Gazing

Amy and I recently started a summer Bible study at our place with some of our closest friends which has made me realize that I REALLY miss being in the Word with people that I love and whose walks with the Lord I really respect and even admire. Many of them see Christ and relate to Him in a way that I likely never will, so it’s been really refreshing for me the past couple weeks to spend time intentionally seeking the Lord with them.

Topical Bible studies where there’s a specific point to try to get to or to reach can be great – I’ve been a part of and lead many of them – but there’s something significant that happens when a group of people open up the Bible, start to read, and dialogue about whatever the Spirit brings to the surface. In the past two weeks, I’ve seen Jesus’ life and the writings of Paul illuminated in a way that I probably never would’ve seen on my own.

It makes complete sense to me why studying the Bible in this way would be beneficial and edifying. For most of the last several thousand years, rabbis, theologians, and common people all over the world have been dialoguing about matters of faith, who God is, and what his Word says, so it should come as no surprise that the Spirit can move powerfully when people gather together.

Let’s face it. God didn’t give us a self-help book when He gave us the Bible. He knew that we are far too deprived and our hearts far too calloused for our lives to be changed simply through teachings, rules and advice.

So instead, we have the Gospel.

Most of the time, I come into my interactions with God with some sort of an agenda, something I want to learn, or something about myself that I want changed. Not that those things are all bad, but there’s something incredibly freeing about approaching God with close friends and simply gazing upon the person of Jesus Christ and the Gospel.

In Mark 2, seeing that the house where Jesus is teaching is full, a paralytic man’s friends carry him onto the roof, literally DIG through a covering of mud and lower their friend down. (I imagine this scene like a joke from Family Guy that goes on for about 5 seconds longer than you think it should - everyone stopping for an hour or so as all activity in the house grinds to a halt and everyone in the house awkwardly watches until the roof is open and the man is finally lowered into the house.)

They too came into their interaction with Jesus with a very specific agenda, but as the paralytic man interacted with God in the flesh and experienced Him first-hand, he ended up getting a whole lot more than he bargained for. More on this story to come.

For the next several weeks, I hope to write at least one post a week about stories from the Gospel of Mark and the writing of Paul in Galatians that seem to really come alive to us as a group as we study God’s Word together. So stop by periodically, and if you don’t want to miss out on the action, join us on Tuesday nights!

CK