Intellectual Faith vs. Real Encounter

I wonder how many Christians have a mere intellectual grasp of the faith. The more I grow in Christ, the more I see that my faith is deeply experiential and practical. It has to work. Evangelicals are gun-shy when it comes to experience. In a way, we should be. Our experience has to be built firmly on the Word of God (the historical Word). But I wonder if we think that we are so far removed from the "Biblical days" that it is impossible to have anything but an intellectual grasp of God and the faith. Our Lord is just as knowable now as in "Biblical days." (And in a sense, aren't the days we are living in Biblical days?) Jesus is "the same yesterday, today, and forever "(Hebrews 13:8). I have experienced His "knowability" in many ways, practically, and have come to know at least some of what works and what doesn't. I have thought theories and theological systems through and have put them ruthlessly to the test in my daily life. Sadly, I believe many evangelicaals can become intellectually enamored of certain Christian or pseudochristian theories, and assume they are all right, because they sound good, and are very idealistic. But in the end they are impractical. They simply don't work. They are without hope and purpose. " There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Proverbs 14:12). One example from the secular world is socialism and communism. (Did you know that these theories are rooted in Satanism?) Many people are enamored of these theories because they sound so idealistic. All the while they ignore the historical facts that leftist theories have destroyed the economies of every country that has tried them, and killed well over one hundred million people. Pseudochristian theories are just as destructive. We need to be firmly grounded in a literal interpretation of Scripture, and fully convinced of its inerrancy. But we must also put our Biblical knowledge to the test in every aspect of life. We need to think and act Biblically. Many Christians I know do neither. In addition, we must so work on our relationship with our Creator/Redeemer that we know Him personally and experientially. Many think that since we can't have this relationship like they did in the "Biblical days," we must grab the closest ideal that we can find (which may not be truly Christian). Or maybe we have an idea that we can, but don't want to put in the time, or make the effort. But we CAN have the same kind of relationship with God that they did, through the Person of the Holy Spirit. And it's well worth the time and effort. Moses, the mediator of the Old Covenant, whose name became synonymous with the Law, had a deeply personal relationship with the Almighty God. When Moses was in the tent of meeting, the actual Person of God came down and spoke with Moses face to face, "as a man speaks with his friend"(Deuteronomy 33:11). We can know Him, too, just like Moses, and have a real, personal, intimate relationship with our Lord through the Person of the Holy Spirit Who dwells within us. He is really there. Evangelicals are given to proof-texting. We forget that the Word is a Person. In "Biblical days," obedience to the Word was a way of life, built on the written Word, and on a very real, intimate relationship with God - Jesus, the Word Himself. This can be our experience as well. And we need to quit grabbing for cheap substitutes. Copyright 2010 Kathryn M. Lee