Know Christ

God deliver us from every wrong thought about the Christian life.

This is eternal life—that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent.

John 17:3

I vividly remember when this verse came across not only my mind but my heart. Having been a Christian for sixteen years, called to the ministry at age 13, a recent seminary graduate with a master’s degree, and now serving in my first fulltime church ministry position I heard, read, and adjusted to Jesus’ clear statement of Him stating what eternal life or salvation is. I remember what astounded me was that it was not going to heaven! Eternal life is knowing God and knowing Jesus. Knowing Him…that is what eternal life is?

I was so taken aback and yet, so excited that John 17:3 quickly became memorized and a foundational verse as a disciple of Jesus Christ. I came to understand that the word ‘knowing’ was not merely information-knowing facts about the Bible or God but heart-experiencing the Author of the Scripture in a progressive, growing way.

This wonderful new lens and filter of reading the Bible and praying to “Our Father” was both a challenging adjustment and tremendous joy. To now embrace salvation as not solely as a place or location to gain and to avoid the other but now, it is a Person to know in a personal relationship that does not begin at death but right now on earth was transformational.

At the same time, a process began of what Oswald Chambers called “unlearning.” The realization that I had learned “Christiany” things that was more built around tradition and cliches had to be understood and uprooted to make heart room for the biblical message of what Paul came to powerfully declare in Philippians 3 of “to know Christ” solely. As a Pharisee, Paul (formerly Saul) had learned much knowledge of God from the Old Testament but, at the same time, the knowledge had been mixed with man-made traditions that had become at least, valued as “truth” equal to the Scriptures. But after meeting Christ on the Damascus Road (Acts 9), Paul’s un-learning process began and ended with the bottom line of forsaking all that he had formerly embraced and replace or “put on” to now “know Christ.”

Take a moment…honestly answer, is your knowledge of God a true, biblical knowledge of a Person? Or has your discipleship development as a Christian been more impacted by accruing and enforcing a religious system of traditions, living by, quoting, and teaching church cliches, and a measurable doctrinal belief system of ‘checking off the boxes’?

Being personally transparent, before that day of God’s illumination from John 17:3, my Christian and minster life primarily existed in that blend of traditions, cliches, and legalism. It was not pretty! These were my “wrong thoughts about the Christian life” that I needed deliverance from. I, like Paul, had to begin the journey to un-learn so Christ, His life—cross, burial, resurrection—would become truly known and experienced. This heart-knowing relationship, Christian life is a Shema living reality…regularly needing God’s voice and truth to obediently navigate the love and faith relationship He desires.

Truly, this Christian life adjustment has been a pilgrimage—that will never end on this side of eternity—of life change worth embarking and adjusting. Our experience of God in marriage, parenting, ministry, and workplace radically changed to a new trajectory of love, joy and peace. Surrendering to prayerfully rid self of “every wrong thought about the Christian life” has been a real struggle of real love. If you are realizing your Christian life is more about you, your goals, your talents, your education, your experience, your background, your faith tradition, and primarily about a future location I hope you, too, will take the journey to experientially and progressively know…God and Jesus Christ more personally today, tomorrow, and forever!