Why do we humanize God?

A couple of weeks ago, in our High School Bible Study class, we worked through a question that really made me wonder about God and how I am able to know Him. 

This semester we have been working through Questions. Each student was given a piece of paper and a pen. It was a blank slate for them to write down any and every question they have wrestled with over the years. It could be anything from "is gravity real" to something we all have struggled to answer at times, "how do I know God loves and values me even though my life is rough right now." 

Each question has been honest and heart felt. It is amazing to see the wisdom and humility that is in a room full of High School Students when you allow them to safely question and vent about life, faith, and their place in the universe. Questions are the best teachers. We learn so much when we ask honest questions and humbly seek out the answers to them.  

It has been a great semester. 

That question really challenged my inner world because I have become too familiar with the concept of knowing God.

The question was, "Why do we humanize God?" It is a simple question. So simple, that one confident high school student said, "This is really a stupid question because duh, Jesus was human and God" That is true, but it isn't a stupid question because yes God did make himself nothing to become human (Phil 2), but why He did it and what it tells us about God is far from stupid. It is incredible! 

We worked through various passages about how Jesus is the fullness of God. One of the best descriptions of who Jesus is and what God is like is Colossians 1:15 - Jesus is the image of the invisible God. When we see Jesus we see the Father. John spends much of his gospel working through this truth. 

What hit me the most in the discussion was that are able to actually know God. We can understand Him, albeit in a finite way. It is amazing that we can know God. He who created the universe and everything in it. He who made us. He who breathed life into us. We can know that God. 

We can know God because He makes himself known. We don't just discover Him. He wants to be known, understood, and sought after. Not because He needs it, but because we need Him. What I realized is that I take our human ability to know who God is for granted. It is too common. I think of knowing God in the same terms of how I know that pizza is so good! 

Pizza is only in our world. It is not transcendent. God is transcendent, separate from the universe. Yet, he chooses to incarnate himself so that we can know Him. We can know God because he reveals Himself to us! God uses words, images, culture, feelings, expressions, experiences in a way that connects to us so that we can know Him. 

God communicates to us through our cultural schema because He knows that if he didn't, we wouldn't be able to understand Him at all! What we know about God is what God has revealed to us. He reveals Himself in His creation (general revelation) and through His Word (Special Revelation). He desires for us to know Him 

So why do we humanize God? Because God humanized himself in language, in cultural and ultimately in Jesus so that we could know him. If he didn't, we wouldn't be able to know Him at all! 

THANKS GOD for seeking us out! 

THANKS GOD loving me so much and saving me and seeking me out so I can know about it!

z

Creating a Culture and Sticking With It

I'm reading a book right now called, "How Full Is Your Bucket?" I found this book one day when I was meandering around Barnes and Noble. Each time I stop in to the book store, I immediately head to the Leadership/Management and Psychology sections. You never know what gem you will find. 

The title caught my attention because it was a familiar image to me. My dad first introduced me to this image. He always talks about a cup that we all have. It is where we store our worth. If we aren't a full cup, we will steal worth from other people's cups. 

It's a simple idea with massive implications.

Dr. Clifton and Tom Roth discovered that every interaction we have with other people either fills us up or drains us. 

When you read that, you realize how right they are. Everyone knows of someone who drains them. When you see that person coming toward you, you instantly start to cringe. You begin to create a means of escape so that you don't have to interact with them. 

We also know people who fill us up. Maybe it is what they say to us when we are down. Maybe it is how they treat us and defend us. Maybe it is what they don't say, when everyone else just tears us down. 

Youth Ministers have to answer a question. 

Which person are we to the students, parents, and leaders we work with? 

Do they cringe when they see us? Do they know that they will be put down? Do they know that when life gets tough, we won't defend them? 

Or do they see us and know that they will be encouraged, filled, and reminded of who they are in Christ? 

One of our goals in Youth Ministry should be creating a culture where everyone is filled. It is hard work, but it is probably one of the most important jobs of a Youth Minister! You might be the best speaker in the world, but if the culture you make doesn't fill people up, your culture will speak louder than your words. 

We have to continually make sure that our culture at Small Groups, Youth Groups, Weekly Programs and Events is centered around a environment of filling and belonging. Students are craving to be filled. They seek it out wherever they go! I think this is one of the reasons why students are so busy. They need a fix to fill them. 

I also think this is why some students check out of the Church. They honestly believe they would be better filled and served somewhere else. And the sad truth is, they might be right.

We can change that!