The God of the Here and Now
Greg Boyd
Several years ago an acquaintance told me she and her husband were going to travel to Lakeland, FL, where a “healing revival” had purportedly broken out. When I asked them if they were going because they needed healing, they replied that they just wanted to witness “God doing stuff.”
Even though I have nothing against revivals—provided they actually help people grow in their capacity to receive and manifest God’s love, I do get concerned about the assumption that God is “doing stuff” in one place more than another. I’ve known people who have spent a great deal of time and money traveling the world “chasing God” at various revivals, all the while missing what God was doing—and what God wanted to do—in and through their own lives.
The problem is that we have “over-the-rainbow” syndrome. In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy thought she could find the life she dreamed of “somewhere over the rainbow.” Her adventures in Oz taught her that, if she looked at things rightly, everything she really wanted she already had at home in Kansas. It’s the same lesson the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion had to learn.
Some think God is more active over there than he is right here. Others think God was more present in the past, or hope he’ll be more present in the future, than he is right now. Related to this, many think that the quality of their life and their relationship with God would have been much better if only certain things hadn’t happened in the past or weren’t happening in the present. Or they imagine the quality of their life and their relationship with God will be greatly improved if only things pan out in the future.
If we can’t discern God’s presence in our day-to-day lives, it’s unlikely that we’ll find him at a revival or some other spiritual event. We may find a lot of excitement, great speakers, superb music, and maybe even some “signs and wonders.” But unless a person learns to find God as much in the ordinary as in the exciting, the exciting will do nothing more than serve as a momentary distraction.
Never suppose God is more “there” than “here,” or more “then” than “now.” For the Father is always working—in all places, at all times, in all people. The steadfast love of God fills the entire earth (Ps 33:15). Your evening at home with your family may not have the fanfare of a great revival, but God is as much at work there as in any revival. And there’s at least as much important kingdom work to engage in there as in any revival.
While there’s no denying that God moves differently in different places and times, the ultimate truth is that God is as present as he ever was or ever will be, right here and right now. And because of this, the fullness of life and intimacy with God you long for is available to you right here and right now, as much as any other place and any other time.
In this light, looking for God in any other place than here or any other time than now amounts to nothing more than a massive distraction. You’re dreaming about what’s over the rainbow, in some mythical land of Oz, and this is the very thing that’s keeping you from experiencing the love and joy that’s all around you in your very own “Kansas.” —
SCBH
Bog ovde i sada
Greg Bojd
Pre nekoliko godina, jedna poznanica mi je rekla da ona i njen muž planiraju da otputuju u Lejklend, Florida, gde je navodno izbio „revival“ (probuđenje isceljenjima). Kada sam ih pitao da li putuju zato što im je potrebno isceljenje, odgovorili su da jednostavno žele da vide „kako Bog nešto radi.“
Iako nemam ništa protiv duhovnih probuđenja — pod uslovom da ljudima zaista pomažu da rastu u svojoj sposobnosti da primaju i izražavaju Božiju ljubav — ipak me zabrinjava pretpostavka da Bog „nešto radi“ na jednom mestu više nego na drugom. Znam ljude koji su trošili mnogo vremena i novca putujući po svetu „jureći Boga“ na raznim probuđenjima, a pri tom su propuštali ono što je Bog radio — i želeo da radi — u njihovim sopstvenim životima.
Problem je u tome što patimo od sindroma „tamo negde preko duge“. U filmu Čarobnjak iz Oza, Doroti je verovala da će pronaći život o kojem sanja „negde tamo preko duge“. Međutim, njene avanture u Ozu naučile su je da sve što je zaista želela, već je imala kod kuće, u Kanzasu. Istu lekciju morali su da nauče i Strašilo, Limeni Čovek i Lav.
Neki ljudi veruju da je Bog aktivniji tamo negde, nego ovde. Drugi misle da je bio prisutniji u prošlosti, ili se nadaju da će to biti u budućnosti, nego što jeste sada. Povezano s tim, mnogi misle da bi njihov život — i njihov odnos s Bogom — bio mnogo bolji da se neke stvari nisu dogodile u prošlosti, ili da se ne dešavaju sada. Ili pak zamišljaju da će život postati bolji ako se u budućnosti nešto dobro desi.
Ali ako ne možemo da prepoznamo Božiju prisutnost u svakodnevnom životu, mala je verovatnoća da ćemo ga zaista pronaći na nekom probuđenju ili duhovnom događaju. Možemo tamo doživeti uzbuđenje, čuti sjajne govornike, uživati u vrhunskoj muzici, pa možda čak videti i neka „čuda i znake“. Ali ako osoba ne nauči da pronađe Boga isto toliko u običnom koliko i u uzbudljivom, tada uzbudljivo ostaje samo trenutna distrakcija.
Nikada ne pretpostavljaj da je Bog više „tamo“ nego „ovde“, ili više „tada“ nego „sada“. Jer Otac neprestano deluje — na svim mestima, u svakom trenutku, u svim ljudima. Božija postojana ljubav ispunjava celu zemlju (Psalam 33:15). Tvoje veče kod kuće sa porodicom možda nema sjaj velikog probuđenja, ali Bog je isto toliko prisutan tu kao i na bilo kom duhovnom skupu. I tamo postoji bar isto toliko važnog rada za Božje kraljevstvo.
Iako je tačno da Bog deluje različito u različitim vremenima i mestima, krajnja istina je da je On prisutan sada baš koliko je ikada bio — i koliko će ikada biti. I upravo zbog toga, punina života i bliskost sa Bogom za kojom čezneš dostupni su ti ovde i sada, isto koliko i bilo gde drugo, bilo kad drugo.
Iz te perspektive, tražiti Boga bilo gde drugde osim ovde, ili bilo kada osim sada, nije ništa drugo nego velika distrakcija. Sanjariš o nečemu „tamo preko duge“, u nekoj mitskoj zemlji Oz, i upravo to te sprečava da iskusiš ljubav i radost koje su već svuda oko tebe — u tvom sopstvenom „Kanzasu“.
Adaptirano iz knjige „Present Perfect“, strane 134–147.
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