Yesterday I had a brief chat with a colleague, while crossing paths at the photocopier in work… I shared that I was going on a brief mission trip the following day (today!), and this led to exchanging religious affiliations. The rest of the brief chat is transcribed below. It was a very open, generous-spirited chat. It may seem pretty straight-to-the-point, and this is because it was pretty straight-to-the-point!:) But the ‘spirit’ of the chat, by God’s grace, did not have a ‘sharp’ point on it!:) I share this exchange for two reasons, primarily:
**************************** ME: So you are a Jew? As a Christian I am very committed to sharing with people about one particular Jew – Jesus Christ!:) Are you a ‘practicing’ Jew? JOSH: Yes! Actually, I am in an administrative role in the Synagoge, so I’m actually quite involved. I took the kids and wife to Israel last summer, too, and it was wonderful! So what do you do on these mission visits to South America? ME: Wow, Josh, I’d say that trip to Israel was amazing! Yes, well, actually I support local churches in really just sharing about the message of Jesus. When Jesus was asked what the most important command was, he quoted Deuteronomy 6:5-6 (Love the Lord your God…). God always wanted a love relationship with mankind, and Jesus came to fulfill this… So, Josh, I would love to hear your views some time on the Jew, Jesus Christ. I read somewhere that we are all obliged, really, to make a decision on this man – that he was either lying about himself, completely deluded about himself, or he was actually the Messiah. JOSH: Hey, I actually quote that verse every morning (well, not every morning, but I’m supposed to!:)). Well, Peter, the truth is, I believe that God reveals himself differently to people at different times, and the important thing is how we live. ME: (Smiliing/Gentle): Josh – that’s not actually the Jewish belief!:) JOSH: I know, I know!:) But I think that our minds are just too small to really understand God! ME: Josh, our minds are too small to understand God, as it says in the Prophets, ‘As high as the heavens are above the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways…’ (Isaiah 55:9) For this reason, Josh, we don’t – and cannot – rely on our minds to figure out what is true about God. We rely on his ‘revelation’. For this reason he did not allow Moses to give the people a name that they would ‘understand’ or fit into their systems, he said simply, ‘I AM That I AM’ (Ex 3:14). JOSH: Yes, this is true, God’s revelation… (Here the school bell started ringing, people bustling past us and through us…) PLEASE PRAY FOR JOSH, THAT THE LORD WOULD OPEN HIS EYES TO THIS ISSUE OF ‘REVELATION’. WHO IS IT THAT GOD HAS SAID HE IS?
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AuthorPeter Walker. Archives
March 2022
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