Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Even Better Than Answers



Will God be ok with me getting a divorce?

 Is it ok for women to be pastors? 

What do we do with the whole gay marriage thing?

 Once I’m a Christian are there things I can do that will get me kicked out of being a Christian?


And on and on and on and on….


These questions are thrown around endlessly, with several different answers being offered up. But when it comes to God and His plans for our life, these questions aren’t really the point. What God wants most is to have a relationship with you, and for you to have meaningful relationships with other people. We are to approach our relationships with others the same way that God approaches His relationship with us (love, mercy, honesty, grace, etc…), not by drawing lines in the sand to separate us based on the way we answer the questions listed above. God's plan for us isn't that we will simply have good answers to really hard questions. There is nothing wrong with wrestling with really tough questions, and even with disagreeing about what those answers may possibly be, but if answering those questions cause me to stop relating courageously to God and to others, then those questions and answers have become a problem.  Engaging difficult and often times controversial questions is never an excuse to ignore our true purpose in life: “Love God with all you heart, mind, soul, and strength and your neighbor as yourself”. God gives us something better than answers, He gives us Himself. Relationships are not always easy. Relating to others isn't always as black and white as an answer to a question. Relationship requires humility and mercy for myself and for those I am attempting to relate to. So wherever you fall with regards to the questions listed above, I hope that you are also falling more deeply in love with God and the people around you. 



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