FROM THE DAWGHOUSE…
Knowing God
My uncle was a huge John Denver fan.
Ok, that’s probably an understatement. My uncle was obsessed with John Denver.
He owned all his records, and whenever we’d visit him, John Denver’s music would be playing in the background. He had seen him perform live many, many times, would often reference a line or two from one of his songs, and collected several pieces of memorabilia from his career that he displayed in his study.
And when I tell you that my uncle knew a lot about John Denver, I mean he knew A LOT about John Denver. Let’s just say, if you’re going to a trivia night and a 1960s or 70s folk-pop question comes up, you’d better hope my uncle is on your team. He had encyclopedic knowledge of this man’s career, music, personal life, etc. It was really quite impressive, in its own way.
One day I asked him if he’d ever met John Denver. He told me no, although he almost did, and he told me the story. One night, after a concert in Los Angeles, my uncle had gone to an all-night diner to grab something to eat, and after he was there for a bit, who walks in but John Denver with four other guys, and they grabbed a table two tables down from my uncle. I asked him if he went up and introduced himself and he said no, he couldn’t bring himself to approach the man and didn’t want to interrupt him. Instead, my uncle ordered more food and stayed at the diner, eavesdropping on their conversation for as long as John Denver and his friends were there.
At that table sat John Denver, his manager, and three of John’s friends. They were there about an hour, just chatting and laughing together as close friends do, talking about how the concert went and sharing inside jokes. Spending that time adjacent to John Denver was one of the most memorable time of my uncle’s life, he told me.
Reflecting back on that story, though, I think there’s an important lesson to take away about our relationship with God. My uncle knew a lot about John Denver, perhaps more than almost anyone, but the friends who sat with John Denver at that table, they didn’t just know about him, they knew him. They actually had a relationship with him. For my uncle, John Denver was a thing to learn about, listen to, study, idolize, but to his friends around the table, he was a person, who they shared history with, experiences with, could talk to and engage with. My uncle was scared to approach the man, despite being such a big fan, whether it be out of politeness or being scared that one of them would disappoint the other. But John’s friends around the table didn’t share any of those fears. They were more than comfortable to be with John, and they knew him at a far deeper level than my uncle could have.
When it comes to God and our relationship with Him, are we content to only know more about God, or do we want to actually know God more? As we do our DAWGs and go to church and FORGE, is our goal to collect new information about God to add to our store of Bible knowledge and God-facts, or are we getting closer to God Himself, leaning into a relationship with the very real God that we serve? Because God wants that close relationship with us and we are welcomed to sit at His table.
John 15:15 says “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”
God wants each of us to spend time getting to know Him, not just learn about Him. He wants a relationship with us, an actual back-and-forth relationship. Jesus’ death and resurrection has broken any barriers between the Father and us, and so let’s fully embrace a relationship with God. We do not need to sit on the sidelines and watch God from afar…we are welcomed to His table to get to know Him personally and intimately.
“This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3)
