I love what Tolkien wrote about the sometimes cantankerous hobbit, Bilbo, (quoted above)in his Lord of the Rings; The Fellowship of the Ring…
“So it went on, until his forties were running out, and his fiftieth birthday was drawing near…that adventure had suddenly befallen Bilbo.”
I suspect for many Christians, if not the majority, their relationship with Jesus is more akin to occasional church attendance, prayers at the dinner table, and a few scripture downloaded into their memory. They’re just as “saved” as Billy Graham was, but their relationship with Jesus is mundane, routine, void of risk and adventure.
Apparently, Bilbo had lived much of his life in like manner i.e. routine, predictable, safe.
Then, Tolkien tells us, “adventure had suddenly befallen Bilbo.”
When I begin unpacking the wonderful study titled ‘Experiencing God’ this Sunday (11/2), I will (hopefully) help others understand what kind of relationship with you Jesus had in mind when he died for you. As one writer wrote,…
“For too long, we’ve called unbelievers to ‘invite Jesus into your life.’ Jesus doesn’t want to be in your life. Your life’s a wreck. Jesus calls you into His life. And His life isn’t boring or purposeless or static. It’s wild and exhilarating and unpredictable.”
C.S. Lewis was biblically accurate when, writing about his Christ-figure, Aslan, offered this riveting statement,…
“He’s wild, you know – not like a tame lion.”
By the way, a biblically accurate relationship with Jesus is what our sometimes chaotic world truly longs for. It’s why Jesus said, “Let your light shine before others…” It’s contagious. Consider the following…
Later on, as Frodo was losing strength and courage while journeying to Mount Doom to destroy the Ring of Power, Tolkien offers this insight,
“Frodo felt his spirits reviving: the reminder of Bilbo’s first successful adventure was heartening.”
Translation: the way we approach life affects others. Deeply.
When Satan loses ownership of our soul to Christ, his strategy adjusts to making sure our relationship with Jesus is boring, banal, routine, safe – a relationship with a Savior who shows up in our lives when we go to church, but isn’t really involved in our day-to-day lives. The devil knows no one is attracted to that because no one longs for that.
The late Mike Yaconelli once observed,
“The greatest negative issue with the church today is boredom. We have lost our astonishment. The Good News is no longer ‘good news’, it’s ‘okay news’. Christianity is no longer ‘life-changing’, it’s ‘life-enhancing’. Jesus doesn’t change people into wild-eyed radicals anymore, He changes them into ‘nice people’.”
The Christian faith is not mere religion – it’s an intimate relationship with the untamable, terrifying, ferociously almighty Lion of the tribe of Judah. His name is Jesus Christ. And his love for you is incomprehensible. A love so desperate that he died a tortuous death just to have a relationship with you. That’s how much you mean to him.
Do you find your relationship with Jesus to be dry, void of the “life” Jesus promised? Join me. My prayer is that “adventure will suddenly befall you.”
nick