#christopher abel

I've always had an eerie feeling about ONLY having a relationship with God. I believe God calls for our (His and mine) relationship to be with everyone. 

A lot of people I know seem to think that leaving organized religion is the answer to all that is wrong in their "spiritual" lives. But what I have discovered to be the solution to all this mess, is unity. 

Unifying personal relationships with God and  relationships with others is the key. Forming ONE relationship from it all. Rob Bell once said that there is no "spiritual life" or "work life" or "family life."  You have ONE and ONLY ONE LIFE. We need to stop categorizing our time and relationships. We should have only ONE relationship. 

I believe segregating ourselves from the body of Christ accomplishes nothing. Being alone with God and falling in love more and more with him is wonderful. But to not share that love with others, hoarding your relationship with Him from people is what I believe God calls, "lukewarm." When you are infatuated with your own relationship with Christ, you can easily forget WHO you're suppose to be infatuated with. You end up faling in love with the "us" instead of the "You." Instead of "I love YOU," we say "I love US." We love "US" instead of "God." We find it hard to separate ourselves from relationships, and we find it to be even more difficult to let people in.

We forget that God wants more people in a relationship. This dance God calls us to is meant for more than two. God wants to be shared. God wants to grow. 

Eloping with God is good. Go find God. Marry God. Go honeymoon with God. But the honeymoon stage has to pass at some time. Just because the honeymoon is over, it doesn't mean life isn't love-dovey and intimate anymore. It still can be. But God wants some room. God wants more. When the honeymoon is over, it simply means God wants to go to work.

I have struggled with this mentality, too. It always looked enticing to leave structure and venture off alone, only God and I. For several years now, I've heard many people say they don't need a church. They don't want a religion. They don't want to be a part of anything. They have God and that is enough. Sounds great. I thought that way for a long time. But I think God gets bored. When it's just us, God is limited.  You may not agree with certain philosophies or practices within a church or a denomination or a religion. That's fine. God has had to put up with worse before...

I want my life to simply be a building block. Something ordinary to build up to something extraordinary. But to do that, I need others. God needs more than just me. I need to be a part of something. Sure, there will be disappointments when I rely on others around me, but God can still use imperfections, indifferences, opposing opinions, different religions, different theories, different beliefs to create, to change, to inspire.