Sometimes...

...i wish i could just be a "jesus lover". not a "christian"...not an "evangelical".

all over america there exists a mode of 'christianity' that stands firmly on the tenet that "life is found in knowing propositional truths"...the bulletpoint faith. that followed by a whole mess of people charging into the world to confront all the "un-knowing". or to totally remove themselves from it to hide in fear of all kinds of falsehoods showing up on their doorsteps.

it's so frustrating to me...so, so, so out of balance!!!

making a living faith into a religion of "the proud and the pansies"...and that's exactly what it looks like to our culture.

so sad.

and for those that think i might be out in left field thinking that truth is unimportant...not at all. it's just that "truth"...in order to be real and relevant...needs something far more fundamentally intimate to be hung on. apart from a foundation of real relationship with a loving god, truth becomes a legalistic tug-of-war...very circumstantial...and very hypocritical.

don't believe me?...look at statistics on kids raised in "truth-only"...they shockingly drop the bulletpoints for all the ridiculous entitlements our culture offers as a fill for their basic, god-sized, relational holes.

oh that we could know that we are made for a relationship beyond our wildest dreams. one that actually births trust...love...faith...obedience...sacrifice...holiness...

it's what jesus said before he went to the cross to die for my heart and yours...

"After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."

doesn't say "know about"...it says "know". it's the "know" that assumes a relationship (check your greek...it's so graciously true!). and with god, it's not just a relationship that gets us "outta hell"...no, it's "father", "lover", "king", "friend"...it's "god with us".

alas, i'm not a flee-er...despite the cultural disdain for my "christian" title...a sourness which is so NOT based on a church living out the love of christ and thus becoming despised...i'm not outta here yet. people lost in a religion of "fact ackn0wledgement" need the "divine dance" just as much as someone who doesn't know.