Wisdom 40 Knowing the Difference; A Transition

[HKHaugan]

Wisdom 40 Knowing the Difference: a Transition

 There is no clearer shift than the ones between Jonah and Jesus, the Pharisees and the Apostles, the secular mind and the spiritual mind. It’s like this: Jonah dependent on himself, Jesus on His Father, the Pharisees on religion, the Apostles on Jesus and the secular mind on itself, the spiritual mind on God. Jonah was religious, Jesus was relational.

 There’s the bottom line; the shift from religion to relationship.

 Religion may sound like it is belief in an external force, but it is a subtle form of self-control. It’s where belief is placed in a self-satisfying system under the control of the individual who accepts it. Religion is a static thought system to be obeyed. Its payoff is momentary self-satisfaction and self-justification. Simply obey the rules to think good and you will be good. Religion has rituals to give it spiritual plausibility, rules for social well being and regulations to keep the self under control. Religion makes the individual think and feel they are good by attendance and intellectual acceptance. Inner flaws, mistakes, errors are just humans being human without any ultimate accountability. Religion demands nothing but being there. It’s golf course religion, back to the beauty of nature, believing but not relating, feeling good by giving some time to a worthy project. Like the X-Files, “the truth is out there” ---somewhere.

 Relationship is where belief, trust and faith are relationally placed on a person outside the self and is an alive two-way exchange of faith, sharing and growth. Relationship is in the heart. It’s a heart-to-heart encounter. What makes a relationship with God in Jesus understood is the word ‘covenant.’ Covenant is a relationship where the Lord Jesus offers Himself in a personal re-development plan with promissory benefits for the believer. Accepted, it matures the believer’s mind, builds trust and wisdom in the heart and strengthens the ability to be unique and act through faith. Just as Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice on the Cross, so we offer ourselves to follow and obey Him by taking up the cross of faith in Him. Just as Jesus died to the sin-driven world, so we die to sin in self by repenting before Him and receiving His forgiveness. This is a conscious relational process with an experienced relational result. A relationship is built and growing when Jesus’ call to share Him is followed.

 Remember how Jonah was always looking back on his religious hate of the Assyrians hoping for their destruction and couldn’t accept God’s compassion on Nineveh? Now consider how Jesus was always looking forward to love everyone He met, to teach them and heal them, to give them life instead of death without regard to their origin and culture. The first was religion. Now, Jesus brings a spiritual relationship with Him empowered by the Spirit of love, the Holy Spirit He gives to everyone who accepts Him.  Religion is always looking back in judgment and condemnation. Relationship is always looking forward to preparing, sharing and daring to experience relational newness in Christ’s love.

 We’ll start looking at this shift from religion to relationship by putting the spotlight on Jesus‘ miracle, changing water to wine, Matthew 2:1-11. That’s next.