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Extraordinary claims!

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proofs.
DR DREYFUSS

That quote is from a recent horror movie I watched 'Mama'. This came to mind yesterday as we were discussing with friends the sensational and earth shuttering Christian claim that "God lives in me". The world is certainly right to ask, 'we hear you, but where is the extraordinary proof?'

In other words, how is your life radically different given this extraordinary claim that "God lives in you"? We are after all talking about the One who called worlds into existence. The one who through whom all things hold together. What is happening in your life your life that lends weight that He has truly taken up residence?

Pondering these questions remind us that the truth of God taking up residence in the walls of our hearts is both comforting and troubling. Comforting because we have God's infinite resources at our disposal through Jesus Christ and we now stand fully powered by His Spirit. As the Bible declares : 
"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire" (2 Peter 1:3, 4)
It is troubling because in our day to day many of us, if we are honest for a moment, do not think God's thoughts after him. We have no yearning to know him more. He is a mere cash machine. We are not showing any sign that we are being empowered by Him to transform lives, plant churches, weep with the persecuted and see His glory at work! There's no evidence of this Holy Spirit enthused divine power. It is mainly theory - and no one it fails to persuade the world!
The scripture for us then is this one : "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realise this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!" (2 Corinthians 13:5)
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proofs. St Paul like Dr Dreyfuss rightly acknowledge the importance of empirical proof! Christian faith is not blind faith. It is faith based on what we know and see God doing in our lives. And if we don't see it we must test and see where we truly stand. Are we everyday becoming more and more like the God we claim lives in us? In word, thought and deed?

Copyright © Chola Mukanga 2013
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