1.21 blog

In American Christianity these days, there’s a huge emphasis on special, secret techniques for having a deeper experience of God and living on a higher plain in our Christian life. These can come in all sorts of packages, from obscure prayers from the Old Testament repeated like a mantra to “Seven Steps to Living at Your Full Potential,” and all sorts of stops in between. These techniques vary in terms of their helpfulness and their danger, but they all have the common element of seeking some sort of way to transcend the normal Christian experience.

In the Second Century, there was a heresy called Gnosticism (from the Greek gnosis, meaning knowledge). Among other things, Gnosticism taught that the material world was evil (this heresy was related to docetism), and offered to its initiates secret “knowledge” that Jesus neglected to give to all the disciples, which would enable its possessor to escape the evil material world. There were a lot of problems with Gnosticism. Among them were:

1. A denial of the goodness of creation.
2. A denial of the humanity of Jesus (and if he was not human, he could not save us).
3. A neglect of the physical world.
4. Basing salvation on secret knowledge rather than on the public and historical events of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

Gnosticism is still alive and well in the church. We see it when we focus on souls and neglect bodies. We see it when we retreat from culture. We see it when we think either eating or avoiding certain foods and drinks will make us holier. We see it when we are searching for some technique that will give us a deeper experience of God.

Now, of course we all want to experience God deeply. We want to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. But the good news is that God has already given this all to his people in Jesus. If you trust in Christ, you are a part of something bigger than yourself. You don’t need more knowledge or techniques. You need to understand what you already believe. Read Ephesians 1.3-14 or Romans 8. All of that is true, right now, no matter what techniques you employ. We want to encounter God, so we chase all sorts of fads and fetishes. But he promises to meet us in the preaching of his Word and the administration of his sacraments.

If you are a Christian and you’re unsatisfied, then use the means he has for you. Come hear preaching. Come eat at his Table. He promises to meet you in these things. He may use other things. But he promises to use these.

And if you’re not a Christian, God offers you a robust, world-affirming experience of him. There’s no secret trick to it. Jesus has done all that needs to be done. And his work is public knowledge.

Posted by: Gene Schlesinger