I had the opportunity to speak this week at LifeBridge in Longview, TX. I am always grateful for the belief that Pastor Tom McDaniels has shown in me as a speaker. It is really only in the past year or so that he has helped me to see that maybe public speaking is a gift that God has given me. Complete disconnect and utter enthrallment share the same facial expression when you are speaking to a group of people. For many years I presumed disconnect.
It strikes me as odd that Adam, in the garden before Eve was created, had everything to sustain his life. Creation was completed, he had unencumbered access to true, face to face relationship with God, yet something wasn’t right. The Bible doesn’t tell us that Adam had any problem being alone. After all, he had seemingly everything. Yet God said it wasn’t good that he was alone. Could it be that the God of the universe, who created all things could see something that Adam couldn’t? One simple idea that is encapsulated all throughout scripture, the Lord’s prayer, the Ten Commandments, and clearly stated in the great commandment Jesus gave in Mathew. The simple idea that concerning our life here on earth, God is not enough. We must have each other.
To say God is not enough to a church group invites the looks I was speaking of earlier. It is difficult to tell sometimes the difference between utter disconnect and complete engagement. Again, they share the same facial expression. The knee jerk reaction of most believers to the statement that God is not enough is complete disconnect. Yet, it is an idea that is rampant throughout the Biblical narrative. The five fold ministry gifts were not given for God, they were given for man. The gifts of the Spirit are not necessary to God, they are given for us. The fruit of the Spirit are largely given for the same reason. You don’t need a great deal of temperance until you meet someone else.
Concerning salvation God is everything we need. Concerning living a life in Christ on earth, we all desperately need one another. The idea that we by ourselves can not fulfill the complete purpose that God created man to begin with I will save for the book form of
this idea. To keep this short it is enough to say that without other people, we, like Adam, can have food, water, shelter, work, all of the things that sustain life. In addition to these things we can even have intimate relationship with God. Yet, like Adam, our lives in God’s eye still is not good.
I welcome your questions and comments,
Jeff
Right on, right on my brutha!