Bringing "Our Father" Into Today's Church

Eddie Fernandes

The mission given to the church remains the same as the one first given to the early believers by the Lord Jesus Christ 2000 years ago: “to go and make disciples of all nations (people)” (Matthew 28:19,20). For a church like Riverside International Church, in Lisbon, Portugal, to discover how to carry out its mission in the fragmented, unique and complex world it is planted in, it must first come to grips with the God who gave the mission it is trying to carry out. The Bible does not give us a comprehensive definition of God. We know that He is Spirit (John 4:24), but in truth none of us can fully comprehend all that is implied in that Biblical teaching (I Cor. 2:16). Being Spirit does not simply mean that He does not have a physical or material body. Some of the things that are given to us to know about God are revealed in the Holy Bible. By reading it we understand that Our Almighty God is loving, caring, personal, plural, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, unique, immutable, the self-existent Creator of the universe and everything in it. These are but a few characteristics God chooses to reveal about Himself to His people. The Bible also reveals a God who is paradoxically transcendent and immanent.

So how does a church present such a wonderful and awesome God to this generation? How do we deal with the paradox of a close yet distant God? We are all called to be His witnesses to our generations (Acts 1:8). I truly believe that every single person that walks through the doors of any church, on any given Sunday, does so to try and find out about this incredible God. They come seeking, inquiring, longing for, hoping and even desiring to meet with Him. While some are not completely convinced there is such a God – often Christians turned them off Him – they come because deep down they hope there is, and that He will reward them by making Himself known to them. I am convinced that the deepest cry of the human soul is for help – help from something or someone that is infinitely greater than we are. God has placed eternity in the heart of every human being (Eccl. 3:11).

When seekers enter churches all over the world, I submit that they are presented either with a picture of a God that is primarily or predominantly transcendent, or with a picture of a God that is primarily or predominantly immanent. The goal of the church should be successfully to embrace, present and live within the tension of both these pictures of God.

In churches predominantly focusing on the transcendence of God the liturgy, the apparel of the “holy man”, the imagery, the structure of the buildings, the ritual and ceremony – in short the whole approach to Him – communicates that He is so great and so mighty that He is almost as inaccessible as the crow perched on the high steeple outside (Is. 55:9). It has been my observation that a large number of people in these types of churches struggle to come to enjoy a personal, warm, real, living and intimate relationship with the Lord God. Having visited scores of such churches I have sensed very little joy, enthusiasm or excitement in these beloved believers. Everything about the environment of these churches communicates distance: from the position of the lofty richly decorated altar to the unusual ornamented robes of the clergy.

On the flipside of the coin we have churches that focus predominantly on the picture of an immanent God (Col. 1:27). The picture of Christ living with and in believers is strongly pursued whilst the picture of transcendence makes everyone feel uncomfortable. The church buildings are normally stripped of all imagery, meetings take place in all kinds of places, the services have a relaxed feel to them, the dress of both “holy man” and congregant is casual and whatever is considered “normal” in the societal context; the music, message and format of the service is relaxed, contemporary and, in some cases, relevant. Seekers feel more comfortable entering these churches because they can relate to many things they see and hear. Yet too often, the reverence, the holiness, the “fear of the Lord”, the “otherness” of God so prevalent in the pages of Scripture is lost. God is reduced to the status of a “buddy” living next door. We are encouraged in Hebrews 12:28 to “be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.” The way God is treated by many believers in so many of these types of churches today would offend the vast majority of Christians who lived just 30 years ago. I am further convinced that the patriarchs and saints of old would cringe at the disrespect shown towards “the Ancient of Days” in so many of our more charismatic churches today. The reverence and awe is replaced by disrespect for the holy.

Of course these observations are not intended as a blanket statement. There are many exceptions on both sides of the pendulum. There are many wonderful and healthy churches that correctly balance both pictures of God. They are “walking in the fear of the Lord (transcendence) and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit (immanence)” and as a result they too are being multiplied! (Acts 9:31).

We cannot box God in. Everything about Him will always be infinitely greater than what our finite mind will be able to grasp. The combined knowledge and wisdom of the whole Riverside community I serve as pastor, indeed of all the churches in Lisbon and beyond, will not even begin to scratch the surface of the greatness of our God. The challenge ever before us is how we can we present a balanced and objective picture of God.

The Bible clearly teaches that He is simultaneously transcendent and immanent. There is no one correct way to approach Him. There is no one right way to serve and worship Him. When all is said and done whatever we do to minister to Him will always be infinitely less than what He really deserves. As the Psalmist wrote “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens…When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” (Psalm 8:1, 3, 4). Whatever methods we mortals use, whichever way we “design” our church services and ministries, all that we do to reach out to Him and to His lost creation, will always be the results of our imperfect attempts to serve a perfect God. Our comfort and our strength is the fact that He helps us along the way by His Holy Spirit. But at the end of the day we are still imperfect beings struggling with all of the imperfections that so easily war against us.

The greater part of my past experience with God was one that focused almost exclusively on His immanence. Some years ago when things began to change I found myself criticizing and judging less what others were doing. I started entering church buildings and attending services in churches that those who experienced God the way I did had always labelled as: traditional, archaic, outdated, conservative, boring, irrelevant, dead! I stopped pointing out the “wrong way” others were trying to serve Him and their communities. I began instead to be open and to observe what God was – and is – doing in the world in the most diverse places. With eyes wide open (in amazement) as a silent observer, I began seeing for the first time God at work in people who were more ready than I had ever thought. I began to pray more, listen more and speak less. I started hearing and seeing Him at work more than I had ever done. The blinds I had worn had filtered out His obviously manifest presence. Today I am a learner. There is sheer enjoyment observing God at work in His universal church… with all of its flaws and shortcomings! Whereas in the past I avoided those “dead” churches, now I am a student of the traditions, rituals, liturgies, forms, images, writings and symbols. I am reading again, but from a different angle, the history of my beloved church. Fascinated, I fellowship with priests, canons, bishops, reverends and vicars. My hope is to understand, to learn what can be learned, to build bridges, to open hearts and to see God at work in people and places I had totally ignored!

Many of my fellow ministers misunderstand me. Sadly, as often happens when one tries to unite instead of divide, they are shunned and cut off. We seem to love our sectarianism and therefore we polarise towards division. Strange how we continue to ignore the gut-wrenching, heart-cry of our dear Lord? How do we continue to disobey this plea? “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me (John 17:22-23). We don’t have to agree with everything. I am not advocating in any way that we should embrace everything that is out there. We will continue to disagree over belief, teaching, doctrine, practice and conduct. Unity does not mean uniformity. Does a husband always agree with his wife? Does a parent always see eye-to-eye with his teenage son or daughter? Does a brother argue with his siblings? Division destroys our ranks. Satan’s work is facilitated. He need not waste his energy doing battle against the church when the church is successfully going to war against itself! Unity builds bridges, love opens hearts, Christ mends the broken walls, and the Spirit takes care of differences and fixes wrong conduct and doctrine (cf. Zechariah 4:6).

Mistakenly when we look at churches that focus predominantly on the transcendence of God with all of their rituals and traditions, we, in the immanent camp, believe they have missed the point by relegating God to a remote place in the universe. Erroneously we believe that the rituals are but feeble attempts to bring this distant God into their present reality. We struggle with the fact that they do not understand that God is all around them, in fact, desires to live in them! Today, I am beginning to understand that many, not all but many, do believe that. Their approach to Him is not because of His distance and isolation but rather due to a more correct understanding that He is distinct from, separate from, and above everything known to man. For many the ritual has nothing to do with His remoteness but rather His “otherness”. Many of these believers have correctly grasped God’s incredible vastness and greatness. Howbeit, the truth is that many still need to press further in order to discover His nearness. They need to discover a God that desires to live inside each one of His children and enjoy the fruit of such a personal and immanent relationship (cf. Rev. 3:20).

The word immanent comes from the Latin word “in” and “manere” which means to remain. God, the infinite Spirit, created everything and is present in every part of His creation. He is not to be confused with His creation. He is not the creation itself as Pantheism teaches. He is, however, intimately linked to everything. With regard to mankind, the creation He loved so much He died to redeem, He not only wants to surround, he wants to envelope and “remain in” every human being! He actively permeates the entire universe. Incredible as it may sound He is so close to each one of us that He will never be nearer or further to each one of us than He is right now! He is never safely out of range that He will not intervene to deal with our sin. He is never so far removed that He cannot instantly help those who call on His name. He is always just one prayer away from any and all who sincerely seek Him (Rom. 10:9, 10). To those who have believed in Him and invited His Son to be Lord of their lives, He has entered their finite and mortal bodies and has set up residence in them by His Holy Spirit (I Cor. 3:16).

Yet as close as He is, as intimately connected to us as He is, He is still God Almighty, High and Lifted Up, Holy and to be respected. He should be feared by all of His creation (Job 28:28). What a wonderful God we serve!

Jesus taught the simultaneous transcendence and immanence of God in everything He did. When He taught the disciples how to pray He said, “Our Father (immanence) who art in Heaven (transcendence)…” (Matthew 6:9-15). Who can be closer than a father? Who is more intimately connected with a child than a truly loving, caring and providing father whose very seed the child is made from? Yet, where is heaven, yes even the highest heaven and who can know the dwelling place of God? Which one of us can reach up into heaven and see the place where He has established His throne? A million galaxies are but the beginning of His universe. Truly we must agree with Job: “How great is God - beyond our understanding! (36:26).

May we all become bridge-builders, peacemakers and promoters of unity within Christianity so that the world may discover our magnificent, incredible and truly awesome God who is unquestionably transcendent and paradoxically immanent! It is not by our conceit, arrogance and haughtiness that people will come to know Him. Isn’t it amazing that we all claim to have the “inside scoop” on God, but the Bible teaches: “No-one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us” (I John 4:12). May we love the world as God did, even to the point of giving our lives for others we don’t really agree with… should it ever come to that! (John 3:16).

(All passages from the New International Version of the Bible)