In and Within 19 The Pursuit of Intimacy

[HKHaugan]

There’s all kinds of activity that pass for intimacy in this world but there is only one true intimacy and that is the kind proceeding from God as modeled in the person of Jesus His Son. What makes that intimacy unique is that it is eternal. All the rest are limited, local and luster-losing. They are temporary, tedious and trendy.

OK, so what does the world offer as intimacy?
First, if you can be accomplished in some area of human endeavor, art, drama, literature, lecturing, and you get notoriety and wealth from them, you will have people bowing at your feet, wanting to know you and wanting to use your name among other acquaintances.
Second, physical attraction can draw a host of admirers. If a man, it’s physical appearance as in physique, athletic skill or being a natural leader that may be the draw. If a woman, then bodily beauty, gentleness and personal finesse are allures.
Third, intellectual ability can win professional niches and reputation. People who need that kind of support will travel any distance to acquire your personal thoughts and opinions. All of this demands keeping up with the latest means of securing that notoriety even it is negative. It’s a ‘works’ mentality.

Having watched the ‘Oscars’ in recent years it seems that the moment of having been presented that ornate trophy with accompanying tears and gaggled credits to those who helped was a moment of intimacy. But then the moment ended and walking off the stage the winner returned to the loneliness of the moment of reality. The reality being it was not the trophy but what went before it that has to be repeated over and over in order to maintain the faulty promise and its final emptiness where memories are only that. Who really cares, who really understands, who really has shared their hearts with your heart, their inner fears and dreams with yours, that lasts and lasts?

The bottom line in worldly affection is based on what you can offer someone for their personal utility. They are the ‘groupies’ in every form of group activity from business to religion. They are the ‘hanger-ons’ to get something they believe they lack. They are the ‘fair-weather-friends’ whose inner hearts and minds will always remain an unknown mystery not only to the person they would follow but even to themselves. Their sense of incompleteness, emptiness and dissatisfaction makes them conference, concert, and contest hoppers waiting for that moment of fulfillment they may get at the next meeting or the next encounter. They are the social conformists to the idols, the trends and trapeze of group thought, language and behavior. Again, you have to work hard for it.

The Pharisees were the prime examples of this kind of belief. If they could look like they were praying, dress in the vestments of prayer and brilliantly teach others the ‘deeper’ means to what they would pass on as closeness to God, the admiration they would receive proved it. Admiration of course, was their idea of intimacy. It is a ‘works’ religion.

What Jesus is offering is an intimacy that comes only through faith. It is a gift of grace, God’s intimate acceptance, through faith. It is the gift of God’s love through faith. Yes, we are certainly in need of help, of closeness and of that supreme kind of interpersonal intimacy that is not admiration, nor finding the right guru, nor the brilliant intellect in whatever field, nor the charismatic leader who has it all together nor even the pithy thoughts that justify what I think are my needs and finally my independence from God.

What Jesus offers is a two-way relationship built on God’s intimacy in the Holy Spirit. Jesus is its revealer and sustainer. His intimacy with His Father is the blended spirit-heart-mind give and take with His Father we can personally experience. It’s not the admiration we get but the admiration we give Him through which He humbles His heart, mind and Spirit to enter our hearts, minds and spirits. His love is not about getting but about giving, not about admiring but about being humble, not about getting praise but praising. The crown of life we receive in His Kingdom is not a reward for what we do but rather a reward because of what His Son did on the Cross for us. It is the crown of faith that we wear because He wore and bore the Cross to restore the intimacy we had with God before. It is His love that is our intimacy. It is His love that made faith possible for us. It is not that we love but that He first loved us.

If you really want an example of the depth of intimacy with God you can see how one human was brought into that incredible closeness. The Bible records the story of David from his childhood on and through his kingship into death (1&2 Samuel). It is not only a story of love; it is a story of forgiveness, support and continuing intimacy. The treasuries of David’s personal record of intimacy with God are found in the Psalms. If you begin them read slowly, stop as you are led, question, open, meditate, ponder, plead, pray the lines, make a song or poem out of them, draw on their wisdom and simply let them ‘sink in.’ Intimacy with God is yours if you will let Him move you into the depth of intimacy He desires. God’s intimacy through Jesus Christ is the nature of the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.