“Be still and know that I am God….” Psalm 46:10a
Christians (and t-shirt companies) are drawn to this verse like a moth to a flame, comforted that God is seemingly offering an intimate moment among friends, like when two lifelong buddies sip hot cocoa by the fire in a ski lodge after a day on the slopes.
This is perhaps one of the most often quoted scripture portions among believers. Our use of this portion is an expression of our culture, and our “God is to be experienced” mindset. This thought, that the goal of my life as a Christian, is to experience God, taken to the extreme, is a dangerous model. Let me show you what I mean by this simple list of things we “experience”…
- I experienced a wonderful cherries, pecans, and cream ice cream cone.
- I experienced the birth of my two boys.
- I experienced the thrill of white-water rafting.
- I experience frustration while driving in rush hour traffic.
All of our “experience” statements are based on emotion and consumerism. Do we want the basis for our relationship with God to be based on an emotional response that grows out of a consumer mindset? I want to remind you that God is not "consumable" but he is the consumer! (see Hebrews 12: 29 - "For our God is a consuming fire.")
I’m not suggesting that there is anything wrong with an intimate encounter with God. However, in the context of our 21st Century culture, we must never forget that such an encounter requires us to move closer to God. Oftentimes whether we want to admit it or not, we approach God with a “You come this way, God, here I am!” mentality. Our spiritual walk is all about what we “get”. We bargain for God’s affection like we bargain at a car lot for a good deal.
We can’t help it. It’s rooted deep within our nature to be in control, to be selfish. That is the root of our sin problem ---- I.
We are content to simply “know God”. I have heard Christians sigh supra-spiritually and quote this scripture portion, to what end, I have little knowledge. While “knowing God” is a noble ambition for a believer, I’m quite sure that the form it takes is far from adequate. Our “knowing” God often only takes the approach of knowing about God. As adults we never grow beyond an elementary Sunday School knowledge of God. We create a file cabinet in our minds and we file away information about the Almighty in case such information is needed in the future. The problem for many Christians is that the information is never put into context, thus it is never used to radically change our perspective and move us closer to God. We never really merge our lives with God’s purposes.
These first words of Psalm 46 are really God ringing an alarm bell. He is almost shouting – HEY YOU --- ENOUGH, PAY ATTENTION, STOP, (dare I say it) SHUT UP! I AM GOD. All of the incredible things you have been reading about in this Psalm point to the fact that you need to stop what you are doing and clue in to my nature.
Thanks for taking the journy with us!
David
(part two to follow)
