"AS IF DEAD"
He was about 16 years old. He got up in front of the youth group and said "let's pray". I thought "O good, he's being a leader". The next thing that came out of his mouth was "Yo God! What up?" The kid meant well. I know him. But as many young people, he was not taught how to approach the Almighty.
John the apostle arguably had the closest human relationship with Jesus than probably any other human on earth. When he was faced with the risen Christ in Revelation 1:17, he fell to the ground as if dead in utter respect and fear and trembling. Did John say "Yo blood! What up?" Or say "Hey Jesus, long time no see." He did not. Nor did he refer to him as his home-boy, his home-slice or whatever. He fell to the dirt. Where John belonged.
John didn't have time to be contemplative or be "centered". He was too busy trembling over the stark contrast of seeing himself against a holy, consuming fire, almighty God and creator who spoke and the universe lapped into existence.
God is always to be approached formally. Never informally. A.W. Tozer said that our conduct will never rise above our view of God. The Jesus being preached today is our pal. But this is not how he was depicted in scripture. You cannot show me one instance in the Bible where Jesus was approached by anyone other than an enemy with informality, irreverence and a lack of respect.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom says scripture (Ps 111:10). The fear and respect of God will be evident in our actions, in our worship, in our separation from the world.
Consider Hebrews 12:28, 29.
"...worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire."
-KCO
John the apostle arguably had the closest human relationship with Jesus than probably any other human on earth. When he was faced with the risen Christ in Revelation 1:17, he fell to the ground as if dead in utter respect and fear and trembling. Did John say "Yo blood! What up?" Or say "Hey Jesus, long time no see." He did not. Nor did he refer to him as his home-boy, his home-slice or whatever. He fell to the dirt. Where John belonged.
John didn't have time to be contemplative or be "centered". He was too busy trembling over the stark contrast of seeing himself against a holy, consuming fire, almighty God and creator who spoke and the universe lapped into existence.
God is always to be approached formally. Never informally. A.W. Tozer said that our conduct will never rise above our view of God. The Jesus being preached today is our pal. But this is not how he was depicted in scripture. You cannot show me one instance in the Bible where Jesus was approached by anyone other than an enemy with informality, irreverence and a lack of respect.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom says scripture (Ps 111:10). The fear and respect of God will be evident in our actions, in our worship, in our separation from the world.
Consider Hebrews 12:28, 29.
"...worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire."
-KCO
posted by kennyo at 3:53 PM
4 Comments:
Good point; thanks. In our "seeker sensitive" church, I would not be shocked to hear that one of our youth addressed God just like that. At first, I thought it would be a good thing for our church to have that " come as you are" mentality, but over the last few years, I can see that the results are not what they had hoped.
Sadly, the ad for Bible study for the youth in my church is irreverantly titled "A Bunch of B.S."
Carla, I can't believe that.
Just a suggestion, if I were you I would try to get out of there so you don't get affected by the lightning strike. That is shocking that they would title a youth bible study as such. You must be grieving.
We need to pray hard. Has anyone confronted the church leadership about that?
Ya, I contacted one of the youth leaders a few weeks ago and shared my feelings, and more importantly, how God must feel about trying to use a phrase like that to "attract" the kids. So far it hasn't been removed from the church website. We're not attending anymore but are still members. There's no where else to go.
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