It’s an old joke, I know. But somehow it hits a nerve; it taps into a very common frustration that each of us has experienced—the fruitless hunt, exploring every possibility we can imagine to find the valuable item we long to locate, only to discover, time and time again, that it is not to be found anywhere—at least, not anywhere we’re looking for it!
I hate to waste time looking for things—especially things that should be right where I left them, right where I expect to find them. I think, in general, we all like “finding” a whole lot more than we like “searching”. We’re much more satisfied with answers than questions. We’re attracted to clear solutions rather than unsolved mysteries. You know that unsettled feeling you get at the end of a cliffhanger—very little resolution and plenty of possible outcomes? You hate that, right? (You’d probably even say that the show really didn’t have an ending!) We love it when the story’s all wrapped up in a neat little package. (That’s why we read all the print at the end of the movie that tells you what happened later to each of the characters.) It occurs to me that we want the same kind of resolution in our relationship with Jesus. We like the settledness of that “once and done” idea. We’re quite satisfied with the comfort of truths like “I accepted Jesus as my Savior” (note the past tense) and “Now I will go to heaven when I die” (note the future tense). We’re so content, in fact, with the happy ending, that many self-identified Christians either minimize or neglect any present relationship with Jesus.
Why? Perhaps because we don’t find there much resolution. What we do find is an ongoing process, a very messy, unpredictable, never-completed process that is deeply satisfying in one sense, but also seems to defy any planning, anticipation or resolution—despite all our attempts to create formulas. We find satisfaction in drinking, but our thirst is never quenched.
The word the Bible often uses for this process is “seeking God”—that is, searching for God, looking for God. (That might seem like bad news for all those, like me, who hate to have to keep looking for things.) But maybe the reason God chose this word, “seeking”, to describe our present relationship with him is because the essence of our connection with Jesus is an ongoing, unfinished, unresolved, continual search for him. “I’m not there yet,” says Paul, one of our best models for this lifestyle of pursuit. “But I continue to do one thing: I keep moving forward. I press on toward the prize of knowing God and being changed by him.” (see Philippians 3:7-14)
Christians love to describe their relationship with God in “finished” terms like, “I found Jesus”. That implies, though, that the search is over now. But what would your life look like if you realized that your relationship with Jesus could best be understood in “unfinished” terms: “I am seeking Jesus”? Although you may have already made some wonderful discoveries, the search is far from over. In fact, it’s hardly begun. The chase resumes each morning as you awake. You pursue him—not new information about him, but pursue him—hot on his heels, all day long, every single day of your life. Even though you have found something, you don’t ever stop searching, because you still haven’t found everything you’re looking for. You’re never satisfied enough to stop. The relationship with God is a pursuit—not a discovery.
These days, people think of a “seeker” as someone without a relationship with God, and a “seeker church” as one that tries to attract such a person.
But how our lives would change if we realized that “seeker” is actually a better description for someone who does have a relationship with God—someone who is intentionally pursuing him, chasing him, searching for him, every day of their life! And imagine how our church would change if we understood a “seeker church” as a gathering of those who were actively engaged in that pursuit, meeting together just so they could share with each other—and with anyone else who will listen—how the hunt is going!
To learn about how you can join this kind of pursuit, look here: |
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See more messages in this same series.
| Attachment | Size |
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| A Different Kind of Seeker- notes.pdf | 187.34 KB |
| Verses about Seeking.pdf | 79.77 KB |
