How come so many Christians don’t really know God?

It seems like a weird, even dumb, question. How come so many Christians don’t really know God? It’s a very important question with a very disturbing answer. It’s all too easy for Christians to not know God! The headline shocked me. 51% of Churchgoers Don’t Know of the Great Commission, according to a Barna survey. I also found it very disappointing. Depressing even.

If we don’t even know, let alone do, The Great Commission, then we really don’t know what Jesus told us to do for His Kingdom. Or, even worse, we know, but we don’t care enough about Jesus’ commands to us to follow through on them.

Check out the adjacent image. Yes, it’s a forest, but it represents our journey through this life. So many paths. A bridge to cross – maybe. It’s dark in parts of the forest. And we can’t see what’s ahead. If we don’t have a map, we can easily get lost.

Plus, in the forest things change. Trees fall down, blocking some paths. New trees grow. There might be bears, mountain lions, snakes, all sorts of hazards. We need a guide to navigate through the huge forest of life. Will it be the Holy Spirit? Or we will go it alone? Maybe even take a “guide” who doesn’t know the way. Or has a different destination in mind.

So many choices!

No wonder the path Jesus tells us about is so narrow. Even many of those who think they’re on it actually aren’t on it at all! They may not even be close!

So, what do we do? How do we get through this forest maze? We’ll see as we go along.

Setting the stage to answer: How come so many Christians don’t really know God?

Let’s begin to set the stage by looking at something Jesus said, and finding it in the image above.

The Narrow and Wide Gates – Matthew

Mt 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

And no wonder so many non-Christians look at so many of us and decide they want nothing to do with our God! I’m a Christian, and I wouldn’t want anything to do with the God some self-proclaimed Christians follow. Why not? Because he’s not the God in the Bible. At least, not by their words and actions he isn’t.

Ultimately, only God Himself will decide the fate of all of us. At least, that’s what we’re told. It’s all up to a fickle God. But that’s not really true.

John 3:16

Jn 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”

Some people know only about verse 16 – and say God loves everyone, so we’re all saved. No matter what we do. But that ignores verse 18 – and a whole bunch of other stuff in the Bible.

Others, because they don’t know verse 17, think God’s just out to get us. One wrong move and we’re toast. Human toast in Hell, I guess? But that belief ignores pretty much everything Jesus said.

But my point here is this. Don’t give up on God just because of what you see in people who claim to be following Him.

In case you don’t remember or don’t know, here’s what I mean by the narrow path.

The narrow and wide paths are important to know about for Christians. Not because they’re literal paths, but for what they represent.

Christians cannot know God if we’re on the wrong path

See that picture above? There are many paths there. Some are well-worn. Others are harder to find. Not impossible to find. But we’re not going to go down that path without the Holy Spirit. We’ll learn more about how that happens as we move through this.

The thing is though, the picture is representative of the paths leading to the narrow and wide gates, it’s also representative of the fact that most people won’t get to the narrow gate.

The weird, and sad, thing is, that narrow path isn’t all that hard to see. That is, if we truly want to see it. Especially for someone who goes to church. And it should be even more so for someone who claims to be Christian. And yet, we can be blinded. For instance, blinded by the popularity of the wider path. Blinded by one thing that attracts us to the wide path, because we just can’t imagine living without it. And so, we take that wider path. Sometimes, even when we really should know better.

In other words, most people won’t get to Heaven. No matter how sure we might be that everyone’s going to Heaven, the Bible very clearly says that’s not gonna happen! It even says many people who call themselves Christians aren’t going to make it there. Why? Because so many Christians aren’t on the right path either! They’re on the well-traveled path on the left.

How do we know so many Christians are on the wrong path?

Why do I say lots of Christians are on the wrong path? Because Jesus told us. It’s right here, in the telling of the 10 lepers who were healed. Please notice as you read it, that physical healing is not spiritual healing. Physical healing is not spiritual salvation.

Let’s check it out.

Ten Healed of Leprosy

Lk 17:11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” 

Notice, all ten of these guys knew Jesus could heal them. It’s not like they didn’t know He was something “special”. They even called Jesus “master“. They knew something. But not enough.

Lk 17:14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

And here we see that Jesus healed all ten of them. Physically healed, that is. But, we must keep reading or else we’ll miss the reality of exactly what did and didn’t happen.

Lk 17:15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

One of the ten returned to Jesus after being healed. Yes, all ten were healed. Physically, We read that in verse 14. However, only one returned to Jesus. Only one knew what happened.

And that one who returned to give praise to Jesus was a Samaritan. Why does that matter? Because Samaritans were hated by the Jews. Their heritage came from mixed marriages between Jews and Assyrians during the exile. And they were among the most hated people, up there with tax collectors, in the Jewish culture of the time.

Lk 17:17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

Jesus points out the obvious. Nine of the ten He cleansed/physically healed did not return. They maybe knew what happened, but whether they knew or not, they had no time or praise for Jesus.

And so, the only one who was “made well“, who was “saved”, to use the modern church word, was the Samaritan.

Hopefully, that gives you an idea of the difference between claiming to be something/know something, and actually being that thing. In the event above, it was ten people who claimed to know Jesus could heal them. Today, among others, it feels like self-proclaimed Christians who don’t really know God.

In both cases, the lepers or today’s Christians who don’t know God, they are losing out. Big time. Let’s take a look.

No wonder so many Christians don’t know God!

Can you begin to see the problem? Why so many Christians don’t know God? Why some Christians don’t know God well? And further, why so many so-called Christians don’t know God at all?

How do we know that so many Christians don’t really know God?

Let’s take a deeper look at what happened with the lepers. Earlier, we looked at the John 3:16 passage. Not just the one verse, but the following ones as well, to bring in some context. Here’s just verse 16, so keep the context in mind.

Jn 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 

Too many people read that and think, all I have to do is believe this and I’m saved. Period. Nothing else required.

But then the “sinners” prayer gets added. That’s OK – it’s just some words. I’m saved and still don’t have to do anything after I said that prayer.

That’s what happened with nine of the ten lepers. Yes, they were healed of leprosy. But they were not saved. Ten were physically healed. But only the one who was made well was saved.

Why is that? Because of one simple word. Simple to us, that is. It’s the word “in”. You see, we read “believe in”, and we comprehend “believe”. We assume “in” doesn’t have any real meaning to it. But it certainly does. When we actually understand “believe in”, we realize that “believe” is about the brain but “believe in” is a life-transforming concept.

The one who is made well is saved because he is transforming his life.
The ones who are healed, but not made well, undergo no such transformation.

That is very much at the heart of the issue here. Do we want to believe, but not change? Or are we willing to believe in and become a new person?

It’s not like this is a hidden concept. Everyone who reads much of the New Testament comes across it. But not so many are willing to actually do it. And our brains are pretty good at shutting out things we don’t want to see/hear/read.

Knowing/fulfilling The Great Commission is part of knowing God

If you’re a regular reader here then you know I write about The Great Commission a whole lot. And I talk about it often in classes. Given what we’re about to read, I must include it here, so we’re at least, hopefully, all on the same page of the same book.

The Great Commission

Mt 28:16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

So, with that, let’s lay out some of the issues, and then go through them.

• Just over half of church-going Christians don’t know the Great Commission at all.
  • Only 17% of church-going Christians can say what they think the Great Commission means.
  • 25% of church-going Christians have heard of the Great Commission but don’t remember/know what it means.
  • Only 37% of church-going Christians recognized the Great Commission from a list of five “well known” passages.
• In general, younger church-going Christians are less aware of the Great Commission
• Some denominations talk about the Great Commission more than others.
• Given the general lack of awareness of the Great Commission, how much of it is actually lived out in practice?
  • Baptism
  • Making disciples
  • Teaching potential disciples
  • Teaching disciples to obey everything Jesus has commanded
• Given that the Great Commission is in fact a command, can you now see why so many Christians don’t really know God?
• Conclusion – we’ll look at a comparison with the Letter to the Church in Sardis from Revelation.

With that outline in mind, here we go. I will say right up front though I feel these findings are very sad. We, Christians, are supposed to be Jesus’ representatives here on earth until He returns. But are we doing a good job? I fear not. For anyone who reads this, I can only pray it helps to urge us to do a better job. To be more Christ-like. And to go out into the world to fulfill Jesus’ Commission to us, rather than hiding inside the church and just being happy with that.

Just over half of church-going Christians don’t know the Great Commission at all

Something less than half of church-going Christians don’t know the Great Commission at all. That just sounds bad. It may be slightly less awful when we see the definition Barna uses for church-going Christians:

CHURCHGOERS are defined for this sample as those who have attended church within the past six months.

Like I said, maybe some small comfort from that definition. Depending on when the survey was done, that’s probably referring to someone who went to church either on Christmas or Easter. (The research was published in October, 2018, but the article doesn’t say when the survey was actually taken.) And I know, most of them and some of you consider people like that to be Christians. However, I can’t help but wonder, does God feel the same way? Is that kind of effort really in line with what Jesus said when asked about the Greatest Commandment?

The Greatest Commandment – Matthew

22:34-40 pp — Mk 12:28-31

Mt 22:34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Mt 22:37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Just how much love, as in Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, are we showing when all we can do is attend church once or twice a year?  I invite you to check out Are we supposed to Believe God, Believe in God or Follow God? for more on that thought.

To get more insight into that 51% number, let’s look at some of the breakdowns by how much, or how little, that 51% actually knows about the Great Commission. In other words, some of the ways Christians don’t know God.

Only 17% of church-going Christians can say what they think the Great Commission means.

When asked if they had previously “heard of the Great Commission,” half of U.S. churchgoers (51%) say they do not know this term. It would be reassuring to assume that the other half who know the term are also actually familiar with the passage known by this name, but that proportion is low (17%).

We can’t really take too much comfort in even the 17%. Why not? Because the response for them was that they knew of the passage and that they also knew what it meant. Just how much of the passage they knew isn’t known from the report. And how much of it did they understand? Were they like the Samaritan who was healed, or were they one of the nine who didn’t return to praise Jesus, and therefore were not saved?

Further, there’s nothing to indicate that knowing the passage meant there was any attempt to live it out. Referring again to the article on whether we are to “believe, believe in God, or follow God”, that distinction is important. Head knowledge is one thing. Actually believing it in our heart is something else. Living it out is yet another thing.

25% of church-going Christians have heard of the Great Commission but don’t remember/know what it means.

Now, let’s move on to the 25% who have heard about the Great Commission, but don’t remember/know what it means. We should not forget what James said about faith. And if we don’t know what James said, now’s a good time to learn. As you read this, remember, it’s about deeds resulting from faith – not deeds to increase faith, to be saved, to please God, Etc.

Faith and Deeds

Jas 2:14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

Jas 2:18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

Jas 2:20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

Jas 2:25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Again, the message from the passage is about faith so strong that it causes us to do things. Just as we looked at belief so strong that it results in us following Jesus. Therefore, unless we’re new Christians, we should be asking ourselves, if we don’t even know the Great Commission, just how strong can our faith be? Shouldn’t we spend enough time learning about what Jesus taught to know more about it? Or even know of it?

In terms of the ten people Jesus healed, will we be the one or one of the nine? As for the two paths, will we be the one on the narrow path, or one of the nine on the wide path?

only 37% of church-going Christians recognized the Great Commission from a list of five “well known” passages.

Taking a different tack, Barna also presented churchgoers with five different passages from scripture and asked them to identify which one is known as the Great Commission. A little more than one-third of churchgoers (37%) correctly identifies the Bible passage—far more than those who recognize the Great Commission in name alone. Nearly all of the churchgoers who indicate they have previously heard of the Great Commission (94%) also select the passage in Matthew 28. The remainder of churchgoers either does not know which of these verses is the Great Commission (33%) or offers an incorrect answer (31%).

I guess it’s encouraging that 94% of those who heard of the Great Commission identified it correctly. It still leaves the question of whether or not they actually knew the entire passage. Also, the larger questions related to understanding and living out the command(s) in the passage.

Here are the five passages presented for identification as the Great Commission, along with the percentage of people who chose each of the five. Of course, there’s the ever-popular “don’t know” survey category as well.

Passage	Percentage choosing this passage
“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. Matthew 28:18-20	37%
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22:37-40	16%
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6	8%
“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Mark 8:34	5%
“Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” Mark 12:17	2%
Not sure if any of the passages are the Great Commission	33%

All in all, rather disappointing. There’s always the possibility that many responses were from new Christians. However, given the care taken to gather representative surveys, that’s really hard to imagine.

While all of the passages given are important, it’s still rather disheartening to realize the disparity between the survey responses and Jesus’ reminder to Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

In general, younger church-going Christians are less aware of the Great Commission

Age also makes a significant difference in whether churchgoers recognize the Great Commission. More than one-quarter of Elders (29%) and Boomers (26%) says they know the text, compared to 17 percent of Gen X and one in 10 Millennials (10%).

As with other churchgoing groups, people in all generations are more likely to choose the right passage from a set of options than to remember it unprompted.

Roughly two in five people among the three oldest generations correctly identify the Great Commission (43% of Elders, 42% of Boomers, 41% of Gen X). Churchgoing Millennials, however, are about as likely to misidentify (36%) as to correctly identify (34%) the Great Commission.

The next line shows us something that’s not especially hopeful for the future.  

Although not even half of any age group knows the Great Commission well, the youngest adult generation is least likely to recognize it.

I’ll show the age breakdowns for the groups in a moment, but it’s important to note that all respondents are called “adults”. Having said that, there’s no indication in the article as to whether there was an age cut-off for responding to the survey. Since they did say “adult”, there must have been some type of requirement.

And yet, even the oldest Gen Z respondent could be at most 19 years old. It’s also possible that Millennials could be as young as 16, given the survey was probably taken early in 2018.

As such, it seems reasonable to expect a greater degree of concern for being aware of their faith than one expects from a child or teenager.

Generation “name”	birth years
Gen Z	1999 – 2015
Millennials	1984 – 2002
Gen X	1965 – 1983
Boomers	1946 – 1964
Elders	before 1946

A bit later, we’ll see that the topic of the Great Commission is brought up to varying degrees in different denominations. While there may be some age differences as far as who tends to attend a church of any given denomination, this may tend to offset that to some degree.

In any case though, it doesn’t bode well for younger Christians. Or for growth in Christianity either. Not knowing that the Great Commission is important may tend to limit just how much Christians talk about their faith to others. That could very well mean fewer new people in church. Statistics seem to bear out the reality of lower church attendance, but not necessarily the reason why.

Ultimately though, I still have to return to the seeming lack of knowledge about the Christian faith, beliefs and practices. A dwindling appreciation for some of the core beliefs must come with a corresponding drop in our love for Jesus. After all, unless we have some idea of what Jesus did, coming to earth, suffering, dying on a cross, etc., how can we even begin to feel an appropriate amount of appreciation and love for Him?

Does too much comfort prevent us from knowing God?

I’m guessing some of you don’t want to hear that too much comfort might actually keep us from knowing God. And yet, history tells us it’s so true. Here’s something from the preface of Surprised by Suffering: The Role of Pain and Death in the Christian Life, by R. C. Sproul.

Those of us who live in Western nations are blessed to a degree previous generations would never have believed possible. For the most part, we enjoy good health, comfortable lifestyles, and security. We do not face imminent threats each day to our existence or even our sense of well-being.

These blessings, however, tend to lull us into a false sense of invulnerability. When we are spared from difficulties over time, we begin to expect that we will always escape hard things. Therefore, if suffering in any of its various forms—disease, injury, grief, loss, persecution, failure—comes upon us, it tends to catch us by surprise. Thus the title of this book.

My purpose in writing this book is that you would not be surprised when suffering comes into your life. I want you to see that suffering is not at all uncommon, but also that it is not random—it is sent by our heavenly Father, who is both sovereign and loving, for our ultimate good. Indeed, I want you to understand that suffering is a vocation, a calling from God. <fn>Sproul, R. C. (2010). Surprised by Suffering: The Role of Pain and Death in the Christian Life (p. xi). Lake Mary, FL: Reformation Trust Publishing.</fn>

That expresses my feelings quite nicely. Way too often, we reach out to God in times of trouble. When things are going well, we figure we can handle things on our own. Even when things aren’t too bad, we can convince ourselves we don’t need God. We can handle things.

The problem is this. Those “little” things are our preparation for the bigger things. Our chance to learn to reach out to God.

Let’s get real here. We know it’s true that the bigger our problems are, the harder it often is to reach out for help. It’s too embarrassing. We don’t want to trouble our friends. It’s so bad, no one would want to help anyway. Everyone would just walk away from us, so just keep things hidden.

I’ve had all those feelings. Oh, and the feeling that I’m not worth it, so why ask.

Too much comfort really can keep us from knowing God

So you see, too much comfort really can, and does, prevent us from knowing God.

Sometimes it prevents us from knowing God at all. We figure we don’t need Him. And those who are at least semi-Christian don’t really feel the need to spread the word, because of similar feelings. And if we don’t feel like we really need Jesus, why should we take the time, effort, and risk embarrassment by telling others? So we don’t.

And when we don’t tell others, there’s the very real risk that some, or many, of those others will never know God at all.

That’s tragic. Jesus told us to tell others the good news. The Gospel. But too often, we don’t. And so way too many people think they’re living a Christian life, but they really aren’t. Sometimes, thanks to us, for not telling them anything. But sometimes for not telling them everything.

Conclusion – How come so many Christians don’t really know God?

Ultimately, who loses when Christians don’t know God? Certainly, those who never hear of Jesus. Potentially, even those who think they’re Christian, but really aren’t. For sure, there will be some surprised “Christians” in the end. We know that, because Jesus warned us.

The Sheep and the Goats

Mt 25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Mt 25:34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

Mt 25:37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

Mt 25:40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

Mt 25:41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

Mt 25:44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

Mt 25:45 “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

Mt 25:46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

These days, we think of a GOAT as being the Greatest Of All Time. But Jesus doesn’t look at things that way.

Who Is the Greatest? – Mark

9:33-37 pp — Mt 18:1-5; Lk 9:46-48

Mk 9:33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” 34 But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.

Mk 9:35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

Mk 9:36 He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”

So don’t be a goat.  Which also means don’t set out to be a GOAT.  Instead, be a sheep.  A sheep that knows Jesus, our Shepherd.  And a sheep that tells others about our Shepherd, because anyone who wants to can come into the flock.

How can we know God?

Maybe this is depressing you. If you’re Christian, and it doesn’t depress you, maybe you should ask yourself, “Why not”?

It’s not like it’s a totally lost cause though. There is hope. That is, there’s hope if we truly want to know God. Or know God more deeply. Jesus told us how to do it. And if we’ve been baptized, and wanted that life transformation, rather than the head belief and go on with life as usual, we have everything we need.

How? Like this:

Jesus Promises The Holy Spirit

Jn 14:15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”

Jn 14:22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

Jn 14:23 Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

Jn 14:25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Jn 14:28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, 31 but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
“Come now; let us leave.”

When we’re baptized, we receive the Holy Spirit. However, receiving Him is one thing. Listening is another. And obeying is yet another. God won’t force us to do anything. He gives us free will. We have to do something with the Holy Spirit.

You know, something like ask Him to guide us through the “forest of life”. To choose the right paths. Or, when we inevitably pick the wrong one, to help us return to the right one.

I have one more image for you though. Do you remember the forest at the beginning?

Here’s another view of the same forest.

Good luck getting around in that dark forest.

Without the Holy Spirit, you can’t hardly see any path. Not even the wrong ones.

You’ll never find the narrow path Jesus spoke of.

Does that seem too extreme?

Remember, everything good comes from God. Without Him, we have some idea of right and wrong, because it’s built into us at birth.

And yet, even when we do the right things, if we don’t have the Holy Spirit, if we don’t know God, we don’t/can’t do them for the right reasons.

Realizing that is part of coming to know God.

Part of being transformed.

Part of knowing the difference between believe and believe in.

Please check out the inset box to read more about that.

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All images generated by MS designer, based on my prompts.

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