Should our faith journey get more comfortable the longer we are a Christian? Listen as pastor and author Mike Erre invites us into the deeper mystery of knowing God and to pursue living in the tension and difficulties of walking in faith. We gain a new appreciation for the unseen and unanswered in reviewing Mike’s new book Astonished: Recapturing the Wonder, Awe, and Mystery of Life With God.
“There is a sense in which God wants to be known… but think of the ways in which God reveals Himself. Think of Mt. Sinai… you have this tension of the God who reveals Himself, who wants to be known – but even in His revelation of Himself He’s constantly reminding people that He’s bigger. Sometimes in the name of Jesus we can use Christianity as a means to shrink Him.”
Mike and Neil touch on several other facets of the discussion:
• Why it’s normal for God to hide Himself, and how Jesus operated in a similar way
• The psalmists’ experience with ‘desolation’ and ‘consolation’ in seasons of walking with a hidden God
• Mike’s own journey of walking with God and raising a special needs child
• Desperation in the Christian faith
• The need for Christians to learn how to grieve and lament
• Why faith and doubt are not opposing forces; rather, the opposite of faith is sight
“We’ve confined God to … small spaces. I am such a huge fan of theology, but there’s a sense in which you can start putting theology before the person of Jesus. If you’re not immersing yourself regularly in the words of Jesus… we don’t recognize the voice and works of Jesus.” Mike says, follow Christ, and learn theology, but allow room for mystery. “It’s when we come to the end of our rope that we can become astonished again.”
