surrogate relationship with God ..

from time to time i've quoted apostle john's admonition ..
" .. you have received the holy spirit, and he lives within you, so you don't need anyone to teach you what is true, for the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches you is true, and  is not a lie. " (1John 2:27)

richard rohr, who challenges me to step out and move on beyond the popularistic christianity, which is often mundane and shallow and panders to this world's spirit, made comments recently that reminded me of my responsibility for my own spiritual maturity
thanks to him

even though apostle john is speaking, in context, to false teachings/teachers, and points out that the spirit of God will confirm to each christian what is truth and what is lie, there is another aspect to his comments - the teaching of truth to each believer
so there's a 2-pointed intention:
1. the spirit of Jesus confirms truth
2. the spirit of Jesus teaches truth

because the spirit of Jesus resides in us, we have access, direct access, to truth
and as a result, we do not need anyone to teach us truth

we run from that
at our own detriment, at the relinquishment of our very maturity in Christ, at the cost of our intimacy with God through Jesus ..
what a sad sad thought ..

this, sadly, is an often neglected teaching in the Body of Christ
one of the reasons for this is "if i admit to the people in my church that they have responsibility for their own maturity and knowledge of the truth, i hand-over my authority over them; they don't need me so much anymore .. i need them to fund me!"
think about it

another reason is we're afraid of people speaking their minds on what God has taught them, for fear they're misled or misinterpreting scripture and thereby misleading others in the church ..
apostle Paul spoke in 1Corintians 12 about people prohesying in church and the only comment he made was the need to keep it to 1 or 2 people and that it be done one at a time, in an orderly manner ..
there was no sense of someone submitting what they had to say to the preacher or the board to be tested beforehand .. let them speak
thing is, you have the very spirit of God alive and resident in you, so that you know truth; if someone speaks against God, you will know it ..
or should .. .

i guess i've come to realize how dependent we christians are on others to tell us what is truth
and it's so wrong ..
very
because it costs me my intimacy with the living God ..

reading scripture and people's comments on scripture, and listening to preachers and teachers is important, as is communing with others in the community of the Body, sharing and encouraging and strengthening the Body of Christ ..
but to make that the seat of my truth is to fail, for the primary authority is Spirit on my spirit

rohr's statement, ".. Jesus left us his indwelling spirit as .. a source for true inner knowledge [= mine], which becomes a calm inner authority whereby we know things for ourselves .." is valid, and is neglected, is our loss, because we rely on others to teach us truth, when truth is only mine when i mine it, dig it out under the direction of the indwelling Spirit ..
borrowed truth is no truth to me
it is derivative truth
i must dig it out, discover it for myself
borrowed truth = i relinquish my responsibility as a temple-of-God person to dwell in the Spirit, nourished by Jesus' spirit, and resort to passively pew-ing, being spoonfed .. surrogate milk

relationship, fellowship with God, may not be second-hand
you ( i ) are stagnant, un-maturing, when we are bibbed and spoonfed ..
maturity requires constant and consistent Spirit-on-spirit communion and communication with Godself - personal, private, from the heart
that=relationship, not profession, pewing in church, reading professional comments, etc. ..

God wants my personal effort and involvement in my relationship with Godself ..
nothing else will do
how can anything else do ??
relationship is me relating directly to the other, as in marriage ..
you can't have a vital, lively, growing marriage surrogately
it has to be you ..

why cant we understand that's what a relationship with our God means .. ?
unless we don't really have one ..
or don't think that God is a real person .. ??

my friend, if God dwells in you (me) then God is relating to us
God is in us, with us, for us
why would we approach God's love in any other way than a one-on-one intimacy ..?

if i don't make the effort to spend time alone with God regularly, to have God constantly in my mind, to be talking with God regularly
then i question my relationship with God
if there's one there at all ..
anything else is pretense and fooling my self ..

beloved, let us love our God intimately
and let us love our fellowchristians even as we love our own selves

peace