hubba hubba

i love donald miller. he's smart and funny. he has clever-humor. i like that. and every once in a while i need my donald fix and i'll listen to a session he did at willow creek several years back. it's about how we need artists to help people grasp the gospel and he was encouraging us to not give up. was timely for me, which might be why it impacted me so.

anyway, in the session he mentions how people have a hard time understanding the gospel or 'christianity' until we start to refer to it in terms of a relationship. he says that people don't think it's weird when guys will say, 'my wife wants me to love only her.' well, duh. but people get bent outta shape when they hear, 'God wants me to love only Him.' because we haven't done a very good job of explaining that it's a relationship.

when you get that it's a relationship.. so much else makes sense about God and why he loves us and how he wants us to love him.

i think christians often miss the mark on this.

we get rules. we understand them. they are measurable. quantifiable. translatable.

and so many times we confuse christianity with a set of rules. some people don't want to become a christian because they don't want to live by a set of rules. funny though - those people are usually married or are in a relationship and they don't mind living by certain 'guidelines' to respect their partner and make them happy. that's not living by rules. that's loving.

if you've got a spouse, think back to when you got married. remember those gushy feelings? remember looking soooo forward to the honeymoon? most of us actually take time off of work and leave our surroundings and the daily buzz to steal away with your beloved and get to know one another intimately. deeply. you pour yourselves into one another. you are strengthening your bond together and fall further for each other.

there's something magical about that time you spend. there's wonder and peace and delight all stirred up together. you meld.

why, then, do we take a brand new christian and yank the honeymoon rug out from under them by heaping rules upon them? they are in love! they are heady with the scent of their lover. their feet aren't on the ground. why strip them of that?

give them time to get to know God intimately. let them gush. let the magic happen.

and as they grow in their relationship, they are going to begin to make choices that respect God and that are a symbol of their love for him. not because there are rules to be followed but because they are drawn to living a life that pleases their lover.

God started the whole relationship thing - it's patterned for us right at the start of it all. "in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God..." soo... God wasn't alone. he was with the Word - he was with Jesus. there was union. a relationship.

i don't know about you, but looking at it that way is a huge relief. it's no longer a set of rules to live by. but rather, it is the greatest love story of all time.

now, how 'about that honeymoon? hubba hubba.