First in a three-part series about building an authentic relationship with Christ.
“Paper or plastic?”
You have heard that question over and over from the supermarket cashier when she asks you to choose bags for your groceries.
Yet you can ask the same question of your relationship with Jesus Christ. Is yours paper … or plastic? Let’s look at paper first.
Paper Is Useful and Practical
Paper is a mainstay in offices, business, medicine, technology, households, construction, and recreation. More than 5,000 products are made from paper in a process that converts wood pulp into cellulose, then adds oils and resins. The resulting material is useful, practical, and versatile.
Is Your Relationship With Christ Like Paper?
Or consider the expression “paper tiger,” which represents an outward show of strength with little or no resilience beneath the surface. The term entered the mainstream in a 1956 interview with China’s communist founder Mao Tse-Tung. “In appearance, [American expansionism] is very powerful,” he said. “But it is a paper tiger. It is unable to withstand the wind and the rain … in reality it is nothing to be afraid of.”
On a spiritual level your relationship with Jesus may be like a paper tiger, lacking substance and staying power.
While the decision to become a Christ-follower is one step in your relationship with Him, the process of becoming Christ-like is an altogether different experience. If you have made a profession of faith in Christ, where are you in the process of becoming more Christ-like and growing deeper in your relationship with Him?
If yours is a paper connection, then it may be attractive on the outside (perhaps even glossy) … yet superficial. It is the kind of relationship that can “paper over” the truth, covering up or concealing your worries, habits, and fears.
When tested, a paper tiger relationship with Jesus tears and rips. That is, you rarely (if ever) experience transformation … in times of testing you may fall apart, or fears and struggles may surface… you may even turn your back on Him.
It is a shallow relationship with Jesus, one unable to withstand the winds and the storms of life.
Build a Relationship that Goes Deep
In contrast, a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ cultivates ongoing life change, allowing Him access to areas of your life beneath the surface – areas that may hurt or reveal shame or carry guilt or expose wounds. You grow closer to Christ over time, one step at a time, tearing away one layer at a time.
There, beneath the surface, is where Christ works rich transformation.
It is then that your relationship with Him is no longer shallow, superficial, or easily torn or shaken. Rather, it is “like a living stone, being built into a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:4).
And that’s a house that will stand.
Paper or plastic? Neither.
