomes “He helps me feel.” “He accuses me” becomes “He softens my heart.” “He limits me” is revealed to be “He gives me purpose.” “He wants a performance” falls away to reveal that He wants a relationship.
This work, while important for each of us personally as Christians or as seekers, is also of paramount importance for the Christian faith as a whole. It restores us to our rightful place, as children and servants of God.
When man places himself instead at the center of religion — as so many pockets of Christianity have done — religion will poison. And a poisonous religion doesn’t just harm us. It harms the next generation. It burdens them with alienating, hurtful misconceptions about God and themselves.
It’s time to re-center God — both for our own sakes and for the sake of generations to come. As churches and congregations, we can emphasize closeness to God. We can build “inside-out” relationships, where people feel deeply and authentically known and loved. We can strive always to love God, not attention.
But transforming ourselves, our churches and our future ultimately begins and ends with making the Bible our standard. The Bible isn’t just an authoritative text, or the basis for theological extrapolation. It is an invitation to know God.
The heart of transformed and transformative Christianity is living, loving contact with the reality of God given to us through the Bible and witnessed to us and others when we do good in the world.
At Bay Area Christian Church, where I’m privileged to serve as executive pastor, we center everything we do around knowing God and doing good. We try to pursue knowledge of God every day through the Bible, then work that His joy and hope may be seen more clearly to the rest of the world.
The good we do is a direct and visible output of our love for God, and of His love for us. And this joyful, simple, fruitful kind of relationship with God is only possible if we do the work necessary to eradicate unhealthy beliefs and assumptions about who God is. We’re missing out on who God truly is and what He has for us when we hold wrong beliefs.
Those wrong beliefs have multi-generational impact. But the right beliefs will, too. When we rediscover and practice the Christianity God gave to us, we and all around us will see that it is transformative, inviting and creative.
Thankfully, it is never — and never will be — too late to rediscover God.
Russ Ewell is executive minister of the Bay Area Christian Church. A minister for more than 40 years, Russ’s teaching is rooted in providing hope for those turned off by tradition, and infused with vision for building the transformative church for which the 21st century public hungers. Russ is the author of He’s Not Who You Think He Is: Dropping Your Assumptions and Discovering God for Yourself.
