A friend of mine was being critical of a lady, particularly in the way she dressed. “I just can’t believe what she wears, it’s just not right for a Christian woman to dress like that” he stated strongly.
Well, to be honest, I somewhat agree that this person’s mode of dress was a bit out of the range of our church family’s standards, but I had a question for my critical friend; “How well do you know her?” I queried.
He got a strange look on his face, then said, “Well, we’ve talked every now and then, I guess not really well.”
“You know,” I replied, “she and I have been friends for more than a decade, and she’s been through a lot of hard things in her life. She may not dress in a way that I would suggest, but I do know that she’s doing the best she can every day.”
It was true. Because of her past she really struggled to see herself as pretty, desirable, or successful. I perceived in many hours of conversation that some of the hurts of her past lodged deep and affected what she understood herself to be–especially as a daughter of God, but also just as a member of our church. She was and is a wonderful person, and knowing her more deeply than my criticizing friend I didn’t think her clothing choices really mattered that much.
My friend knew about her, but I knew her at a deeper and more intimate level. But of course, her husband and other family know her deeper still.
That’s a good thing–for to truly love one needs to truly know.
Knowing Christ, or Knowing About
It is possible to be able to state some great things about this man-God we call Jesus and yet not really comprehend at all who he is.
He’s fully God, and was fully man. He was the son of Mary, and the son of God the Father. His earthly father who raised him was a carpenter. He performed miracles, healing people, raising the dead, and eventually fulfilled numerous old prophecies when he was arrested, tried, scourged, and died on a cross. Three days later, he walked out of the tomb and appeared to more than 500 people.
That’s some information you may already know about Jesus. But do you actually know him?
Abide
John 15 is remarkable–the first 11 verses are the words of Jesus–and he seems to be trying to make a very strong point about something. It must be important, right, if he uses the same word 10 and in could be said that he implies the word through phrasing even more.
The word is “abide.”
The phrase uses the word “in.”
Starting in verse 4 he says: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, your are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
You can read the rest of the text yourself, but it goes on for several more sentences repeating the same precept–we must embrace the Messiah abiding in us, and we must abide in him.
Say what?
That may be confusing, for it breaks our mechanistic view of life. If we are just bodies with a spirit, how can a God who was formerly inhabiting a body such as ours abide in us? This is one of the great mysteries of life–but one that even certain scientific disciplines are starting to get just a faint glimpse of.
Quantum Physics and Strange Particles
For years I wondered if anyone in the scientific community had the courage to study some of those aspects of life that seem to defy what is called Cartesian-Newtonian science.
That realm of science primarily focuses on what can be verified through investigation, experimentation, and reasoning through the results of such.
But if you’ve ever known twins, or someone married to a twin (or if you are one), you have likely experienced or heard about the strange connections between them that defy traditional mechanical (think speech, touch, and visual) interactions between people.
One of my best friends was married to a twin, and he routinely reported to me how the other sister who lived hundreds of miles away would know when her sister was pregnant before she was told or even they knew. Or his wife would suddenly become upset, call her sister, and find that she was very sick.
The mystery of connection between twins is mysterious indeed. How do two women, one in Tennessee and the other in west Texas, get the message that something is wrong with the other?
Enter some possibilities investigated by quantum physics. These scientist have perceived smaller particles of matter that make up our bodies (and other substances as well, including our pets) that defy what we thought we knew about nature itself. Preons, quarks, and other perceived elements of nature, some of which are understood to travel faster than light (thus having the ability to exist both in the past and in the future) and can seemingly be in two places at once.
It all seems very strange–and the science (study) of this is very new, but can these particles be part of the way in which twins (and just people who know each other and think about each other, the topic of other research) can impact and sense what is going on even though physically separated, sometimes by hundreds of miles?
I do not know where all of this research will lead, but it is intriguing when we start to see that there is much more to who we are physically than what was previously believed. The possibility of someone thinking of me (perhaps when I am upset or sick) and being able to impact me just through the thoughts they have (there have been over 1200 studies done on the impact of prayer, even on people who were being prayed for who did not know about it, and the positive impact it has) that just obviously indicates that when Jesus says we are to dwell in him, and allow him to dwell in us–that we may have uncovered just one of the ways in which our spiritual nature can connect with others–to include the God that students of the Bible have long understood to be One who exists outside of time, much like those subatomic particles.
It’s exciting, but complex, and not yet fully understood.
But the real question for now, is how do we pursue the process of being indwelt, or how do we dwell within the Lord Jesus–as he told us to.
Tune in to Part II for some, well, challenging ideas on abiding in Christ, and having him abide in you.
(Image by ArtMari/Shutterstock)
