Knowing God

How do you know someone is a Jesus-follower? Lots of people claim the title, "Christian." Let's be honest, though; that can mean anything. Depending on the person, the use of the label can convey, "I'm going to heaven," or "I obey the 'golden rule'," or "I go to church," or "I'm saved," or "I'm better than you," or "I just said that so you'll think well of me."

A Jesus follower is known more by life evidence than verbal claim. It has been said that "Christianity is more caught than taught." There are ways to tell if a person is in a significant relationship. A Jesus follower is in a growing relationship with God, as revealed in Jesus. We are created for relationship with God. Nothing else in this life ultimately will provide purpose and fulfillment. God wants us to experience a relationship with God that is real and personal. God doesn't want us just to know about God. God wants us to know God. In the final analysis, eternal life is not about just getting to heaven. Eternal life is about knowing God, now and forever. It is all relational.

To know God is to know God's nature. God is love. It isn't just that God loves us. God is love itself. Any way God connects with us is out of love for us. Sometimes we don't understand the way God does things or that to which God calls us. But we can trust that God's ultimate aim is love for us. We trust that whatever it is to which God calls us, God will make us able to answer that call. As my friend and fellow faith-journeyman Keith Colley says frequently, "God doesn't call the equipped; God equips the called."

Jesus-followers are known by a continually growing trust in this relationship. It doesn't make them perfect; far from it. It does give them a constant and deepening yearning for God, and a longing to see themselves and others through the eyes of God.

Who do you know who is like that? Let's see who we meet around the next bend in the river.