Part 7B: What Does a “Relationship” with God Mean?

A strange thing happened in the 1970's--we learned for the first time that what we need is a "personal relationship" with Christ. But this terminology is not scriptural, and was left largely undefined, with curious results. That "relationship" became self-defined! What does it mean? What should it mean? What are a believer's relationships with God? Jesus is our shepherd, older brother, King, teacher and friend, but the word "relationship" is not found. We are called God's children, house, temple and sheep, but never said to be "in a relationship" with him.

Here is the link to the video presentation which this linked text accompanies:

https://youtu.be/T7BtX-e7SIU

Slide 1. Title and explanation:

You Are Not the One to Build, Part 7B

What Does a “Relationship” with God mean?

I grew up during the “Jesus movement” of the 1970s, which some call our last great “revival” in America. Regardless of the actual spiritual dimensions of the Jesus movement, social discourse about Christianity—and other religions and no religion—did change dramatically during this period. This period had some notable sub-movements. One was the “Jesus is the Answer” publicity campaign, which featured the words “Jesus is the Answer” on billboards and on millions of bumper stickers. Some people on the other side got so tired of seeing these reminders that they started sporting bumper stickers that asked “What is the Question?” They had a point. Much of the Jesus movement was very shallow, and seemed to insist that the answer to all of life’s questions is–

Slide 2. A “Relationship” with God was said to be “THE Answer”:

“A RELATIONSHIP with God through Christ is what you need, brother!

It is THE ANSWER to your problem!

It is THE ANSWER to every problem!”

I used alternating red and green in the word “relationship” on the slide deliberately, to suggest Christmas decorations and the similarity of this approach to human need to the Santa Claus tradition. “Relationship” is a word the materials used with this approach to evangelism are careful never to define. Historically, at the level of ecclesiastical advertising theory, “relationship” was left undefined so that each denominational group could provide its own definition and disparate organizations could appear to work together promoting this oversimplified evangelistic message. At the practical level, though, the failure to define the central term often resulted in it becoming self-defined. Any “personal relationship” you have with Jesus is fine, as long as you have one and it helps you get what you want out of life. Jesus becomes Santa Claus. So we really must start by asking the question,

Slide 3 What is a “Relationship?”:

SO WHAT DO WE MEAN WHEN

WE SAY WE CAN HAVE A

“RELATIONSHIP”

WITH GOD?

This question first leads to a few observations,

Slide 4. “Relationship:” What People Seem to Mean:

“RELATIONSHIP” IS NOT A DESCRIPTION FOUND IN SCRIPTURE.

IT OFTEN SEEMS TO BE A SHORTHAND FOR A “FEELING OF CONNECTEDNESS” WITH A DEITY WHO –BY ASSUMPTION OR DOCTRINAL DEFINITION–NEVER SPEAKS TO US, AND/OR A FEELING THAT THIS SILENT DEITY OVERSEES THE WORLD AND CARES FOR US.

AT OTHER TIMES IT SEEMS TO BE A SHORTHAND FOR VISIBLE LOYALTY TO A PERSON, ORGANIZATION, PUBLIC “CAUSE” OR CODE OF CONDUCT THAT IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE OTHERWISE SILENT DEITY’S “WILL”

The first of these observations restates my earlier observation that the “personal relationship” we are said to need with Jesus has often become a self-defined “relationship.”

The second observation reflects the way in which churches and other organizations—in modern times, notably political organizations—routinely use the looseness of the term “relationship” for their own benefit. Loyalty to Jesus’ “cause” is big business! So are moral guilt and shame, and the remedies sold for them.

At the same time, at least in mainstream Christian circles, the “personal relationship” we promote with Jesus does not involve much, if any, direct dialogue with him. We pray—a monologue to which he listens—but then are expected to derive our knowledge of his “will” and his “cause” strictly from written materials and the spoken words of other, properly authorized, human beings. The Holy Spirit may bring Scripture, or the words of our human leaders, to our minds during prayer. But we collectively fear and shun the possibility of hearing directly from Jesus, as we are taught to generally agree with the conclusions of the psychiatric community on this point:

Slide 5 “Relationship” with God as Delusional Thinking:

“Some of the most frequently encountered types of delusions are:…

4. Grandiose – A conviction of great talent, discovery, inflated self-worth, power, knowledge, or relationship with someone famous or deity…

9. Thought insertion – A delusion that one’s thought is not one’s own but inserted into their mind by an external source or entity.”
Joseph, S.M., W. Siddiqui. Delusional Disorder. StatPearls (Internet), 27 Mar. 2023. U.S. National Institutes of Health. National Library of Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK539855/. Accessed 5 Sep. 2023.

This is quoted from a standard medical source, as cited on the slide.

Even saying we have a vague, ill-defined “relationship” with God would, in the general case, qualify as a symptom of a delusional disorder, if it were not presented in the context of the worship activities of an organized religion. Most psychiatrists make an exception for belief in deities and relationships between the worshippers and those deities in an organized religious context—though a growing number don’t recognize this exception.

However, once people cross the line from having religious “experiences” in church and during specifically “devotional” exercises to saying that God has actually spoken to them in any way that affects their behavior outside worship times, they are, by definition, delusional.

The assumption behind this is thoroughly naturalistic. Nothing—nothing at all—exists outside of the realm of “nature” that science can observe, measure and, at least in theory, manipulate. Because God would necessarily exist outside of nature, he cannot exist. And any allegedly spiritual “voices” anyone claims to hear, that do not correlate with physical sounds we can measure, are also not allowed to exist—they must have an internal, psychological explanation.

We, collectively, are willing to tolerate religions that teach nonexistent deities because of their observed usefulness in making their adherents willingly, even happily, compliant with the social order, in order to “please” these deities and avoid their wrath. However, whenever religion strays outside of this socially useful purpose, and starts producing people who say they hear from God with enough conviction that they are willing to act on what they are being told, we call that a mental illness and treat it accordingly.

The shameful thing is that the organized church by and large agrees with this approach. In fact, historically, the organized church may have been the first to insist on the silencing of God in deference to the authority of its own leaders and hierarchies and the kings and princes for whom they worked. Having common people say that God told them that their king or bishop was in the wrong was, for obvious reasons, considered both inconvenient and dangerous. So the voice of God was limited to bishops, kings, and people in the biblical past—that long-past era when even the “bad guys” wore halos. The often-disruptive God of the Bible was constrained to this biblical era and to the apocalyptic future in order that he might, for the present time, be restored to the role religious systems devised by human elites always assign to their deities—that is, enforcing the status quo. However, this historical question is one better left for another day…

At present, however, it can often be said that—

Slide 6. God’s Last Will and Testament:

There is a tendency to treat God’s “Will” as if it were his “Last Will and Testament.”

That is, all we have left of God is a Book. It tells us what he wants us to do. Everything he wants us to do is written in it somewhere, if only we understood it properly. He won’t talk to us directly, even to explain the Book to us. He may “illumine” or “guide” our understanding—though no one ever explains what this means or how “illumination” or “guidance” is not a form of the forbidden direct communication with God. But people in official positions will surely tell us what it means we must do, or not do, for them. And lots of other people will certainly volunteer to tell us what we should do or abstain from based on the written instructions. God’s power may—invisibly and indirectly—make it possible for us to keep certain instructions—or, at his discretion, make it much more difficult for us to keep them. But, collectively, we are on our own. He won’t tell us anything more.

This kind of thinking was in the center of another theological movement that was current 60 years ago, when I was young and stupid…

Slide 7. The “God is Dead” Movement:

In 1961, Gabriel Vahanian’s The Death of God was published. Vahanian argued that modern secular culture had lost all sense of the sacred, lacking any sacramental meaning, no transcendental purpose or sense of providence. He concluded that for the modern mind “God is dead”. In Vahanian’s vision a transformed post-Christian and post-modern culture was needed to create a renewed experience of deity.
Wikipedia, “Death of God Theology.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_God_theology . Accessed 14 Sep. 2023.

Vahanian was not the first—Hegel, Nietzsche, and a line of philosophers and theologians after them had discussed the problem. But Vahanian’s book title captured the moment and the popular imagination and lent its name to the other popular movement that occurred when I was young: the “God is dead” movement. God had become nothing more than a written manual in service of the status quo and provided no purpose for life. Therefore, God was dead.

The “Jesus movement” may, in fact, have been a direct reaction of Christianity against the “God is dead” movement. Where “God is dead” thinking pointed to his inaccessibility, the Jesus movement insisted on our need of an otherwise-undefined “personal relationship” with him. Where one of the arguments for God’s death in our culture was that he had ceased to give our lives any meaning, the “Jesus movement” brought forth a previously unheard of emphasis on the “relevance” of God to our individual lives. It was not a mere coincidence that the so-called “Charismatic renewal” of mainline Christianity also started in earnest about this same time. It sought to bring the “charismatic” gifts—including quite notably tongues and prophecy—that had been isolated in the Pentecostal movement that started in the early part of the century out of the Pentecostal churches and into the mainstream. That God still speaks directly, through these gifts, was, conceptually, one possible answer to the “God is dead” challenge.

But, here we are, in 2023. By and large the organized church has resisted the position that God still speaks directly to us. So, maybe, if God is to be revived, I need to define a personal “relationship” with him more carefully. Doing this within the constraint that he must never actually talk to me and so render me delusional may be difficult! But the word “relationship” is very broad and flexible:

Slide 8. My “Relationship” with a Brick Wall:

I CAN HAVE A

“RELATIONSHIP”

WITH A BRICK WALL

I can be the wall’s builder, although I certainly wouldn’t want to stand too close to a wall I built! Being the creator of a thing is a personal relationship with that thing.

I can be the demolisher of the wall. For me this is a bit more likely. Being the destroyer of a thing is also a relationship to it.

The wall can be an obstacle to me.

The wall can be an occasion of physical injury to me if I run into it, or if I keep banging my head against it in frustration (perhaps while waiting for God to speak without speaking).

The wall can also protect me.

Finally, I can talk to the wall. Sometimes, I have talked to walls—when it’s safer than talking to the people involved. I can’t expect the wall to answer. But that doesn’t mean that what I say has no effect on the wall. My voice makes the molecules in the wall vibrate. You could prove this to yourself with the right kind of microphone, if you happened to be on the other side of a wall I was talking to. By becoming a passive conductor of my voice, the wall enters into a remote kind of personal relationship with me. This is a role even most psychiatrists permit deities to have.

Still, I suspect nearly all Christians picture God as having a more active role in the “relationship” than this. Furthermore, some people claim to get benefit from their relationships with just such inanimate deities,

Slide 9. Alcoholics Anonymous and the “Higher Power”:

In fact, a relationship with some kind of “higher power” is a key element of recovery programs on the Alcoholics Anonymous model. The AA-model “higher power” needn’t be the traditional theistic God, or even a personal deity. It needs only to be something, literally anything, external to me that I am willing to concede has the power to help me recover, solely for the purpose of helping me work the program. The Big Book even expressly states that, if it helps me, I can recognize a tree to be my higher power. Look at Steps 2 and 3 of the AA program:

Slide 10. “Relationship” With an Inanimate “Higher Power”:

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him.

Everything is, thus, left to my own understanding of God, “the power greater than ourselves.” And I don’t need to believe this Power has power over anything but restoring me to sanity. For this reason, my “higher power” can be anything outside of myself, so long as I am willing to suspend my doubts for purposes of recovery only and trust something outside of me to help me. So my “higher power” can be fate, the universe, the spirit of the universe, a tree, or even my bedroom doorknob. Whatever I choose is really only a symbol of the recovery program itself and the help of the other people in it. For this purpose, my bedroom doorknob is probably the best illustration of the role of a “higher power”—I can’t open the door without it, but the door won’t open unless I do something—I have to reach out and turn the knob.

This kind of instrumental deity, a symbol of what we humans can accomplish together, has been popular since the Tower of Babel, at least. It is a large part of what is going on in idolatrous religion of all kinds. And even the true God can be turned into an idol, when we have faith in him only “for” the things we want, as an external power that exists to make our lives easier or our plans and programs work. This is why the so-called “name it, claim it” form of Christianity is so popular!

But most believers in Christ at least suspect that God must be more than this and that our “relationship” with him must be more than merely using him to get what we want.

Slide 11 “Relationship” with my Cat :

Yes, I can have a relationship with my cat.

I grew up with cats and had cats around for most of my life until our last cat died two years ago. During that time, I developed an allergy to cat dander so there will be no more cats. I will miss them.

Cats may not understand what I am saying, but they certainly do understand my mood. And I can talk to my cat, know the cat actually hears, and know it at least has some understanding of how I’m feeling. Cats have real, individual personalities. Cats also have a way of comforting their humans. Nuzzling, snuggling, turning on a purr, inviting me to pay attention when I’m feeling pain or rejection, or feeling unworthy of anyone paying attention to me, is comforting. There is a stronger kind of personal relationship there than the one I can have with a brick wall, the universe, blind and deaf fate, or my bedroom doorknob.

But, here once again, I think most believers are expecting more by way of a “relationship” with God than a deity who curls up in their lap and purrs reassuringly when they are feeling bad.

Slide 12 “Relationship” with My Enemies:

I certainly do have a “relationship”—indeed, a very personal relationship—with my enemies, even if we never speak to each other.

But, while this is the kind of personal relationship we may often believe we have with God, it is certainly not the relationship we want with him!

Slide 13. Personal “Relationship” with the President:

Finally, I have a relationship with the President of the United States.

I have never met President Biden, and I doubt he has ever heard of me.

Still, we have a specific type of personal relationship.

He is the head of state of the nation of which I am a citizen. Or, as my British friends would say of King Charles, somewhat more pointedly, he is the sovereign and I am his subject. In the American version of this, the abstract United States of America is the sovereign, and I am its subject (though I also happen to be a voting citizen); President Biden is the head of state of that sovereign. Although he doesn’t know me and isn’t thinking specifically of me (I hope!) when making decisions, the President’s decisions personally affect me and limit what I may lawfully do.

There is one other useful analogy between the relationship we have with our earthly sovereign and the way most people think about God: we fear coming to the personal attention of the sovereign. If someone on President Biden’s level is forced to take personal notice of the existence of most ordinary people—that is, someone not among their wealthy and powerful friends—it is usually because punishment is soon to follow. We fear being noticed at this level, usually for good reason. And we rather naturally, but incorrectly, think God relates to us in this way, too. So we try to avoid God’s notice, except when we are already in trouble!

Slide 14. Everyone Has a Personal “Relationship” with Jesus:

Ending this line of reasoning, I would submit that everyone has some kind of a personal relationship with Jesus. One may relate to Jesus in one of five ways

As his disciple and friend, as one to whom Jesus is a brother. This is the relationship Jesus invites us to have.
As a passing acquaintance mostly to be ignored. This includes people who have never heard Christ presented to them, but who nevertheless have the witness of his work in nature and ignore it, as discussed in Romans 1. It also includes most people in “Christianized” countries, who have heard his name and heard some things (whether true or false) about him, but have no strong response in either direction.
A sworn enemy.
A deceased historical figure. Yes, we have relationships with deceased historical figures whose lives affected our own. It is an indirect causal relationship, and may also include conscious recognition of their roles in the background of our lives. To give a non-religious example, Jesus’ contemporaries Gaius Octavius Caesar Augustus and Tiberius Caesar Augustus each had a very large impact on the history of Europe and the Middle East, and thus causally affected my life. And Tiberius’ adoptive nephew Claudius, who ruled a few years after the end of Jesus’ earthly life, began the Roman conquest of Britain, and thus had an even greater effect on the conditions necessary for my birth 1900 years later than his illustrious predecessors did. Similarly, whatever else may be said of him, Jesus earthly life had a determinative effect on the subsequent history of the world. Jesus’ role in world history was even larger than that of Octavian Augustus, Tiberius, and Claudius. Many people consciously recognize this kind of a relationship with Jesus.
As a fictional character. One of the things that often makes good fiction works so compelling is that they invite the reader or viewer to have a vicarious personal relationship with a character. Some people have relationships of this type with Jesus as they imagine him to have lived—all the while acknowledging that they believe the Jesus they imagine is only a myth. Some of these same people also state that they believe Jesus was a real historic person, but that the Jesus they have a fictional character-type relationship with is mythical, larger than the real person. This isn’t saving faith in a living Jesus, but it does qualify as a “personal relationship.” My sense is that this fictional character-type personal relationship with a mythical Jesus who is larger than the real, and now quite dead, historical Jesus, is very common in the modern world.

Now that I have covered the territory of the various ways it is possible to have a “personal relationship” with Jesus, even without saving faith, I will now explore a few of the relationships the New Testament expressly says followers of Christ have with him:

Slide 15. “Fellowship”:

FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST

ARE SAID TO HAVE

“FELLOWSHIP”

WITH HIM

“Fellowship” is a big, institutional, churchy word. As used in the New Testament, it does not have any of the institutional meanings. It also does not refer to communal meals. But it is used to describe our relationship with Jesus and with other believers in him:

Slide 16, 1 John 1:1-4: Fellowship with Jesus, the Father and Each Other:

That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life 2 (and the life was revealed, and we have seen, and testify, and declare to you the life, the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was revealed to us); 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us. Yes, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 And we write these things to you, that our joy may be fulfilled.
1 John 1:1-4 (WEB).

We are here said to have “fellowship” with God the Father, his son Jesus, and with each other.

Slide 17. 1 John 1:5-7: Fellowship Only while in The Light,

5 This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and don’t tell the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
1 John 1:5-7 (WEB)

Once again, we are said to have “fellowship” with Jesus, and with each other, if we walk in his light. We do not have this “fellowship” if we are walking in the darkness. Paraphrased a bit, if we look to Jesus and walk in his light—he is the light—we have “fellowship” with him. Quite sensibly, if we close our eyes to him and therefore cannot see his light, we walk in darkness, and cannot be said to have “fellowship” with him.

But what is this “fellowship?”

Slide 18. Fellowship = Partnership:

FELLOWSHIP =

KOINŌNIA =

PARTNERSHIP

It was not a religious term of art in Greek. It referred to the relationship between business partners, a very mundane thing. Partnership in that era meant the same thing it does now. I have agreed with my partners to go into some business together. We have agreed to pool our assets to make the business work. We make our business decisions jointly. I may be called upon to give whatever I have to make the business prosper, and so may each of my partners. And, looking from outside the partnership, each of our business creditors may demand payment from any one of us. What is mine, is ours. It is actually a very simple and descriptive word.

The Greek word involved is used in the New Testament in a few places where it clearly means a “business partner” rather than a religious or academic “fellow:”

Slide 19. James, John and Peter were Fellows (Partners) in the Fishing Business:

9 For he was amazed, and all who were with him, at the catch of fish which they had caught; 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners [koinōnoi] with Simon. Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will be catching people alive.”
Luke 5:9-10 (WEB)

Here the word used is just the plural, koinōnoi, partners, and it clearly means the three were partners in the fishing business.

Slide 20. Paul was Titus’ Mentor and Partner in Ministry:

23 As for Titus, he is my partner [koinōnos ] and fellow worker for you. As for our brothers, they are the apostles of the assemblies, the glory of Christ.
2 Corinthians 8:23 (WEB)

Here it is the singular—and describes a business partner-like relationship between a teacher-mentor and his student.

Slide 21. Philippians 1:4-6: We are Partners with Each Other in Ministry:

4 always in every request of mine on behalf of you all, making my requests with joy, 5 for your partnership [koinōnia] in furtherance of the Good News from the first day until now; 6 being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:4-6 (WEB)

We are also partners with each other. This goes way beyond the ordinary modern fund-raising definition of a “partner,” though. It doesn’t just mean we have given money somewhere. It means we are conscious of working together with each other, and, most importantly, with Jesus.

Slide 22. Family:

FAMILY

Jesus also describes God as our Father and all of us who follow him as his own siblings, God’s children, and God’s household, as in these passages:

Slide 23. Mark 3:32-35: Jesus’ Brothers, Sisters and Mother:

32 A multitude was sitting around him, and they told him, “Behold, your mother, your brothers, and your sisters are outside looking for you.” 33 He answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 Looking around at those who sat around him, he said, “Behold, my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God is my brother, my sister, and mother.”
Mark 3:32-35 (WEB)

Slide 24. Matthew 5:44-48: Children of Your Father in the Heavens:

44 But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? 47 If you only greet your friends, what more do you do than others? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Matthew 5:44-48 (WEB)

I will note, in passing, that “your Father in heaven” would be more literally translated “your Father in the heavens (plural).” I have written at some length in another place about this—following the lead of Dallas Willard and Jacques Ellul. When Matthew quotes Jesus speaking about the the “Kingdom of the Heavens (plaural),” the term does not refer to God’s remoteness, in Heaven “way up there, out of sight, out of reach,” but instead emphasizes God’s intimately close presence to us in the atmospheric “heavens” all around us. These are the atmospheric heavens from which he “sends rain on the just and the unjust.” These are the heavens all around us in which our Father is our Father, and is “perfect.”

Slide 25. Luke 11:11-13: Fathers Give Good Gifts to their Children

11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won’t give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, he won’t give him a scorpion, will he? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
Luke 11:11-13 (WEB)

God, as our Father, knows how to give good gifts to us.

Slide 26. Romans 8:14-17. Those who are Led by the Spirit are God’s Children

14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God. 15 For you didn’t receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God; 17 and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him.
Romans 8:14-17 (WEB)

It is those who are led by the Spirit of God who are children of God. But the Spirit must communicate with us in order to lead us. As children of God, we are also joint heirs with Jesus in both his suffering and his promises. We share both—as partners would.

Slide 27. Ephesians 2:17-19. The Household of God

17 He came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God,
Ephesians 2:17-19 (WEB)

We are God’s household.

Slide 28. 2 Corinthians 6:16-18. Four Complementary Descriptions of Our Relationship to God

16 What agreement does a temple of God have with idols? For you are a temple of the living God. Even as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk in them. I will be their God and they will be my people.” Therefore

“‘Come out from among them, and be separate,’ says the Lord.

‘Touch no unclean thing. I will receive you.

18 I will be to you a Father. You will be to me sons and daughters,’

says the Lord Almighty.”
2 Corinthians 6:16-18 (WEB)

This passage contains four descriptions of God’s relationship with us. The description of us as God’s temple is arguably symbolic or metaphorical, as we have not become a physical structure. The other three are more direct. One way in which we are like God’s temple is that God lives within us. It is his life that is shown through us. Another way in which we are like God’s temple is that God “walks” in and through us—we follow where he leads, and what he is doing in the world is done through us. Finally, God also declares us his family—he becomes our Father, and we become his children.

There is one aspect of this relationship as a family that we usually don’t like to think about:

Slide 29. Hebrews 12:5-9. God Disciplines His Children

5 You have forgotten the exhortation which reasons with you as with children,

“My son, don’t take lightly the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by him;

6 for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines, and chastises every son whom he receives.”

7 It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with children, for what son is there whom his father doesn’t discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have been made partakers, then you are illegitimate, and not children. 9 Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live?
Hebrews 12:5-9 (WEB)

Slide 30. Sheep with a Shepherd

This is probably the relationship most frequently mentioned in the Bible. It is really not a flattering metaphor for us—sheep are stupid, often obstinate, follow the flock in dangerous directions if not guided, and get lost or in trouble very easily. But a real shepherd, as opposed to a modern commercial sheep herder, knows each of his sheep by name and cares for each personally. I will now simply quote a few of the more prominent passages about God as our shepherd, without further comment.

Slide 31. Psalm 100:3.

Know that Yahweh, he is God.

It is he who has made us, and we are his.

We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Psalm 100:3 (WEB)

Slide 32. Psalm 23.

Yahweh is my shepherd:

    I shall lack nothing.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures.

    He leads me beside still waters.

3 He restores my soul.

    He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

    I will fear no evil, for you are with me.

Your rod and your staff,

    they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me

    in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil.

    My cup runs over.

6 Surely goodness and loving kindness shall follow me all the days of my life,

    and I will dwell in Yahweh’s house forever.
Psalm 23 (WEB)

Slide 33. Psalm 78:52-53.

But he led out his own people like sheep,

and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

53 He led them safely, so that they weren’t afraid,

but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
Psalm 78:52-53 (WEB)

Slide 34. John 10:10-13

10 The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life and may have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them. ¹³The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand, and doesn’t care for the sheep.
John 10:10-13 (WEB)

Slide 35. Matthew 18:11-13

11 For the Son of Man came to save that which was lost. 12 What do you think? If a man has one hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine, go to the mountains, and seek that which has gone astray? 13 If he finds it, most certainly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray.
Matthew 18:11-13 (WEB)

Slide 36. John 10:14-16

14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own; 15 even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd.
John 10:14-16 (WEB)

Slide 37. John 10:24-30

24 The Jews therefore came around him and said to him, “How long will you hold us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you don’t believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, these testify about me. 26 But you don’t believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
John 10:24-30 (WEB)

Note particularly this part:

Slide 38:

26 But you don’t believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand
John 10:26-28 (WEB)

Slide 39. Psalm 95:6-9.

Oh come, let’s worship and bow down.

    Let’s kneel before Yahweh, our Maker,

7     for he is our God.

We are the people of his pasture,

    and the sheep in his care.

Today, oh that you would hear his voice!

8     Don’t harden your heart, as at Meribah,

    as in the day of Massah in the wilderness,

9 when your fathers tempted me,

    tested me, and saw my work.
Psalm 95:6-9 (WEB)

Now, he shares this work with us:

Slide 40. John 21:17.

From a conversation between Jesus and Peter shortly after Jesus’ resurrection:

17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you have affection for me?” Peter was grieved because he asked him the third time, “Do you have affection for me?” He said to him, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I have affection for you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”
John 21:17 (WEB)

Slide 41. 1 Peter 5:1-4.

Therefore I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and who will also share in the glory that will be revealed: 2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, not for dishonest gain, but willingly; 3 not as lording it over those entrusted to you, but making yourselves examples to the flock. 4 When the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the crown of glory that doesn’t fade away.
1 Peter 5:1-4 (WEB)

Slide 42. Teacher with a Body of Disciples.

In ancient times, teaching didn’t occur in classrooms in limited one-hour blocks, and it didn’t teach mostly chunks of “objective facts” separate from life. Instead, teachers in Jesus day led bands of disciples who joined their lives to those of the teacher for a period of months or years to learn not just what the teacher knew but how the teacher thought and lived. A teacher’s disciples learned his way of life. Jesus led just such a band of disciples during his earthly life, and he asks us to join him as disciples under his leadership in the same way today. Consider these passages:

Slide 43. The Truth and Jesus’ Disciples.

31 Jesus therefore said to those Jews who had believed him, “If you remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples. 32 You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
John 8:31-32 (WEB)

This truth isn’t just words in a book, it’s a way of life.

Slide 44. Wherever I am.

24 I tell you for certain that a grain of wheat that falls on the ground will never be more than one grain unless it dies. But if it dies, it will produce lots of wheat. 25 If you love your life, you will lose it. If you give it up in this world, you will be given eternal life. 26 If you serve me, you must go with me. My servants will be with me wherever I am. If you serve me, my Father will honor you.
John 12:24-26 (CEV)

My servants will be with me wherever I am!

Slide 45. Give Up Everything and Follow Me.

16 A man came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to have eternal life?” 17 Jesus said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? Only God is good. If you want to have eternal life, you must obey his commandments.” 18 “Which ones?” the man asked. Jesus answered, “Do not murder. Be faithful in marriage. Do not steal. Do not tell lies about others. 19 Respect your father and mother. And love others as much as you love yourself.” 20 The young man said, “I have obeyed all of these. What else must I do?” 21 Jesus replied, “If you want to be perfect, go sell everything you own! Give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come and be my follower.” 22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he was very rich.
Matthew 19:16-22 (CEV)

Am I willing to give up everything to be with Jesus where he is?

Slide 46. Bear My Own Cross?

25 Now great multitudes were going with him. He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to me, and doesn’t disregard his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he can’t be my disciple. 27 Whoever doesn’t bear his own cross, and come after me, can’t be my disciple…”
Luke 14:25-27 (WEB)

Slide 47. A Body with a Head.

We are, collectively, the Body of Christ—so obviously must remain where he is! And he is the Head:

Slide 48. That makes us members of each other…

4 For as in one body we have many members and not all the members have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. 6 We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8 the encourager, in encouragement; the giver, in sincerity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
Romans 12:4-7 (NRSVUE)

Slide 49. But Christ remains the Head…

… 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might 20 which he worked in Christ, when he raised him from the dead and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule, authority, power, dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come. 22 He put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things for the assembly, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Ephesians 1:19-23 (WEB)

Slide 50. We are a Growing Body, Growing to Maturity Together…

11 He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers; 12 for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error; 15 but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ, 16 from whom all the body, being fitted and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each individual part, makes the body increase to the building up of itself in love.
Ephesians 4:11-16 (WEB)

Slide 51. Kingdom with a King.

This is another picture of our relationship with Jesus.

Slide 52. Who Enters the Kingdom?

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 7:21 (WEB)

Once again, this is Matthew, and Jesus is speaking of the “Kingdom of the heavens.” Though the heavens are all around us, and God reigns as king in them, we cannot enter into that kingdom without doing his will. We are only personally in the domain God rules if we place ourselves in it, even though he rules all around us. That is what it means to have free will. But, once we place ourselves in his Kingdom, we see he was active in our choice:

Slide 53. God’s Part.

9 For this cause, we also, since the day we heard this, don’t cease praying and making requests for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, 11 strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and perseverance with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, 13 who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love, 14 in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.
Colossians 1:9-14 (WEB)

Slide 54. Speaking to Pontius Pilate…

36 Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not of this world. If my Kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight, that I wouldn’t be delivered to the Jews. But now my Kingdom is not from here.” 37 Pilate therefore said to him, “Are you a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I have been born, and for this reason I have come into the world, that I should testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” When he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no basis for a charge against him.”
John 18:36-38 (WEB)

Jesus could reassure the Roman governor that his kingdom was not presently a threat to the Emperor’s authority because his kingdom is not from, and is not derived from anything within, the earthly political realm. It doesn’t seek power here and doesn’t receive power from here. It exists in those who listen to Jesus’ voice and so follow the truth. Its power is in a realm far beyond the Emperor’s. The Roman Empire ceased to exist a long time ago. God’s Kingdom remains, in the heavens, all around us, accessible to any who will enter it.

Slide 55: Building Under Construction

This is still another picture of Jesus’ relationship to us, and emphasizes his continuing work (as we see time):

Slide 56: We are God’s house, growing around Jesus…

19 So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God, 20 being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone; 21 in whom the whole building, fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 22 in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:19-22 (WEB)

Slide 57. Only One Foundation, but We All Build on it.

9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s farming, God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another builds on it. But let each man be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no one can lay any other foundation than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 But if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or stubble, 13 each man’s work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself will test what sort of work each man’s work is. 14 If any man’s work remains which he built on it, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but as through fire. 16 Don’t you know that you are a temple of God, and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, which you are.
1 Corinthians 3:9-17 (WEB)

Slide 58. Vine With Branches and Fruit.

This relationship pictures our purpose (contrary to “God is dead” thinking).

Slide 59. John 15:5-8.

5 I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you. 8 In this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples.
John 15:5-8 (WEB)

Slide 60. “Friends” of Jesus and His Father

Finally, we are Jesus’ intimate friends, with whom he is willing to share everything his Father is doing.

Slide 61. Who Are God’s “Friends?”

14 You are My friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.
John 15:14-15 (NASB)

I concede that some of these pictures of our relationship with God do not require any conversation. A vine does not speak with its branches, for instance. Kings usually don’t converse much with commoners. And if builders talk to the structure they are building, you may not want to listen to the language they use!

But some of them require communication. Shepherds call their sheep. Parents should converse with their children. Partners need to discuss their business. And friends who never talk to each other maybe aren’t friends at all. This leads to the big question of the day:

Slide 63: THE BIG QUESTION:

Is it normal for friends and business partners to continue as friends and partners without ever talking to each other?

Is a monologue which is never answered a sign of friendship?

With that, I close.