Perception Is Key (December 2012)

"And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life."

1 John 5:11-13

This month we're finishing our series of looking at how our approach to God affects the way others see God as well. The way we see God affects the way we come to God. The way we come to God affects the way others see God and, therefore, come to Him also. 

I'm featuring a couple of videos this month, by the comedic troupe OneTimeBlind, that deal with approaches to God we can sometimes take.

The first one, to the left, deals with our tendency to give God what we think He might want, without getting to know--from the Source--what He actually wants. Getting to know anyone, even God, takes relationship and work on our part. We, as Christians, must get past our tendency to mold a God after our sentiments and reconnect with the God of scripture, the God that stretches and challenges and molds us.

This next video, to the right, deals with the all-too-common tendency followers of Jesus have to become stagnant and comfortable in our walks. We may say all the right words, play the game with (what we imagine to be) amazing skill, but we don't fool God. Our relationship with Jesus, or lack thereof, speaks for itself. 

If perception is key, then it stands to reason that our perception of God is of the utmost importance. Our mission, as followers of Christ, is to continually submit our thoughts and opinions to Christ (2 Cor. 10:5), who is the Word (Jn. 1:14), and be transformed by Him through it (Rom. 12:2).

Dave Swanson, Lakeside Christian Church's worship leader, speaks in his newsletter blog for this month about how worship without love is just noise. Not only that, but this "noise" is actually damaging to our interpersonal relationships and our relationship with God. 

Do people perceive through us a God that loves them? Do they see a God that redeems from the the messes we've made of the lives we've been given?

Our worship of God does not begin when we step through the doors of a church, or a home fellowship meetings, but when we wake up. Each moment we breath is worship because it is time spent in the presence of Almighty God! Is this noticeable to others? Does anyone outside our own head--including God--notice that we are lovers of God and lovers of others? 

If they don't, maybe the problem isn't with them but with us. 

And the question deserves asking: if Jesus really is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, what right do we have to run others off by giving others false perceptions of God? 

If people watch us run after everything else in this world, are we inadvertently obstructing their understanding of the Way? If they watch us dissect the Word to fit our opinions, do we inadvertently distort the Truth and encourage them to do the same? And if we act as though we're dead inside, instead of being enlivened by Love, are we inadvertently blocking the transformative power of real Life?

Or it could be worse. Maybe real Life is not in us.