Where am I?
the art of locating
These days, the declarative posture is an easy one to adopt. We can build platforms with just a few clicks, amplifying thoughts often unvetted and characterized mainly by a see-through panache. Due to overexposure, our modern palate has been dulled to declaration. How far do we have to look before encountering someone with an opinion?
Recently, I was having a discussion with a good friend of mine; he’s a personal confidant and a Green Beret. The exchange was decidedly one way until he calmly interrupted with this statement:
"Less talking, Ben. More communication," he said.
The original story of Christianity is beautiful for many reasons, not the least of which is its linguistic simplicity. In just 794 words, the explanation of how all this began was written. The recounting is sparse and potent. It's one of the most striking things about the original story, which makes it all the more surprising how often this fact is overlooked. There's a great deal of power in how we communicate a thing. God, it appears, knows this full well. His first recorded words? His dramatic introduction to what would eventually become humanity? "Let there be light.”
Four words. Two, if you read it in Hebrew.
Astonishing.
There is a real sense in which words have lost meaning today. As we communicate more digitally and less personally, words and characters are no longer bound tightly with the speaker. This is not the case with Yahweh. Very early on, the storyteller links the speaker with the syllable. Banked within this Hebrew phrase is the name for God himself, Yahweh. In short, Yahweh's declarations have the power to consume us all if unbridled. And herein lies the point of this simple post.
The power of Yahweh is only out-bested by the love of Yahweh.
Growing up as sinners in the hands of an angry God, this concept can be slightly disorienting. In light of this common misconception about Yahweh, 1 John 4:8, acts as a compass rose informing us that God is love. Regrettably, we more commonly think of him as the declarative disciplinarian. There is no doubt that his anger and his holiness are not to be trifled with. However, when examining the life of Jesus, who represents the rescuing heart of Yahweh, the evidence demands that love is Yahweh's dominant characteristic and strategy.
Perhaps an example would be helpful. As it turns out, this first story doesn't take long to relay the intricacies of the first mistake. Upon examination, one could argue that it was the most damaging decision ever made by two people. This mistake's ramifications were cosmic and generational. It was so large, in fact, that it would take blood, purchased through a violent murder, to reverse it. Oddly, even the crucifixion didn't stop the bleeding. This one mistake added a prefix to nature: sin. One can scarcely understand just how significant this mistake was. Understanding its magnitude makes Yahweh's approach and what he does next so captivating.
He stops making statements like, “Let there be light,” and he starts asking questions like, “Where are you?”
If you want to see the heart of God, of Jesus, more clearly, you'll start reading the Bible through the lens of questions. You'll find them there, perfectly proposed and positioned to stretch your Western mindset and reveal the mysterious, holy heart of Yahweh. This is what the Bible is getting at when it says his ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are not our thoughts Isaiah 55:8-9. With something this “other than” this above and mysterious, we must learn more about it through observation. We understand this at a human level. At the beginning of our lives, we learn more through observation than we do through instruction. I believe our spiritual development should follow the same pattern. This belief heavily informs my thoughts on the Church’s current efforts dominated by its professional instructors, many of whom are shells of what they should be as disciples but can give a great speech.
If you want to know what someone is like, the fastest way to get there is by observing what they do, especially under duress. It is nearly unimaginable what Yahweh felt when he watched Eve and Adam with her rebel. What would you have done next? What have you done when people you love deeply do things to hurt you, to hurt others that you love? Although we could reach back even further in the story, at this point, Yahweh most certainly knew that one bite would cost his son dearly, even to the point of death on a cross. Still, his first move was to get his kids talking.
His spirit moves through the scene of the crime, not with fury and disdain, but rather a loving urgency. "Where are you," he calls out to Adam. According to the original language, the feeling behind this question is that of something being moved from where it was last seen. "Where have you moved, Adam," may be a more accurate translation. Marty Solomon gives an excellent explanation of this in his third episode of his podcast, BEMA.
In therapy circles, this is called locating. Yahweh beat modern therapy to the punch. This question provided precisely what Adam and Eve needed to emerge from shame's shadow and engage in a dialogue, even if it was painful and embarrassing. Now, Adam's answer wasn't his best moment, I'm sure of that. But Adam and Eve aren't the focus here. Yahweh is. In his transition from the declarative to the interrogative, he shows us what he is like to his kids when they fail.
He engages them with curiosity.
He gives them a voice.
He provides for them.
He provides because he knows how they have sought to provide for themselves won't hold up in the new world they’ve created. Man, does this last one hit home. If we are going to be people who pursue Yahweh long-term, who stick in relationship like he's asked us to, then we must do at least two things:
1. Develop a healthy relationship with failure.
2. Be willing to engage with Yahweh's questions.
So, let's start with this locating and revealing one, the first one to emerge in the human story. Where are you? Emotionally speaking, where are you? In light of the things that have happened to you and through you, where are you? Based on what you have done to provide for yourself, where are you? If it's any consolation, and it should be, Yahweh doesn't ask questions for his benefit. He asks them for ours. He’s the kind of god that is activated by our failures and refuses to allow them to have the last word. Trust his heart and know that if he's found you in the bushes of shame, sloppily hiding in your own provision, He's there because he wants to be. And what you do next could make all the difference.