Walrus World

Yesterday, I talked about living in a walrus world while trying to understand the metaphor of a shepherd.  How do we understand the Word and Truth of God while we live in a strange land?

Expand that thought.  How do we faithfully explain the world of God to someone who has no touchpoints at all for the faith of Jesus?  What about someone who has never read any scripture at all?  How do we explain that Jesus is the Lamb of God to someone who has never read about the Jewish sacrifices of the Old Testament.  And I only use Lamb of God as an example?  How do we talk about God to someone who has no reference points at all?

I'm not sure.

First of all, we start with God.  We need to remember that it is God who brought us to realization of faith, and we need to rely on God to do the same for someone else.  Pray.  Remember prevenient grace.

That realization should lead us to humility.   We need to remember that even though we understand that God is active in our lives, we are still walrus caretakers.  We have only seen God through a mirror, dimly.  When we speak to someone else, even someone who has no reference points for faith, we are still on a journey together, co-travelers.

Can we drop the idea that we are right and the other person is wrong?  Can we truly believe that God is not only working in our lives, but also in the lives of other people?

I wonder also if we need to be careful with words.  I think I (and other people) use "faith words" pretty freely.  It was years (and years) before I had any understanding of what "grace" means (to use a example), and yet I was surrounded by people who were throwing the word around as if everyone knew what it meant.

As the phrase goes, "The Truth is Out There."  And it's in us, and it's in the person in front of us.  What a wonderful opportunity.