We’re producing a generation of spiritual dwarfs. Many in the church are going through the motions, but their faith lacks vibrancy, exuberance, life and contagion.
They may be saying the right stuff. Doing the right stuff. But missing the main thing.
Yesterday I met a man who gets it. He introduced me to an empty chair. At least, it seemed empty. By the way, this guy’s name is not Clint Eastwood.
His name is Wally Armstrong. He’s a PGA golfer, author, and friend of Jesus. He just finished a book called Practicing the Presence of Jesus.
He explained how individuals and churches so often miss the main thing–a true friendship with Jesus. He said, “Either we are caught up in a flurry of performance as we try to live the Christian life in service, or we set our minds on acquiring more knowledge in the hope that with wisdom we will gain holiness. Of course, both of these paths leave us empty, because we’ve overlooked what Jesus came to give us.”
Armstrong described how, after spending decades hearing about Jesus in church, he chose to look at Jesus in a fresh new way. He chose to imagine Jesus as a present, contemporary friend–a companion. He pictured Jesus sitting in a chair beside him.
It transformed his prayer life and his entire relationship with Jesus. He positioned an empty chair in his den. “I began picturing my Friend sitting across from me in the chair and myself talking to him,” he said. The chair experiment, as he calls it, helped to bring him “into the fullness of life and the companionship Jesus had always promised.”
This is the Jesus we’re missing. This is the dimension of faith we’re ignoring.
Our ministry methodology so often camps only on teaching about Jesus, drilling on biblical facts, and parsing theological nuances. Or, we concentrate only on coaxing our people to work–volunteering at church, serving in the community, doing good deeds.
Please understand. Knowledge is good. Service is good. But these are not the essence of faith.
Faith is not an academic subject. Faith is not a list of DOs and DON’Ts.
Faith is a relationship. A friendship. A companionship.
Maybe it’s time to pull up a chair.
True, we get to meet everybody in church except Jesus.
In india, most people get to encounter only colonial christianity. If by the grace of God, they get beyond this, we give them cultural christianity. If by the grace of God they move beyond this, we give them doctrinal Christianity. Even at the end of their whole lives, many people don’t get the opportunity to meet with Jesus.
This sounds like a contemporary version of the classic about practicing the presence of Christ. I might look for the book.
I have been doing something like your friend describes for a few month now. Rather than feeling guilty about not having a specific time for prayer, I see God as always with me. When I’m waking, when I’m driving to work, when I’m spending too much time on the internet; God is with me all the time.
Brilliant, and so simple…worship services have replaced relationship with He who we worship.
Interesting. I recently put an empty chair in my office at work. Jesus sits there now. My employees know that and leave it open. And throughout the day, I can see him in my mind, reaching over to pat me on the back, give me a friendly slug in the arm to remind me that we are solving work problems together, and sometimes winking at me when a frustrated employee needs a little grace instead of a lecture from me.
It’s not about the chair. It’s about an everyday friendship. The chair just helps me remember that.
I’ve actually heard Wally talk about the “chair experiment.” The way he describes this friendship with Jesus, it’s so simple and practical and very real. I’m excited about the book.
At my preschool, Jesus is on the attendance list everyday. The teacher reads his name and the children respond if he is there that day. He is the only one with perfect attendance. I would hope Sunday Schools would add him to their roster as well. We have a Jesus doll that we also use and postion around the building. It is fun to see how people react when he is in the sanctuary. Would you or would you not sit by Jesus if he was sitting in your church?
Many of us are so worried about “believing correctly” and trying so hard to make sure that we are “really Christian” (by forcing our minds to believe the theology of our particular church) that we become afraid to do something as simple as approaching Jesus as someone we can just talk to. Pull up a chair and have a conversation – what a wonderful idea!
What a great visual to keep Jesus in the room!
Great article. Although my husband and I are empty nesters, the grown kids and grandkids are always dropping by for visits. We have a contemporary charcoal sketch of Jesus, head thrown back, laughing out loud. It hangs on a wall overlooking our dining room talbe and our family room. It is titled “Jesus Laughing”. It’s a great reminder that He is always at our table as we dine and always watching tv with us and conversing with us. He is our friend, our protector, and our counsellor. Always with us, always loving us, always present in our lives. No matter what.
What a novel idea!
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