When it rains...

I have run into more than my fair share of people lately talking about how they have a hard time with Christianity. I'm not kidding - 4 separate incidents in a couple weeks. I don't know if they've found any kind of spirituality to replace it as much as they have just rejected it. And, I get tired of people just complaining about something and not doing anything about it; it seems like there are a million people who talk about how not to live for every one person who actually attempts to live right.

But, I get even more tired of people talking about hypocritical Christians and having evidence to back it up. I have to admit as a follower of Jesus, I know what they're talking about. There are times that I have hoped to pull off an air of holiness so that others would see me as better than them. And I grieve those times and wish that I had represented Jesus better. I wish I could just be truthful, let Jesus love me, and love others like he tells us to.

Why in God's name?

I've heard people ask before why God decided to create human beings. Was he lonely? I've heard this question answered a couple different ways. Most Christians would say that God did not create us because he was lonely; that would imply that God is incomplete without us. The same people might say that the most selfless thing a perfect being could do would be to create other beings to enjoy his presence. I heard someone respond to that by saying, "Doesn't that make God really narcissistic?" Yeah, it sure sounds that way, but the God I know really is more giving than greedy.

I tend to think the truth is almost simpler. I think God created us because it's just who he is. He exists in relationship as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and he created us because he just loves relationships. Love loves to have an object to love. I prefer to think that God created us out of his incredible grace and has endeavored to love us and redeem us to himself because it is just his nature to love.

Systemic is a nasty word

I say relationships are important like it's some new thing - like I came up with it. But, if you really take a look around you and think, you will realize that everyone and everything exists in relationship. It's the idea of systems - an object is defined by its surroundings. Everything is always in a context. The idea is so pervasive in nature, it almost disappears.

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? The answer is it doesn't really matter. Nothing apart from relationship matters. If you discover some profound truth about life, then what does it matter if there is no one to share it with?

There was this systems theorist (his name was Ludwig von Bertalanffy) who was attempting to nail down a unifying theory for all of nature. Now, that's a job, but I think he was onto something. I don't know if he ever could have explained everything, but relationships just are. We can't escape them. I think its that way because that's who God is - relationship - and the nature we experience flows from his nature.

The truth

I still haven't found anyone who doesn't need relationship. I keep looking because I just keep thinking (and some people keep saying) that the fact that we need love is just part of the truth - that it's just part of who we are, but I just keep coming back to the fact that all of us are looking for love in all the wrong places.

I know it sounds kind of cheesy sometimes, but I keep being reminded of it and I keep seeing it, even in my own life. I want to be liked and the search for significance in all of us becomes one big quest for people to tell you you're important, when it's God we are looking for to tell us we matter.

Looking for this?

I'm serious - we are all busy trying to figure out how we can be worth something. I swear - just about everything we do is a way to make us feel like we matter - to make people take us seriously and have people pay attention to us. If you think about the things we strive for - success, good looks, possessions, popularity, righteousness - they are things that allow us to compare ourselves to others and come out on top.

What makes me either the same as you or different from you is that I believe that what we are looking for is the love that comes from God the Father. When he loves you and you know it, you don't care as much what other people think about you. You do things because of who you are, rather than because of who you're not. You're not trying to make up for something. You're just being who you are because you know that since He loves you, you must not be that bad.