God IS Creating

I am fascinated by religion! During my undergraduate studies, I took enough religion courses to major in it twice… I couldn’t get enough. It wasn’t just Christianity that I obsessed about, it was all the religions of the world. One of the most prominent insights to discover is that there are very few ideas and stories that at are original to the Bible.  For example, the garden of Eden is taken from the Sumerian myth of Enki and Ninhursag, which is a much earlier story that describes the beginning of the world that also takes place in a garden of paradise. Learning this should not take anything away from the Genesis story, but instead, help us to understand that religion is a human endeavor. Our origins, as humankind, can be traced back to our common Creator. We are all beautifully and wonderfully made, regardless of tradition.

One thing that is unique to Christianity is that the same God who made the world continues to be involved in its ongoing creation. God’s creative work is not something that happened long ago, it is an ongoing act. My friends, the dichotomy is not heaven or hell. The binary is not a blissful afterlife or a fiery furnace of damnation. No, the question is… are we going to pitch-in and allow God to use us to create or are we going to sit it out? Our task to is help each other make sense of how God is at work in our lives and in the world. See, most people come to church to deepen a relationship with God, so it is of the utmost importance that we are comfortable talking about where we see God in our lives. How often does that conversation take place?

I invite you to make a commitment… that you’re not just going to read this article. After you read it, find someone or call someone and share with them what God is creating in your life. And, share what God is creating in the world. If you struggle with that conversation, or believe we’re all doomed for destruction, then let’s work on deepening our faith together. This lack of God-awareness is not unusual. I’ve witnessed people dedicate their entire lives to the church who have never considered how their involvement in the church relates to God’s work.

All people, within every religion and from every walk of life, possess a spiritual hunger. People are not disinterested in God. People have no problem with Jesus. In fact, you’ll find that nearly all religions claim strikingly similar teachings and values. The question to be discovered is… how does the church relate to what God is doing in the world and in our lives?

Our God is currently creating! We must use present tense verbs to describe what God is doing, rather than past tense verbs that document what God did long ago. For decades, we taught millions of children what happened to ancient characters from a historical book, rather than teach them how to see God in their current lives. The bible is important, but it is a manual. Being familiar with the manual is valuable, but eventually, we have to use the manual to build. Being a part of God’s creative work is contagious. When we create something beautiful, something loving, something that makes a difference… people won’t be able to sit it out.

God is working, creating, and building all the time in the world, at Lamb of God, and in our lives. Do you see God alive and well?

With hope,

Pastor Lucas

Photo by Randy Fath