At our last Bible study a rather random question surfaced: “If you saw a bench with a sign on it saying ‘Wet paint’, would you still touch it?” All of the guys agreed that they would. Thinking that it may be just a guy thing (since it was a guys’ Bible study), we promptly got sms’ing some ladies in our address books to ask them the question as well. It turns out that it’s not a guy thing, as most ladies would also touch it… So it got me thinking why?

After much thought I think I have a reason. I think it’s because as humans we think truth is more reliable when experienced. We can all read, and we all know what the words ‘wet paint’ mean, yet somehow we need to touch it, or experience it, to know that it’s true.

Take our relationships with each other, for instance. If you’ve ever been involved in a relationship you will probably have come across the the fact it’s not enough to tell your partner that you love them, you have to show them.

By now some of you may have picked up that this sounds like a post-modernistic thought. If you don’t know what postmodernism is, don’t worry, I don’t think anyone really does. In fact I’ve often wondered if it really is something that is truly applicable in South Africa at the moment. Someone once said that they think the theory developed out of a typo, in that what was meant to be said was ‘We’re living in an era of modern post’ not ‘We’re living in a post modern era’. Now that I can understand…

But whatever you want to call it, I do believe that truth comes easier through experience. As humans we want to reach out and touch to believe, because just reading and ‘knowing’ doesn’t really satisfy us.

Take our relationship with God, for instance. Most of us are not satisfied just reading about the love God has for us, we crave an experience of that love. I confess that I do. It’s probably one of the biggest passions in my life; living for those times when you can feel the presence of God. And I think God understood this tendency of mine when he sent his Son to earth. In Romans 5:8 Paul says “But God demonstrated His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners Christ died for us”. God chose to demonstrate His love for us. He didn’t just sit in heaven and say ‘Hey you guys down there, I love you!’. He showed us. Maybe it’s because He knows how badly we need to experience to believe.

Psalm 34:8 says “Taste and see that the Lord is good…”. The JFB commentary simply has these words as an explanation of this verse: ‘Try and experience’. I love this verse, because it allows me to indulge myself with seeking God and His tangible presence. It allows me to go beyond what I know, and to take another step forward and experience it. Sometimes we can sit back and ‘know’ in our heads forever, and sometimes that sitting back and ‘knowing’ is just a cover for the fear that what we’ve always believed turns out not to be true. Taking the step is when the rubber of faith meets the road of life and we actually go somewhere.

Unfortunately for me though I don’t always feel like I’m flying down the road in my relationship with God. It took a long patch of standing still to realise that although an experience of God is fantastic for my faith, that’s not where God wants to leave me. He wants to grow me to the point where He can feel a million miles away, and yet I will still know and believe in the love that He has for me.

Sometimes I think I’m very much like the disciple Thomas. Thomas missed seeing Jesus the first time after His resurrection, and when told by his fellow disciples that Jesus had indeed come alive, he refused to believe “unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my fingers where His nails were” (John 20:25). We’ve always criticised Thomas for doubting, but it’s interesting to note that when Jesus appeared the second time to the disciples (this time with Thomas present), He said to Thomas “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Stop doubting and believe”. Jesus indulged Thomas’ need to experience to believe.

But although it’s awesome that Jesus understood our tendency to believe through experience, this story of Thomas is part of a much bigger story. It’s part of a story where Jesus was growing his disciples to the point where he could feel a million miles away, and yet they would know and believe that he loved them.

This is what I believe Jesus was initiating when he turned the water into wine in his first miracle in the city of Cana. At that point He started a journey of belief with his disciples. In John 2:11 it says of the miracle that ‘He thus revealed his glory, and His disciples put their faith in him’. Therefore it seems to me that the point of the miracle was to get the disciples whom he had only just called, to put their faith in Him. Later John tells the story where Jesus came back to Cana, and performed another miracle, this time healing a Nobleman’s son. At the man’s request Jesus answered “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders… you will never believe”. But I can sense that this time His tone is different, because things are changing. Jesus is trying to move people from beyond ‘seeing is believing’ to ‘walking by faith and not by sight’ (2 Cor 5:7). Later still we have our familiar story of Thomas meeting the resurrected Jesus, but actually the most profound part of the story comes just after the point where Thomas reached out and touched Jesus’ side. Jesus said to him: “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29).

And that’s us. We are those who are blessed because we believe without the experience. The journey Jesus took his disciples on is the same journey He will take all of us on. In the beginning He will indulge our need to experience to believe, but He will journey with us to the point where our faith is so strong that we don’t need to see or experience to believe. And that’s where I am right now. Jesus does not feel incredibly close at this point in time, but I know His love for me is unchanging and true.

And I’m so glad I’m on this journey of belief. It’s been wonderful to learn that belief is a progression, and I’m glad the journey is going the right way. But still I love those times when God is near. I love them like separated lovers love the rendezvous. Although they know their love for each other while apart, the joy of being in each others arms again must be overwhelming. And so I will always be a sucker for the times when I am overwhelmed by the love God has for me…

Posted by Rich on Friday, October 27th, 2006 at 23:48 and is filed under Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.