Touching is Believing.
Belief is a funny thing.
And folks have all sorts of beliefs about all sorts of subjects.
What does it take for you to believe?
When I taught karate, students who had visited other martial art schools would come to me from time to time and tell me that they had met “Master So and So” who claimed that he could perform some amazing spectacular and hard to believe feat. For example, like knocking someone across the room by using the power of his mind. My students were often so excited and gullible and they would ask me if it were true. “Is it true? Is it true?”
My standard reply was often, “Did you see ‘Master So and So’ perform this stunt?” Funny, the reply was always “No.” This is when I told them, “The next time you run in to Master So and So, rather than him telling what he can do, ask him to show you.”
Don’t tell me, show me.
Meditating on the story of Thomas in the Gospel of John this morning, I came to the conclusion he was saying nearly the same thing when his friends came up to him and said they saw Jesus, “Don’t tell, show me. I want to touch the wounds before I’ll believe.”
I can’t say that I blame him. Can you?
It’s not that I don’t want to believe, as a matter of fact I want to believe so much that I am unwilling to give my heart and soul over to something that I have not experienced for myself. Like Thomas I can hear myself thinking, "I want to believe… I need to believe…but I am going to have to experience for myself."
What helps me to believe is not a set of rules or religious doctrines to give an intellectual ascent to but I need an experience of God to give my heart to. That is what will transform my world. And that’s what transformed Thomas’ world. Jesus showed up and basically said, “Behold the wounds.” And it is in touching the wounds—experiencing Jesus-- that Thomas was transformed.
It’s wonderful for folks to believe without seeing, but sometimes in the midst of religious hocus pocus and in the face of human despair folks have real doubt and they need to someone to show them Jesus. They need to be touched by Jesus and to touch the wounds of Jesus themselves.
7 Comments:
Wonderful thoughts as always, Rick.
I'm tired, too, of Xians who are so bent on "preaching" the gospel with words, and thinking mental assent is all that's needed.
When Xians start showing and demonstrating the Gospel, then people will pay attention.
Why can't we have the best of both worlds? Intellectually, we engage God with our minds through Bible study and meditation. Experientially, we "touch" and are "touched" by Jesus, as we engage God through our senses. I think these are extremes by themselves, but balance themselves out when used as a cohesive unit
The problem comes in when people think they are doing Christ’s work but because they don’t know the word (the intellectual part) they end up doing all sorts of nonsense that is damaging to the kingdom. I’ve heard of a pastor that claimed that God told him that all the gays in the US will be killed by fire before 1994, turns out he was wrong. VERY wrong especially since the word tells us that God sent his son to reconcile the world with Himself. So you need to always base you “living Christ actions” in the truth of the word.
Thanks Johan. Good points.
What is the Word? The Bible? The problem with using the "Word" is most folks who have memorized their bibles know very little of the "word". So I get scared when folks who have mistaken memorizing bible quotes for knowing the Word.
Eric, we really should have both worlds, along with tradition of a faith community.
Thaks!
FAith comes from hearing the word of God, and the spirit of God makes it alive for us.
I think that's part of our experience for God
Johan - it's a scary thing when Christians preach in that way, and very wrong IMHO - and as you said damaging to the kingdom and tears people down. Their identity - our identity - needs to be based on Christ - who died for our sins, because the Father loved us - no matter what!
I am afraid if I was an apostle I would have been Thomas. I think the real lesson may be that he was questioning other folks that had walked with Jesus....sometimes we doubt the working of the Lord in people's lives if we have not "seen it for ourselves".
But I think it is critical for us to give those who do not know Jesus a picture, a flavor of what he is about.
I like earth from eic' s approach best. study, learn,discuss and grow in faith. but also allow God's spirit to touch your heart...
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