You Already Have It

In his book "Say Yes" Scott Erickson has this one section where he says something profoundly important. It's not something "new" in the sense that you've never heard it before or we haven't spoken about it before on the blog, podcast, etc.

You HAVE heard about it.

We HAVE spoken about it.

I want to share it with you this morning, though, because even though we've heard it before, it's something we need to be reminded of again ...

And again.

And again.

And again.

In this section he's talking about the "spiritual life" and he says that, "a spiritual life is not about getting God's attention; a spiritual life is about awakening to the voice and the work of God that are already in your life."

Isn't that beautiful?

I was talking to a friend last week and we were talking about this very thing, about how so many pastors of so many churches spend so much of their time trying to teach people how to get God's attention.

"Pray this prayer."

"Say the Sinner's Prayer."

"Read your Bible."

"Have daily devotions."

"Go to church."

"Don't forget to tithe."

The goal, in other words, is to get people to live a life that God deems worthy to enter into and take up residence in,which means that it's also possible for God NOT to take up residence in someone's life and NOT be as present in their life as he is in yours or mine.

And so the pastor's sermons and Bible studies and homilies and books and all the things, it all has this massive energy behind it to get people to believe and act in certain ways so as to lasso the attention of God and drag him into people's lives.

Is that the point, though?

Is that what this whole "Gospel Message" is about?

I used to think so. In fact, I went to college and seminary to get a total of 3 different degrees all focusing on how to help me be better at getting God's attention and teaching others how to get it too. 

AND then keep it.

Right?

Because once you have God's attention, I was taught, you can very easily l lose it when you start acting and living in ways that aren't satisfactory to God. Maybe you won't "lose your salvation", but you can certainly lose the Holy Spirit's presence and (therefore) power in your life if you don't believe, live, and act according to a certain set of standards.

These days I've abandoned that narrative, I've ditched the idea that we need to live a certain way to please God or to get God's attention. I've stopped pouring so much energy into trying to get God's attention and help other people get God's attention and (instead) have come to a place where I believe we've always had God's attention ... we just haven't realized it, we've forgotten it.

Yes, yes, yes.

I used to believe that Jesus came to earth to save me from my sins, to teach me certain things that I needed to mentally adhere to so that God's Spirit would enter my life and secure me a spot in heaven when I die.

BUT.

Now I believe that God came to earth via Jesus to remind us ...

How to live - as people of love.

How to speak - as vessels of grace.

How to be the humans we have always been created to be.

In other words, I'm not sure Jesus came to solve a sin problem, as much as he did a forgetfulness problem. I believe we were all created good and perfect and without fault or blemish, but as we grew and bathed a bit in the world ... it's almost like we forgot who we were, where we came from, and why we're here.

The stresses of life.

The griefs of life.

The hard times.

The losses.

The valleys.

The disappointments.

The heartaches.

The fighting.

... These things all mount up starting when we're young and the higher the pile gets the harder it can be to see the core of who we are that lies beneath them, the fresh radiance of the Divine that lies at the center of our being where it fuels us to extend love and grace and blessing and goodness through our words and our deeds.

Jesus came to wake us up.

Jesus came to remind us.

Jesus came to show us.

Jesus came to teach us, not so much WHAT to believe but HOW to be-live, how to be and live and move through the world as God has always intended to us to be and live and move.

You don't need to get God's attention, my friend. There has never been a moment in your life when you didn't have God's attention - it's always been there and always will be there. All you need to do is awaken to that truth and have the eyes to see and the ears to hear the work and the voice of the Divine that are actively woven through every facet of your being. 

May it be so.

Much love,

• Glenn || PATREON / BUY ME A COFFEE