08.24.08

Solid or Whitewash

Posted in God Centered, relationship at 12:25 am by Administrator

I once heard Steve Sample, the president of the University of Southern California, speak at a conference. He joked that his pastor was going to kill him for saying this, but that he had been an Episcopalian for 44 years and a Christian for 25. The thought slammed into my mind like a runaway train filled with explosives and diesel fuel. How true is that statement? If we think not just for him, but for all of us, we find ourselves living lives where we have all the religious trappings upon us but the insides are hollow. The prophet Ezekiel referred to this as “when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash” (Ez 13:10). Jesus referred to Pharisees who were like this in Mt 23:27 as “whitewashed tombs”.

I have always said that it’s not about the ritual, it’s about the relationship. However today I heard a great presentation, by a fellow named John, who had prepared it for an upcoming Men’s Emmaus Walk for the North Houston Emmaus Community. He asked “Do we have a religion or do we have a relationship? Do we have a God or do we have a Savior? Do we merely believe in God and not fully believe God at work in our lives?”

This poses a great question for me. How do we know when we just have religion without the relationship? The answer is that we looked at how God is working in our lives. It really comes down to what our intentions are. So are we for real or are we just a thin layer of whitewash covering up a broken wall?

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