Author Archives: Kim Reisman

Currently, I’m in Delhi, India teaching at our North India Regional Evangelism Seminar. While here, Director of Development Bonnie Hollabaugh and I had the opportunity to visit the Taj Mahal in Agra. What an experience! This beautiful and extraordinary monument to love is well worth its distinction as one of the world’s wonders. 

The Taj Mahal is awe-inspiring. And of course, as is so often the case when I visit a new place, I learned something unexpected and meaningful in my experience there. 

The story of the Taj Mahal is fascinating: this amazing structure has been described as one of the most magnificent tributes to love in the world. The story begins in the 1600’s when Mughal emperor Shah Jahan determined to honor the memory of his wife with a tremendous mahal, or castle. She was his third wife and the only one to bear children. His first two wives both died in childbirth. When he built this magnificent castle, he honored the memories of both of these women by building gates to the grounds at the east and the west. 

The Taj Mahal is stunning for a variety of reasons. Its symmetry is stunning. Everything about it is perfectly balanced. It is inlaid with precious and semi-precious stones, all hand-carved and embedded in marble in intricate floral patterns. The craftsmanship is so astonishingly smooth that from a distance it appears that the flowers have been painted rather than inlaid. And it is a brilliant white. That’s because it is constructed out of a uniquely translucent, nonporous marble found only in India. Because it is translucent, it almost glows as the light moves through it. Because it is nonporous, nothing can penetrate it or stain it or discolor it, so even after many centuries, it is as white as it was when it was first constructed. All that has been required is for it to be washed with soap and water. 

The Princess is buried at the center of the Taj Mahal in a lower area that isn’t accessible to the public. Directly above her grave, in the exact center of the castle, is a gorgeous tomb made of translucent marble with ornate inlaid gemstones and remarkable carvings. Everything revolves around this center point. All the detailed symmetry that marks the castle – from the way it can be seen perfectly centered through the majestic entry arch at one end of the gardens to the shrines on each side and all the carving and inlays – it all revolves around this central, ornate tomb. 

As I listened to our guide describe this perfection of detail and symmetry, and remind us that it was all created as a tribute to love, I found myself reflecting on the way we think about love and create images and expectations of how it should look and feel. So often those images are idealized and seemingly perfect – like the Taj Mahal: beautiful to look at, romantic and exciting to think about.  

That idealized image of perfection and beauty can color not only our understanding of love, but also our expectations of God, ourselves, and others. Rather than expecting God’s love to be perfect, we imagine that we must be perfect. We imagine that the only way God will love us is if our lives are in complete balance, with no hint of damage or stain. And when we are faced with the possibility of sharing God’s love with others, we often lay that same expectation of perfection on them. It is as though we believe others must have their lives in perfect balance before we are willing to share the good news of God’s great love.

And here is the point at which the Taj Mahal made its impact on me. In the midst of all this beauty, perfection and symmetry, there is one thing that is not in balance – the tomb of the very man who determined to build this flawless shrine. He is buried to the left of his beloved wife, the one thing out of kilter in the midst of seeming perfection, symmetry, and balance. 

When it comes to love, there is no such thing as perfection. Even the greatest love will have things that are out of kilter, things that cause hardship, challenge, and pain. It is not perfection that makes a love great, it is its willingness to persevere through the hardship, challenge, and pain. 

When it comes to God’s love for us, God’s love may be perfect, but we do not have to be. God loves us in the midst of our brokenness and became human in Jesus Christ in order to share that burden with us.  

When it comes to sharing God’s love with others, we do not wait for others to have it all together. In the same way that God loves us in our brokenness, we extend that same love to others, meeting them exactly where they are, not where we think they need to be. 

The Taj Mahal is truly a magnificent wonder. Its beauty radiates through its intricacy and detail. But an outer image is never the best judge of an inner love. For though our lives may not be in complete balance and we may feel damaged or stained, it is through God’s great love that wounds are healed and true beauty shines. And it is only when we release our expectations of perfection that God can begin his good work of restoring all of us to our original, intended beauty and wholeness. 

One of my Christmas gifts this year was a copy of a new memoir by my father, God Outwitted Me. In the introduction, my father describes his life as a “hinting life.” [1] 

What a great phrase! 

The Oxford Dictionary defines a hint as a “slight indication” or a “small trace of something.” Other words with a similar meaning are “clue,” “signal,” and “pointer.” That gives powerful meaning to the idea of living a hinting life, especially for evangelism. 

As Christians, we are to be about the business of showing and sharing the love of Jesus. [2] That is what evangelism is all about. To do that, we must embrace the hinting life. We must become “slight indications” of what a relationship with Jesus looks like. We must become walking, talking clues pointing to the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. When people encounter us, they must be able to perceive the small trace of something bigger than we or they are; they must witness – through the way we live and work, talk and love, care and give – the signal pointing them to the life-giving love of Jesus Christ and the abundant life he promises both now and always. 

In the introduction of his memoir, my father describes his life as a hint: “sometimes weak and only a slight hint; sometimes strong and a bold hint; but always flowing out of my commitment to live in Christ.” [3] 

As we begin this new year, I pray that you will be so committed to living in Christ that your life becomes a hint of all the things God intends for his good creation. There will be times when it may be only a slight hint, but that is no cause for worry. If you are willing to live the hinting life, God is able to transform even “a small trace of something” into exactly the clue needed to point others to everlasting life. 

[1] Maxie D. Dunnam, God Outwitted Me: The Stories of My Life (Franklin, TN: Seedbed Publishing, 2017) p3. 

[2] I’m grateful to Ed Stetzer for this wonderful description of evangelism – showing and sharing the love of Jesus. 

[3] God Outwitted Me, p3. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

As we begin the new year, Brennan Manning once again has a wonderful word.

The numerous physical healings performed by Jesus to alleviate human suffering are only a hint of the anguish in the heart of God’s Son for wounded humanity. His compassion surges from the bowels of his being and operates on a level that escapes human imitation. Jesus resonated with the depths of human sorrow. He became lost with the lost, hungry with the hungry, and thirsty with the thirsty. On the cross he journeyed to the far reaches of loneliness so that he could be lonely with those who are lonely and rob loneliness of its killing power by sharing it himself.

He did then and he does now. Jesus vibrates to the hope and fear, the celebrations and desolations of each of us. He is the incarnation of the compassion of the Father. The fifteenth-century mystic Meister Eckhart wrote, “You may call God love, you may call God goodness, but the best name for God is compassion.” When we speak of Jesus Christ as Emmanuel, God with us, we are saying that the greatest lover in history knows what hurts us. Jesus reveals a God who is not indifferent to human agony, a God who fully embraces the human condition and plunges into the thick of our human struggle.[1]

Evangelism is showing and sharing the love of Jesus. If our God plunges into the thick of the human struggle, then to show and share the love of Jesus we must do so as well – becoming lost with the lost, and journeying to the far reaches of loneliness to rob it of its killing power.

[1] Brennan Manning, Reflections for Ragamuffins (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1998), p2.

I have a practice of sending morning texts to my family members. Sometimes it’s a meme, or a photo from the past, or just a quick morning hello to start the day. As I’ve continued this practice, I’ve come across lots of memes and cartoons and other silly things that seem to not only flourish but multiply on the internet. One of my favorites is this: “Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.”

The joy of Christian faith is that the God who entered human history in Jesus of Nazareth, the God who is present in the here and now through the power of the Holy Spirit, that God will one day come in glory. In Jesus, God is telling us that everything will be okay in the end. No hurt is permanent, no sorrow is absolute, no loss lasts forever, no defeat is insurmountable. This joy is not a denial of the reality of suffering. If the life of Jesus tells us anything, it is that suffering, discouragement, disappointment, frustration, and even death, are very, very real. And yet, amidst that reality, Jesus shows us that the Kingdom of God will overcome it all. God’s love is so great, it will conquer all the world’s horrors. God’s love is so prodigious, no evil can possibly prevail against it. Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.                                              Revelation 21:4 (NLT)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Mary Chapin Carpenter is one of my favorite singer/songwriters. She has a way of capturing the essence of things so simply and profoundly that I’m often moved to tears.

As we celebrate the birth of Jesus today, my prayer is that you might hear God’s voice calling to you through the simplicity of Carpenter’s lyrics and that you might rededicate yourself to being a means through which others hear God’s voice as well.

Come darkness, come light

Come new star, shining bright

Come love to this world tonight

Alleluia

Come broken, come whole

Come wounded in your soul

Come anyway that you know

Alleluia

There’s a humble stable and a light within

There’s an angel hovering

And three wise men

Today a baby’s born in Bethlehem

Alleluia

Come doubting, come sure

Come fearful to this door

Come see what love is for

Alleluia

Come running, come walking slow

Come weary on your broken road

Come see Him and shed your heavy load

Alleluia

There’s a humble stable and a light within

There’s an angel hovering

And three wise men

Today a baby’s born in Bethlehem

Alleluia

Come darkness, come light

Come new star shining bright

Come love to this world tonight

Alleluia

Come Darkness, Come Light ~ Mary Chapin Carpenter ~ 2008 Why Walk Music (ASCAP)

I greatly admire Brennan Manning. His Reflections for Ragamuffins continues to speak to me, even now, 20 years after he wrote them. Today’s reflection is especially meaningful: [1]

Jesus calls us at Christmas to enter into the Kingdom of Liberty, to be set free by his Father’s love. There is a refreshing quality about the Nazarene without which Christianity would never have become a fact of history. The surprise of his birth in Bethlehem fires a longing to be free from self and free for others. It sparks a search for intelligent and imaginative ways to celebrate an unconventional Christmas.

The wailing Infant bears witness to a God whose Word is fresh and alive, who is not the defender of the old, the already settled, the well established and familiar. The God we encounter in Jesus is free from preoccupation with his own glory, free to be for us, free to be gracious, free to love and let be.

This Christmas such a God might well expect us to be creatively responsive and thus truly Christlike. Indeed, he might call us to set free captives bound by loneliness and isolation, to share our hope with prisoners of gloom and despair, to invite the unlovely to our table, to celebrate our freedom in forgetfulness about our own comfort and convenience, to cry the gospel by ministering to widows and orphans, to be the Church by bringing soup to the poor, to ignore conventional expectations, to call his Son out of Egypt once more.

He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness.                                                 Hebrews 5:2 (NIV)

[1] Brennan Manning, Reflections for Ragamuffins (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1998), p355.

What do you think people would say if you stopped them this week and asked them what they want for Christmas? Do you think anyone would say, “I want to see Jesus”?

Would you?

Advent is about an intensity of desire. It’s about deeply desiring the presence of God in our lives and our world. In a week’s time, we will celebrate Emmanuel, God with us. How real is that presence for you? How deeply do you desire it?

Rabbi Abraham Heschel once said that, “God is of no importance unless he is of supreme importance.”[1] As you move closer to Christmas, my prayer is that you might encounter God with renewed intensity, that you might desire his presence in your life more deeply, and that you might live in ways that make his presence more real in the lives of others.

[1] Abraham Heschel, Man is Not Alone

Sometimes our souls need poetry. Words fashioned carefully may catch my imagination beyond the ability of charts, graphs, or reports to do so.

Do you long for peace? Do you hunger for it?

Enjoy this work by beloved poet Maya Angelou.

Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem, by Maya Angelou

Thunder rumbles in the mountain passes

And lightning rattles the eaves of our houses.

Flood waters await us in our avenues.

Snow falls upon snow, falls upon snow to avalanche

Over unprotected villages.

The sky slips low and grey and threatening.

We question ourselves.

What have we done to so affront nature?

We worry God.

Are you there? Are you there really?

Does the covenant you made with us still hold?

Into this climate of fear and apprehension, Christmas enters,

Streaming lights of joy, ringing bells of hope

And singing carols of forgiveness high up in the bright air.

The world is encouraged to come away from rancor,

Come the way of friendship.

It is the Glad Season.

Thunder ebbs to silence and lightning sleeps quietly in the corner.

Flood waters recede into memory.

Snow becomes a yielding cushion to aid us

As we make our way to higher ground.

Hope is born again in the faces of children

It rides on the shoulders of our aged as they walk into their sunsets.

Hope spreads around the earth. Brightening all things,

Even hate which crouches breeding in dark corridors.

In our joy, we think we hear a whisper.

At first it is too soft. Then only half heard.

We listen carefully as it gathers strength.

We hear a sweetness.

The word is Peace.

It is loud now. It is louder.

Louder than the explosion of bombs.

We tremble at the sound. We are thrilled by its presence.

It is what we have hungered for.

Not just the absence of war. But, true Peace.

A harmony of spirit, a comfort of courtesies.

Security for our beloveds and their beloveds.

We clap hands and welcome the Peace of Christmas.

We beckon this good season to wait a while with us.

We, Baptist and Buddhist, Methodist and Muslim, say come.

Peace.

Come and fill us and our world with your majesty.

We, the Jew and the Jainist, the Catholic and the Confucian,

Implore you, to stay a while with us.

So we may learn by your shimmering light

How to look beyond complexion and see community.

It is Christmas time, a halting of hate time.

On this platform of peace, we can create a language

To translate ourselves to ourselves and to each other.

At this Holy Instant, we celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ

Into the great religions of the world.

We jubilate the precious advent of trust.

We shout with glorious tongues at the coming of hope.

All the earth’s tribes loosen their voices

To celebrate the promise of Peace.

We, Angels and Mortals, Believers and Non-Believers,

Look heavenward and speak the word aloud.

Peace. We look at our world and speak the word aloud.

Peace. We look at each other, then into ourselves

And we say without shyness or apology or hesitation.

Peace, My Brother.

Peace, My Sister.

Peace, My Soul.

Have you ever seen a sonogram of an unborn child? The technology today is absolutely amazing! It transforms a pregnant abdomen from an unknown experience into the carrier of God’s creation.

We can’t always see what God is creating in our lives or through our lives. We’re like pre-sonogram people. We know something’s happening because life is always unfolding. We just can’t see deeply enough to know exactly what’s going on.

That is why Mary’s story is so amazing. I’m talking about Mary, the Mother of Jesus – the one who’s labor culminated in the birth we celebrate on Christmas day. You can find her story in Luke 1.26-38.

Do you remember the Beatles’ song Let it Be? Most of us – of a certain age – remember at least the first part.

When I find myself in times of trouble, mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
And in my hour of darkness, she is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

But do you remember the next verse?

When the brokenhearted people, living in the world agree
There will be an answer, let it be
For though they may be parted, there is still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be.

Who would have thought – especially in 1970 – that God would use Paul McCartney to further God’s kingdom message? I’m pretty confident the church didn’t! But there it is: though they may be parted, there is still a chance that they will see. There will be an answer – let it be…

The good news of the kingdom of God is that when God became human in Jesus of Nazareth, all the barriers that separate, all the walls that keep us estranged from God and one another, have been torn down. The answer we and all the world need to see is that we are no longer parted. In Jesus Christ we are reconciled – all of creation is reconciled with God!

That is why Mary’s story is so important. Mary was a theotokos – that’s the Greek word for Godbearer. [1] Now you are probably saying DUH! Of course, she was a Godbearer, she had the baby Jesus and laid him in the manger – that’s what we just celebrated. But here is a deeper truth: Mary’s story isn’t important simply because she gave birth to the baby Jesus (even though that is a very big deal). Mary’s story is important because she shows us how we are to be Godbearers as well.

Let me reassure you, I’m not talking about having babies. I’m talking about being a theotokos – a Godbearer, each of us. In a world filled with brokenness and estrangement, poverty, violence and death, we need Godbearers.

Here is a reality check as we move forward from the Christmas event: Mary may have been the first Godbearer. She may have been the ultimate Godbearer. But if you are in relationship with Jesus Christ, then you are a Godbearer too. Everyone who follows in the Jesus way is called to be a Godbearer. That is a huge part of what it means to follow Jesus – bearing God to others.

We can learn a lot from Mary, but three things stand out about her as a theotokos – a Godbearer: she bore God within herself, she bore God to others through her faithful witness in word and deed, and she bore the suffering of others. [2] Those three things provide the paradigm for our Godbearing: we bear God within, we bear faithful witness to God through our words and actions, and we bear the suffering of others.

One of our claims as Christians is that Mary is the only human being to have literally borne God within. Robert Jenson says that Mary makes a “space for God.” “Her womb is the container of the uncontainable.”[3] We tend to take that openness for granted, but think about it. Mary was a teenager, pregnant and unmarried – not an easy combination in our day and age, but even more so in Mary’s day – actually a deadly combination for her given the law of Torah.

That makes Mary’s response to Gabriel worthy of a second look: Here I am. I’m a servant of Lord. Let it be with me according to your word. This isn’t passive resignation. This isn’t the “whatever” of a typical teenager. This is the quiet strength of someone who freely assents to God’s choice to use her to inaugurate God’s kingdom.

The words she uses are important. She calls herself God’s doulē. Most translations use the word “servant,” but the Greek word literally means “slave.” That word may make us uncomfortable, but it moves us closer to what is happening. Mary isn’t choosing to serve. That is frequently the way we think of Christian service; I choose when to volunteer my time, how much money I will give and where that money will go. We like to be in control of how we serve.

But Mary has been chosen to serve. This way of serving wasn’t her idea. So what Mary does is freely assent to God’s plan and God’s authority. Let it be with me according to your word. Tim Perry is helpful in understanding what is happening, “If Mary is God’s slave then she is no one else’s – not even her husband’s. God calls, Mary assents, the redeemer is conceived and Joseph is not even a witness to the events.”[4]

The ironic thing about being a servant of God is that in choosing Mary, God opens space for Mary to act, speak and decide. She isn’t simply someone’s property (as wives and fiancés were in those days). Mary has been empowered. She has free will and agency and she uses that power to freely assent to the way of the Godbearer – let it be…

This is important for us as we seek to bear God within. It is about making space within ourselves for God. God’s grace comes to us as a gift freely given. God opens up space for us to act, speak and decide. God empowers us with free will and agency. We respond to that grace by making space within ourselves – let it be…

When we freely respond, we become God’s servants – God’s doulēs; but rather than being oppressive, that service is liberating and self-fulfilling. If we’re God’s doulēs,then we can’t be anyone else’s – no matter what messages society may send us.The fact that God chooses Mary in the first place indicates that God doesn’t play by the rules of society. Service to God clearly allows for all kinds of initiative in the face of social convention – that’s why Mary could just take off and go to Elizabeth’s house by herself, with no chaperone, with no one’s permission. That was pretty radical behavior – but hey! When you’re God’s doulē you’re nobody else’s.

Mary’s story tells us that anyone can become a participant in the life-centered activity of God in the world – as long as you are open to possibility, as long as you choose to respond, as long as you are willing to be changed in the process.

So we bear God within. We respond to God’s grace by making space for God within ourselves, freely assenting to God’s lordship in our lives – let it be…

But Mary as theotokos, also shows us a second aspect of Godbearing: faithful witness. Shortly after Gabriel leaves, Mary goes to visit Elizabeth. That was a radical act of witness in and of itself. While she is there she sings what we know as the Magnificat or Mary’s Song of Praise. (Luke 1:46-56) This is Mary’s prophetic witness to the message and ministry of Jesus. Jesus the Christ brings mercy. Jesus the Christ brings down the powerful and lifts up the lowly. Jesus the Christ fills the hungry with good things and sends the rich away empty.

Did you know that in the 1980’s the government of Guatemala banned any public reciting of Mary’s Magnificat? They deemed it too politically subversive. And all this time we’ve relegated Mary to a stable in December.

It is no wonder so many people find comfort in Mary. She is a symbol of strength and hope for poor and oppressed people everywhere. Her witness tells us that faithfulness to God doesn’t mean our lives will be perfect, or painless, or predictable; but her witness show just how powerful our words and lives can be when we receive and share the life of God. Let it be…

The third aspect of Godbearing we see in Mary is the willingness to bear the suffering of others. In so many beautiful renderings of the Pieta, Mary bears the broken body of her crucified son on her lap – the Messiah Jesus, the Incarnate One, fully human – one of us. Mary stayed with Jesus to the bitter end. She didn’t run away when he was experiencing an excruciating death on the cross. She remained steadfast when he was humiliated and abandoned by almost all of his followers.

Godbearers cradle the brokenness of others in their arms and share in their suffering at the hands of a death-dealing world. As Christ followers, we cradle the brokenness of others and share in their suffering at the hands of a death-dealing world. Let it be…

Bearing God within, bearing witness through our words and actions, bearing the suffering of others, this shouldn’t be news to us. This kind of Godbearing is the way it has been for over 2000 years. This kind of Godbearing is what it means to follow in the Jesus way.

But bearing God within doesn’t just happen. It takes commitment – commitment to things like Bible study or small groups, things like Emmaus Walks or other opportunities to have the renewed image of God blossom within you. If you want your congregation to grow, start by looking within yourself. Are you in a small group? Or a bible study? Following Jesus Christ isn’t just about showing up every week or so on Sunday. It’s about attending to the growth of our spirits; it’s about making space for God within ourselves through prayer, and study, and spiritual conversation.

Bearing faithful witness takes effort too. It’s easy to answer the question “Do you want your church to grow?” Of course, we do! Everybody wants their church to grow. The harder question is are we willing to do the things that are necessary for our church to grow? That’s an entirely different thing. One of those things is bearing faithful witness. We do that in our daily lives, the way we treat others, the stands we take on sensitive and important issues, how willing we are to speak out on behalf of those who have no voice or to stand with those who lack support. We bear faithful witness when we share our personal stories of faith, what Jesus Christ means to us and how we’ve experienced the Holy Spirit working in our lives.

We bear faithful witness when we worship together – especially when that worship is dynamic and infused with the power of the Holy Spirit. Especially when that worship is focused not on us and on our own likes or our own needs or our own preferences; but when our worship is focused on God and focused on enabling others – especially those others who aren’t here yet – to experience the presence of the living God for themselves.

And bearing the suffering of others. Big surprise! The Christian life takes effort. If anybody told you following Jesus was no big deal they were either full of *** or lying. Following Jesus is work. It’s work because it requires that we stand in solidarity with those who don’t have enough, to pray and intercede and visit the sick and care for the dying and bind up the broken – to cradle in our own arms all those who suffer at the hands of a death-dealing world.

Mary is our prototype. Let it be according to your words. Each of us has to bear God in our own life. How will you do it? How will you bear God within? What change will you need to make to be God’s doulē and no one else’s? How will you bear faithful witness? Whose suffering will you bear?

Each of us is to be a theotokos – a Godbearer. I pray that it would be so…AMEN.

[1] I am grateful to Orthodox theologian, Kallistos Ware for his assertion that the term Theotokos is more accurately translated “Godbearer” than “Mother of God.”

[2] I am grateful to Elaine Robinson the three-fold description of Godbearing.

[3] Robert Jenson, “A Space for God,” Mary, Mother of God, ed. Carl E. Braaten & Robert W. Jenson (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004) 51.

[4] Tim Perry, Mary for Evangelicals: Toward an Understanding of the Mother of Our Lord (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2006) 73.

Halloween is over so it must be Christmas. At least as far as social media and marketing gurus are concerned. Before I go any further, let me state in no uncertain terms – this is completely wrong. But I’m not a social media wiz or a marketing guru so let’s move on.

There’s a video making the rounds called “The Other Letter.” It’s a first out of the box Christmas offering from IKEA and despite the fact that it’s not even Thanksgiving, it’s wonderful. Take a moment:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dAQ6_gXQy4

I’m drawn to “The Other Letter” because it’s a simple illustration of a profound truth. Relationships matter. (That IKEA had to be the one to remind us of this foundational Christian concept is only a minor irritation to me.) As the video cleverly illustrates, not only do relationships matter, relationships take time. They’re cultivated through attentiveness and care. And it’s this time, care and attention that people crave.

Though I doubt they realized the extent of their discovery, here is the secret IKEA has stumbled upon: people blossom when others are willing to invest energy and love in building relationships.

But why is that important for faith sharing? Because faith sharing is less about passing on information and more about building relationships. And that is because sharing faith is rooted in the very nature of God.

Our God is a God of relationship. From the beginning, God has desired a relationship of love and wholeness with something other than God. That’s why God created us in the first place. And God cares for, nourishes and sustains all of creation out of that relationship of love. God became human in Jesus – the ultimate sign of God’s desire to be in a relationship of love with all people. And God continues to reach out in love to us through the movement of God’s Holy Spirit, providing comfort and strength, nudging us toward wholeness and spiritual maturity, empowering us with boldness and courage.

This isn’t to diminish the importance of teaching what Christians believe. But when we share faith with others, we don’t tell them what they should believe. We tell them what we believe  – and more importantly, who we trust, which brings us once again to relationship.

Sharing faith is about modeling God’s relationship of love for others. As we cultivate our relationship of trust and love with God, we cultivate relationships of love and trust with others.

The importance of relationship – of rooting our sharing in the nature of God – has often been overlooked in the United States; because for so many years, we’ve had the “home field advantage” and exercise cultural privilege (often without even realizing it). We’ve taken much for granted when it comes to sharing faith. That situation is rapidly changing.

But we shouldn’t lose heart. I’m with Ed Stetzer when he says we may have opportunities we have rarely known until now – not to moralize or to tell the world what they should believe. But to walk in relationships of love and trust with both God and others.

IKEA has uncovered an important truth – relationships are everything. As Christians, we shouldn’t need a furniture store to remind us of that. Our God is a God of relationship, God who desires to be in a relationship of love and wholeness with all people. And before others will be able to hear that good news from your lips, they must have experienced it in your life.