Coming unto Jesus

[A response to an email]  

Well, again, to answer your question in a meaningful way I need to speak pretty frankly. My heart’s desire (as far as I know myself!) is truly to help you, and not to give any offense, so I hope you can hear my heart. 

Many Christians (and perhaps more particularly those who are accustomed to STUDYING the Bible) have a Christianity that is primarily words. They may be true words, or words that describe true things. But they are still words, and the main thing that these Christians are seeking is an accurate understanding, a right theology, the correct interpretation of various passages, etc. They don’t want to “get it wrong”, or have a misunderstanding, or a false doctrine, assuming that correct doctrine and understanding is the most important thing. They love when the words of the Bible “make sense”, and when they are able to repeat them, remember them, or apply them when they need to. 

But you see... this is neither why the Bible was written, nor what Christianity really is. Of course you know that I believe every word that is written in Scripture. But Christianity is not a correct understanding of spiritual concepts. Christianity is the LIGHT and LIFE and LOVE of Christ filling, changing, and governing the soul of man. And you can even “get” this concept, and preach this truth... and yet remain very far from this experience. God is not trying to inform us. He is trying to transform us; that is, to take our soul out of a condition of death, darkness, evil, and enmity, and restore us to His image and likeness which we lost in the beginning. He has given us a book full of truths, not so that we can just LEARN them, know them, believe them and repeat them, but so that we can seek, knock, and ask to walk in the reality of them, to live in and experience all that they describe. This is precisely what Jesus said to the Jews (and sadly could say to many Christians today): “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.  But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.”

What does it mean to “come to Jesus”? Have you ever thought about that? It is VERY possible (and common!) to come to the Bible and yet NOT come to Jesus. It’s very easy to learn all about Him, to try to understand the words of His prophets and apostles, and then (before meals, or meetings, or whenever) to say some words to Him, and yet never really COME UNTO Him to have life. And this issue is really at the heart of your email. When you read the Bible, or any other spiritual book, it should always be with the goal of having your HEART draw near to Him, to see, feel, experience Him, to let Him deal with you, correct you, convict you, touch you, teach you, or whatever else He might want to do. The words are not to be studied and grasped and categorized by the brain. They are to be read somewhat like a love-letter, where your real desire is to know the PERSON who wrote them. Or perhaps like reading a menu, where the only way you can understand the words and pictures is by EATING the thing that they describe. 

If that sounds abstract or mystical, then it’s a sign that your Christianity is still too much in words and ideas. And that’s ok for now, as long as we’re willing to admit it, and willing to change our course. Jesus Christ isn’t words. He is the life and power and light of God. He is so far from being a doctrine or a theology, that everybody who tastes and feels and knows Him, finds that NO WORDS can ever do Him justice. Scriptural words don’t define Christ. Christ defines scriptural words. 

So you asked me what I meant when I suggested before that you “only read things that reach your heart, that touch you deeper than an encounter with words and ideas, and feed the immortal birth.” What I meant, is that reading the Bible or other Spiritual books should not be done with the aim of accumulating correct information. It should be done with the aim of bringing your heart before the Person and power of Christ, in meekness, humility, desperation, hunger, and heartfelt submission to whatever He might want to do at that time. It doesn’t matter how much you read. It only matters how you read. Your reading should be like a two-year old boy who is hearing new words from his mother, and at the same time needing her to show him what she means. When you read a verse or paragraph of Scripture, don’t just rush on ahead so that you can finish your daily Bible reading plan. Stop, and wait upon the Lord in quietness of heart. Ask Him to open your heart to see the reality or substance behind the words. Tell Him you don’t really understand. Tell Him you have NO idea what this or that means. Ask Him to teach you, to judge you, to help you, to awaken and change you. 

Sometimes (though not always) when you read in this sincere and purposeful way, with your heart directed to the PERSON of Christ, you may FEEL something of His truth, or His presence, or His conviction working in your heart. You may feel that a verse suddenly reaches you in a much deeper place, or that a sense of love for God strangely spreads over your heart, or that a conviction for sin stings your conscience. Then STOP!! DON’T RUSH ON. Close your eyes, retire from your own thinking and willing and running, and give Him full permission, and a full opportunity, to do everything He might want to do in you. If His work is judgment, then welcome it in deep humility. If His work is teaching, then let Him destroy and displace your own opinions and imaginations. If His work is to comfort or encourage, then learn to discern His sweet presence, which sometimes feels like burning goodness in your innermost being. “And they said to one another, ‘did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?’” It’s the ENCOUNTER with Christ that really matters, and really changes you... not the grasping, conceptualizing, or outward application of His words.

And as I said in my previous email, encountering Christ in this way will PUSH your heart into prayer. I mean, the pressure of the living Truth will provide you with the substance of true prayer, which is an inward reaching after Him, looking unto Him, drinking from Him, receiving what He gives, and pouring forth yourself (with words or without words) before Him. This is something of what Paul means when he says, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” Prayer is a natural response to the inward dealings of the Lord. When the heart touches the living Christ, it then knows how to pray.

I think you are wise to be cautious and doubtful about your own motivations. I know exactly what you mean about wanting “to be the smartest person in the room.” I am very much guilty of the same. But I think if you approach the Lord in this way, with real sincerity, humility, and a heartfelt desire to be taught by Him, then He will both show you the right way, and protect you from your own pride. Or as it says in Job 33, “Then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction, that He may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.”