Casual vs. Close

So, what exactly is the Christian faith? What does it mean to be a Christian? Some folks may say, “I know there is a God.” “I know about Jesus’ death on the cross.” “I know that the Bible is God’s inspired truth.” “I go to church.” “Hey, I pray.” All of these things are great. Each of them plays an important part to the Christian faith. But what I am searching for is a life changing faith. If Christian spirituality is not life changing, what good is it really? If it’s just another set of principles and teachings, then there is nothing special about it. My faith, my spirituality, it must be more than praying the Lord’s prayer, attending church services, and following all of the commands of the Bible. (As if anyone could ever follow them all, anyways.) One can be involved in all of the areas of Christianity and still not have a life changing experience.
When Jesus was asked what the most two important commandments were, what was His response? Love God and love your neighbor. At the core of these two commandments is relationship. In order for the Christian faith to be a life changing experience it has to be put in the context of relationship. For instance, I have many casual friends. I have so many casual friends that I often forget a casual friend’s name when I see them. Have you ever had that happen to you? “Hey, Matt. How have you been?” “Hey, there, ….buddy. What’s going on.” In those kinds of situations I usually try to fake it, but the other person can probably read my forgetfulness. In casual relationships, this is usually the extent of most conversations. Most of the time casual friends will exchange pleasantries, and both parties will be on their way. The casual relationships that I have do not affect me as a person. They do not inspire me to be greater or encourage me in times of need. They are just casual, after all. I wouldn’t go up to a casual friend and say, “Hey, …buddy, I am really having a problem with judging others. You see that dude, man he is such a loser. Hey, pray for me about this.” That’s just something you would talk about with a casual friend.
I do have really close relationships with people. My close friendships are few but very meaningful. I have many more casual relationships than I do close ones because close relationships take work to maintain. No one has enough energy or stamina to maintain hundreds of close relationships. But we do have the ability to get involved in some close relationships. And when we have these close relationships, they affect who we are. A close friend can inspire you, encourage you, and speak words of wisdom into your life because they know who you really are. You wouldn’t pass by a close friend and say, “Hey, how are you? Have a good one,” and let that be it. You wouldn’t just talk to a close friend whenever you didn’t have anything better to do. “Hey, let’s hangout because I have nothing more entertaining to do.” “Hey, I only want to talk to you for an hour or so on a particular day of the week.” These are not the kinds of thing you would tell someone you are in a close relationship with. If you did say these things to them, you probably wouldn’t be close to them for that long. Do you see where I am going with this?
In order for us to have a life changing Christian faith, we have to have more than just a casual relationship with God. We have to press into Him and get to know Him in order to experience closeness with Him. This is a hypothetical situation, a very hypothetical situation. Say, I was dating a lady. And let’s say that she really loved me, but I was always too busy for her. I would publicly admit that I was dating her, but I only dropped by to see her maybe once a week and most of the time I spent with her my mind was off somewhere else. If I had this kind of relationship, it wouldn’t be that great of a relationship, would it? That’s how it is with us and God. If we have a close relationship with Him, it will be evident in our lives. When we have a close relationship with God, this close relationship will affect the way we live.