The Experience of Christ

[OBW]

Originally Posted by aron

I think that the experience of Christ lies in leaving the 99 and finding the one lost sheep. WL made it instead about "building the body".

And right here may be one of the reasons that I still have a problem with the term. We may have a problem with what Lee called "building the body," but all that would entail would seem to be out of, or part of the experience of Christ.

Yet it is not the whole.

Neither is leaving the 99 to find the one. It can only be part of it. Not all of it.

And this is the problem I have with the term. For so many people, if we continue to call everything of the Christian life "the experience of Christ" yet do not provide details as to what it was in each instance that was "experience of Christ," then we have masked the true meaning of the instance and set an undefined bar as the measure that others see themselves as having to measure up to.

How much better to speak of having something prick your conscience about how you drive, and then taking action to correct it. Or about your attitude toward the gay guy in the office, or the woman who is living with her boyfriend.

I know. I only mention certain kinds of things. We need to be honest in our dealing with the clerk at the checkout counter. We don't always need to mask our emotions, but we need to check whether the emotion is righteous, or just us being upset (or even gleeful when the bad guy "gets it"). We need to deal rightly with our children. Sometimes that means calmly with only "the facts." Other times the emotion, especially of fear or concern is very necessary, especially for the young who have no concept of many dangers.

And on we go.

Someone pointed to being loving until it dries up. But what is required to rehydrate your love? Are we just SOL if we cannot take enough time to stop and pray, or is the realization that we are about to "blow it" simply evidence that we are not taking advantage of what we already have for the purpose of life and godliness?

And rather than making all of these things into a never-really-described "experience of God" smoothie that doesn't instruct or enlighten anyone as to what it means, why not just talk about the actual experience for what it is rather than just saying "I had an experience of Christ."

Especially since there really is no such term used in the Bible. The Bible describes events, including discussions. It does not describe "experience of Christ" or ever say the term.

So why do we have to do so and what does it do for us?