A few months ago, someone asked me if I had met "Bob." I replied that "no," I hadn't even heard of him. The person then proceeded to tell me how lucky I was to have missed this introduction. After all, "Bob" was this that and the other thing.
The other day, I met Bob in person. And you know what happened in me? I couldn't help but think of the description I had already heard from months before. Better people would have forgotten - but no me. I remembered what I had heard about Bob and used it as an evaluative grid for my interaction with him. Needless to say, poor Bob was working from a deficit that he wasn't even aware on in our conversation. Ironically enough, over the course of the conversation I actually discovered that Bob was a pretty good guy. I have even enjoyed the couple of subsequent conversations with him since that initial exchange.
Lately I am becoming convinced that the same thing happens to God now and then - and I gotta think that he gets frustrated by it. Over the course of a lifetime people get impressions, data, teaching, information about God that shapes their pre-disposition towards Him, and for the most part this shapes any introduction that they might have with him for the rest of their lives.
I know how the rest of this post is supposed to go. At this point I should remind readers who are followers of Jesus that they are making impressions on God's behalf all the time. I could even end with some rhetorical flair and ask Are you making impressions that help or hinder others in their coming to know God?
I could write that, but I think it would make me vomit all over my keyboard.
These days what is more and more capturing my thoughts is where my own images of God come from and what impact they are having on my relationship with God? I know the question is pretty elementary at one level. There is a lot of common conversation about how our impressions of our earthly dad affect our relationship with our heavenly Father, that sort of thing.
I guess what I am thinking about is more like the fine brush strokes of a painting. What are the small things, the intricacies of my impressions of God? Where did these come from? On their own, each one isn't that big of a deal. No one really sees the single brush stroke in the grand landscape. But, what if there are five odd ones? ten? 50? On their own each brush stroke isn't fatal - but collectively, on the entire canvas of one's spiritual life, the combination of all of them could be devastating.
For this my first post, I feel some compulsion to wrap it all up in a neat package and put a bow on it. But maybe not. This blog is called "Life in Process" for a reason. For now, I am going to go away and ask God about which impressions I have of him that he would like a shot at changing. Who knows, maybe stroke by stroke the whole picture could change.
What about you?
