Watch/Listen
A Disciple of Jesus Is Relationally Surrendered
Brian Mashburn
September 10, 2006
Audio Player
A Disciple of Jesus Is Relationally Surrendered
All of Christianity is about relationships. That's it. The whole thing. You can't escape it. The follower of Jesus is always focused on loving relationships with God and with people (Matthew 22:37-40). If a Christian is doing anything at all in the name of Christ that is not an expression of loving relationship with God and people, then he is not practicing Christianity.
Every single thing that Jesus did can only be consistently explained by his love for God and love for people. There was never a time that he wasn't loving people. Every story in Scripture about Jesus is a story of him expressing love for God and people (yes, even when he turned the tax collectors tables in the temple).
Not God or people, mind you. God and people.
You can't love God without loving people. It's not possible. This is why we invest in relationships with people. Our capacity for intimate community with God is seen in our capacity for intimate community with people.
Oh, how people fight this truth! The creativity with which they explain it away is amazing (ie: I just don't like people...I'm an introvert...I'll never be like ________). We walk around not really knowing or being known intimately by anyone (who we can see) pretending that we are in great relationship with God (who we can't see). The disciple John says that that is a bunch of crap (1 John 4:20).
We're not talking about some prescribed way of doing it, we are talking about the spiritual reality that you were made for it.
With whom can you be your unguarded, unmasked self? And be careful if you answer "with God" too quickly. If you can be unguarded and unmasked with Him, then He is teaching you that you can be unguarded and unmasked with anyone. Are you? Are you relationally surrendered? Are you all about relationships...with God and people? He wants you to be.