At our church gathering yesterday, the 'sharing,' as it is called, was from the book of John, particularly 17:3 and chapter 4, What is Eternal Life? Eternal life is knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. In the last week, a couple of things have caused us to consider again the basic-ness of the call to Christ in exclusion to everything else.
The main sermon illustration went something like this (originally in Turkish): Eternal Life is a river with two banks. One bank is the things that Christians may do; the other bank is things Christians may not do. These commands and 'forbiddens' are not part of eternal life though they are related to it. If there were no banks, the River would be harder to notice, but it certainly wouldn't disappear.
This Life is Jesus and relationship with Him and the Father; this is why the Gospel of John tells us that we can have eternal life now. Yet so often, we confuse the (important, but) muddy banks for the (all-important) River. Thus, this week we watched as our Facebook newsfeed exploded with people on both sides of a discussion (yelling, about music) again. I wouldn't suggest that music is unimportant, and I certainly have an opinion on the issue, but there seemed to be some level of forgetting that we should all be in the River together, even when we disagree. See, the fascinating thing about being in the River is that the River is most important. Meanwhile, the key issue for anyone on the Bank of Doing or the Bank of Not Doing is 'my opinion,' 'my holiness,' or 'my rightness.' And the frightening thing about this is that I can know it, write about it, and still sit on a Bank, not living my life in the River.
Two more pointed conversations also happened last week; in both of them I got asked if I were a Muslim. As I talked to a taxi driver and he wondered why we moved to Istanbul, he asked, "Did you convert?" Well, no, I'm a Christian. From there we continued to talk and share. A couple days later, in an English class discussion, I was asked if I drank alcohol or smoked. When I said no, the next question was, "Are you a Muslim?" Again, the conversation continued. If things like my location or what I ingest are the core of my religion, I am in desperate need of the River of Eternal Life.
But it's not quite this simple. A couple years ago, I learned something with abrupt force when I read The Mystics of Islam. The mystical Sufi denomination of Islam has some of the most 'Bible' ideas of any group I've ever studied, yet they lack Christ. I was struck as I read Sufi writings how much they sounded like A. W. Tozer and other great Christian writers of the past. They believe in deep, loving relationship with God; they have a passionate pursuit of knowing Him, but Jesus is absent (except as a great prophet.) How?
More importantly, how is my religion different? Is my 'religion' of such a sort that I can be holy enough, love God enough, pursue the knowledge of His greatness deeply or long enough? Or, am I desperately thirsty for the River? Certainly those who drink of the River stay between the banks. However, the banks do not define them; the River does! May I be graced and galvanized to live only in the River, staying off the banks!
This Life is Jesus and relationship with Him and the Father; this is why the Gospel of John tells us that we can have eternal life now. Yet so often, we confuse the (important, but) muddy banks for the (all-important) River. Thus, this week we watched as our Facebook newsfeed exploded with people on both sides of a discussion (yelling, about music) again. I wouldn't suggest that music is unimportant, and I certainly have an opinion on the issue, but there seemed to be some level of forgetting that we should all be in the River together, even when we disagree. See, the fascinating thing about being in the River is that the River is most important. Meanwhile, the key issue for anyone on the Bank of Doing or the Bank of Not Doing is 'my opinion,' 'my holiness,' or 'my rightness.' And the frightening thing about this is that I can know it, write about it, and still sit on a Bank, not living my life in the River.
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| Niagara Falls - Fall 2012 |
But it's not quite this simple. A couple years ago, I learned something with abrupt force when I read The Mystics of Islam. The mystical Sufi denomination of Islam has some of the most 'Bible' ideas of any group I've ever studied, yet they lack Christ. I was struck as I read Sufi writings how much they sounded like A. W. Tozer and other great Christian writers of the past. They believe in deep, loving relationship with God; they have a passionate pursuit of knowing Him, but Jesus is absent (except as a great prophet.) How?
More importantly, how is my religion different? Is my 'religion' of such a sort that I can be holy enough, love God enough, pursue the knowledge of His greatness deeply or long enough? Or, am I desperately thirsty for the River? Certainly those who drink of the River stay between the banks. However, the banks do not define them; the River does! May I be graced and galvanized to live only in the River, staying off the banks!
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| Cottica River - 2011 |
Living in the River is hard. Sitting on a bank is far easier. Sitting on a bank is ego-building and self-absorbing. Living in the River is deeply exhausting and richly satisfying. Jump into the River... As Jesus once told a group of fishermen: "Launch out into the deep." :)
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