One of the best things about growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was the manner in which the city streets are laid out. It is a perfect grid. Numbered streets go east and west. Named streets go north and south. 21st, 31st, 41st, 51st, etc. in perfect square mile separations. There were a handful of easy-to-remember main streets in my world: Peoria, Lewis, Harvard, Yale, Sheridan and Memorial. Once you’ve got your particular grid down, anywhere in the city is a breeze to find with two cross references, one number and one name.
I got used to it and lived a directional life based on that clean and simple grid. When thrown into a different city, I often tried to look at city streets the same way and figure out the pattern. More often than not, there were twists and turns I could not see and forcing a grid on top only made things worse. Swerves off the kind of square and symmetrical Tulsa grid I loved would alter everything and send me to the nearest filling station for directions. I’ve lived in Dallas now for more than 10 years and know the different areas of the city well, but still have to pull out the thick Mapsco guide when alterations are necessary or shortcuts needed. Not so in Tulsa unless navigating the specific interior guts of an unfamiliar neighborhood. Whenever I find myself in those moments of uncertainty, there is usually a new discovery awaiting me. I find an area of town I did not know about — maybe a cool restaurant or fun place to take my son. My horizons broaden and I gain more knowledge.
The Christian life is kind of like that, too. We like things to be easy and symmetrical. Go to church on Sunday, check. Avoid any “big” sins, check. Be a “good person” as much as possible, check. Dress the kids up for show on Easter and Christmas to let everyone see what a perfect family we have, check. As long as we can check these things off our list and appear spiritual to others, great! Just don’t challenge us to dig deeper and grow in understanding of what turly constitutes sin and why Christ truly came so that we may live. But, life throws us curves and Christian faith is not a simple, legalistic religion held down by laws you either follow or you don’t. It is a relationship and relationships need to be nurtured, need to grow and MUST evolve.
We get the story of Christ’s death and resurrection and retell it every Easter. At Christmas, it’s pretty manger scenes and the story of His birth combined with a reading of “The 12 Days of Christmas” which has nothing to do with Christ. Everything is so nice, so easy. Look at how good we are. Doesn’t this feel warm and fuzzy?
Don’t you think a powerful God over all creation who sent His son to die for us would offer more beyond the simple grid of a couple of storytime moments — as significant to the faith as they are — and hope that we’d just try to “be good?” Doesn’t life navigate us through twists and turns we don’t understand? Wouldn’t it help to increase our knowledge by digging in deeper to the knowledge available to us? And are we really as good as we portray ourselves to be? What about the secrets we keep locked away? What about the sinful thoughts that pass through the dark alleys in our mind that aren’t on the grid we present outwardly? Just because nobody else sees them, does that mean they don’t exist? If something is difficult to find, does it mean it’s not there? Or with the help from a Mapsco or wisdom from someone who has been there before us, can we see it? Do we only want something if it comes with easy reference points and no effort?
Maybe in driving directions…but in our faith and what we believe in and live for? That’s it?
I encourage you to dig deeper. Truly spend time in God’s Word. Learn how the Old Testament comes alive today and paves the way for the truths of the New Testament. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and teach you. There is a reason Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as a counselor left behind in the Gospels. We can’t understand the wisdom and knowledge within Scripture, nor the RELEVANCE of the living word of God today without guidance from the divine counselor who resides inside every believer.
Don’t rest in the comfort of searching for easy grids to get you where you want when it comes to your faith. Trust God and rely on His direction and the experience of others to lead you around and demonstrate so much more of what He has to offer.
