Searching For God Knows What - V

October 4, 2007 | Filed Under books, donald miller, gospel |

searching-for-god-knows-what.jpgHere is another excerpt from my favorite chapter of Searching For God Knows What by Donald Miller. In this section, titled “The Gospel: A Relational Dynamic” Miller is arguing that the essence of the gospel is relational rather than the mental ascent to a set of theological statements or an agreement with a list of bullet points.

Miller writes:

It doesn’t make a great deal of sense that a person who went to Bible college should have a better shot at heaven than a person who didn’t, and it doesn’t make a lot of sense either that somebody sentimental and spiritual has greater access.

I think it is more safe and more beautiful and more true to believe that when a person dies he will go and be with God because, on earth, he had come to know Him, that he had a relational encounter with God not unlike meeting a friend or a lover or having a father or taking a bride, and that in order to engage God he gave up everything, repented and changed his life, as this sort of extreme sacrifice is what is required if true love is to grow. We would expect nothing less in a marriage; why should we accept anything less in becoming unified with Christ?

In fact, I have to tell you, I believe the Bible is screaming this idea and is completely silent on any other, including our formulas and bullet points. It seems, rather, that Christ’s parables, Christ’s words about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, were designed to bypass the memorization of ideas and cause us to wrestle with a certain need to cling to Him. In other words, a poetic presentation of the gospel of Jesus is more accurate than a set of steps.

- Donald Miller in chapter 10 of Searching For God Knows What

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