An Absence of Relationship
But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.
John 15:21
The great dividing line between Christians and non-believers is the knowledge of the Father — in other words, a relationship with God.
The fundamental difference is not due to cultural considerations, nor geography, nor race, nor secular education, nor political or philosophical orientations. It is not fundamentally experiential in nature alone; it is not based on preferences of musical styles, clothing styles, sports interests, or dietary concerns. The dividing line is not drawn across poverty levels, or attributed merely to those who come from good homes versus those who come from bad homes. It is not based on whether someone has committed major crimes or has been an introvert or an extrovert.
In fact, it is not outward at all. There is no possible way to identify a Christian based on appearance or personality alone. It all comes down to whether or not a certain individual has had a conversion experience, one of having heard the gospel of Christ, been convicted in his heart by the Holy Spirit, having repented and believed, and, in other words, having been converted by God to the new life in Christ, or having been brought into a relationship with the Father through Christ.
Faith in Christ results in a relationship with God, and the individual believer realizes this more than any other person. He knows something has happened to him, something amazing, miraculous, and inner. His mind, soul, and inner life is not the same. There is another Person abiding there, God Himself through His Spirit. There is a new sense of prayer, of hope, and of life. Sins are forgiven, and the believer knows this has happened — at least he is aware of a new acceptance by God — and he can now speak with God. He believes in prayer not as some exercise in meditation, not in the sense of manipulating some cosmic balance in his favor, but in the sense of a relationship with God.
Have you ever heard someone who did not know them personally talk about a friend of yours? They did not realize that you knew this person, and they talked on — whether positive or negative, it did not matter — the entire discussion was different from your perspective. To you this person was a friend, a confidant, an intimate, one with whom you shared experiences and revealing conversations. To you they were a dear friend, but to the other person they were a mere impersonal combination of impulses and responses.
This is the difference between the world’s impressions of God and the believer’s knowledge of God. To us it is a personal relationship and we are never objective on the topic. It is always like a child trying to describe his father — one who can never get past the intimacies to see him in mere raw objectivity. We Christians are not objective about God, nor can we be so entirely. He is not some great cosmic question or entity, He is, rather, our Heavenly Father. All the emotions that a young child has toward his own earthly father (assuming he is a good father) we have toward God and even more, for this is a relationship we do not grow out of or beyond. We never see the “feet of clay” of our heavenly Father. He is always the Perfect Father.
But we love the things He loves, and we are drawn to the things that He does, and we long to be with Him.
It is a terrifically empty thought, to live life without God. Life must be unbearable, boring, tedious, void of real joy and peace. The lost in this world get on with living the few decades given to us, but, to paraphrase Blaise Pascal, there is a “God-shaped vacuum” in their hearts, one that only God can fill. Speaking of man without God, Pascal wrote, in Pensees:
What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.*
So there should be some empathy and patience from Christians directed at those who rejected Christ and who reject us and our witness. We were all like them at one point in our life, all having been separated from the life of God in Christ. They do not know, nor can they know, who God is and what God does, or how He brings life and peace and love into our hearts. So let us Christians bring to the table of interaction with the world an attitude of patient, redeeming love.
After all, it all comes down to this and this alone. They do not know God. Every other consideration is of a secondary nature, so this matter of winning them should be the most important factor.
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* Blaise Pascal, Pensees (New York, Penquin Books, 1966), p. 75.
But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.
