There are some who argue that we have made God too personal. Is that possible? Can a God who literally lives inside of me be too intimate?
There are those who tell us that we shouldn’t talk about God as if he were our best friend, for fear we will forget about his majesty, power, and glory. But doesn’t intimacy create knowability—closeness familiarity? Are you afraid that I will make Jesus too familiar?
Is it okay that when I was young, I walked home from school with Jesus? He laughed as I told him Albert’s joke from the lunchroom; he smiled when I showed him the multi-colored sea shell from show and tell; and he seemed pleased that I did not make Ms. Sandy angry that day.
Is it ok that I played games with Jesus on weekends? He seemed to enjoy them. Jokes? He laughed.
Is it ok that that our discussions continued into junior high and high school? The subjects were different—boys, school, friends. He seemed interested.
Are you worried that I am making the Gospel about me and not about him? I think maybe you are worrying too much.
Remain in me and I in you—
Is it okay that as I got older, I took walks with him along the beach, marveled at the colors of the shells, and listened to his voice in the waves? We smiled at the little boy making sandcastles. Is he close, yes. Is he powerful, yes.
And he walks with me and he talks with me—
In the garden I find him still: In the seedling and the bloom, in the crowded multi-colored zinnias, in the baby’s breath hidden behind celosia. And we talk about simple things in this garden of constant change. He seems interested, still. You would probably be ok with this—it doesn’t seem excessive or too personal.
Yet you continue to warn me—
“Don’t make God your personal buddy.”
Too late.