The question is, “Do you really know someone or just facts about them?” Especially today with people sharing so much about themselves via social media or reality TV, people who are simply fans or admirers think they intimately know that person.
A couple of weekends ago I was around several guys that just graduated from high school and are on their way to college. One of them brought up a conversation he recently had with a person who is a Mormon. He talked about how the conversation caused him to have questions about his own faith in Christ. As I sat and listened, I knew that these guys are about to enter a time in their lives when many people will test their faith.
The question that came to my mind was, “Do they know Jesus Christ or only know about Him?” These are guys that have grown up in church-going homes. I am sure that they know a lot about Jesus Christ.
Look at this way…
All of these guys have known who I am for at least a couple of years. Some have known me for 7-8 years. If someone asked them if they knew me, they all would say, “Yeah, I know him!”
They would say that they know my wife, that I just adopted a son, that I used to serve on staff at their church, that my wife and I lived in Thailand for a while. And, they could list many other facts about me. They probably all would say that I was a pretty cool guy, a good husband and father.
But would they really know me?
They could easily find themselves talking to someone about me and that person begin telling them things about me that caused them to wonder if they really knew me. They could begin to doubt that I was anything like what they thought I was.
See, the thing is that none of these guys have really spent time with me. They know things about me, but the do not know me.
I find that this is how many “Christians” are. I am not saying that these teenage guys are not Christians. What I am saying is that they, just like any other person, need to spend time with Jesus Christ to really know Him instead of accumulating interesting trivia about Him that may or may not help them win a debate.
So, how does one spend time with Jesus to get to know Him?
- Worship Him. When we adore and praise Him, He makes Himself at home with us. Psalm 22:3
- Read the Bible like it is a love letter. It is easy to fall into a trap of reading and studying the Bible as if you are preparing for a test. He doesn’t care if you know all the answers. He cares about whether you love Him.
- Do what He says to do. If you love Him, you will do what He says. Any parent can understand this.
- Embrace persecution. Wow. Now that is a strange way to get to know someone! But, it is true. When you suffer pain along side another person, you share an intimacy like no other.
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