Christian Experience

Christianity is not just a set of beliefs, nor is it a moral code. It is a means of relationship with God.

It is easy to find quite devout Christians who know very little Christian doctrine. Being a Christian is not about choosing to believe a doctrine; it is about discovering that -- in some miraculous and incomprehensible way -- when we look to Jesus, we find the way to God.

Christians (at least evangelical Christians) may tell you that they "accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior", and that you should too.

You may be able to tell by their approach to life and their committment to the church that this means something to them. But what?

We all need to be saved from ourselves.

We need to be forgiven for our past sins that haunt us, and we need to be freed from our present sins, from the things that we do and later regret.

Most of us think that we can deal with our failings ourselves. But that really doesn't make sense.

Who is the self that is going to improve my self?

What power am I going to use on myself? Mine? And how can I forgive myself? There's only one of me.

We need outside help. Actually, we need inside help. We need God working in us. We need God to save us. We need a savior with a capital "S", a Savior.

So we come to Christ, to the idea of "accepting Christ" as that Savior, as God with us.

Christians are people who look to Christ and find God. They "accept" Christ as both the way to God and as God himself -- and, yes, that's a mystery. That acceptance usually takes the form of partipating in the sacraments of the Christian church.

The experience of being connected to God through Christ is the experience of love filling you, making you whole -- if only for brief moments.

It is also the experience of seeing more clearly, of having more discernment. You see yourself more clearly, and you see the needs and hurts of others more clearly and with greater love.

Being connected to God through Christ heals the fractures within us and heals our connections with other people, not instantly, but progressively as we learn how to stay connected to God as we go about our daily lives.

Christians believe that Christ and God are one. As a man, Jesus was completely submitted to God the Father; He was one with Him.

We believe this because when we pray in the name of Jesus, we sense that our prayers are received. When we attend his church, we find God.

Finally, Christians have experienced the Holy Spirit of God leading them toward a deeper understanding of God.

The quiet whisper to your heart that urges you to do what is good and true is the Holy Spirit speaking to you.

Your ability to recognize the truth when you hear it is the Holy Spirit teaching you.

If we follow the leadings of the Holy Spirit, we will come to Christ, who connects us with God the Father.

People aren't Christians because they decided to believe a set of facts. They are Christians because they looked to Jesus Christ and found God. Then they began to believe that Jesus was who he said he was, God with us.