“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
The truth is powerful, but even more so in the context of relationship and experience. God could have written a message in the sky, shouted from a mountain top or dictated a list of rules to communicate with us, but He didn’t. He stepped into a human body and lived with us. He sought out a relationship with us. He let us experience Him.
For the past ten days, I’ve been at a Young Life camp in northern Georgia. Young Life is all about kids hearing the truth of God’s word, but they know it needs to be wrapped in relationships and experiences. Kids come to camp with an adult leader–someone who’s been building a relationship with them, going to their games, hanging out with them.
A Young Life leader is someone willing to invest in a relationship with a kid no matter how far or how close they may be to Jesus. Leaders earn the right to be heard by loving kids unconditionally.
At camp, kids experience things like ropes courses, zip lines, climbing walls and mountain biking. They get to enjoy great facilities and eat great food. They sing. They dance. And they worship. It’s a week of off-the-charts fun and adventure.
Can a kid hear the truth sitting in a Sunday school class or after-school Bible study? Sure they can, but there’s something very, very powerful about adding in the relationship and experience elements. For many kids (and adults), it’s the difference between “more of the same” and “life-changing.”
The truth, relationship and experience model doesn’t have to be limited to a week long camp for kids. You can use it in your own marriage and family.
Think through the truth you desire to communicate. It could be anything: God loves you, I love you, you are forgiven, you are special to me, Jesus died for our sins, how to walk in the Spirit, etc.
To whom do you want to communicate this truth? Your spouse? Your child? A friend?
Once you know the what (truth) and the who (relationship)–all that’s left is the how (experience).
Here are a couple of examples. The first one I’ve already touched on.
Young Life wants kids to know they’re loved by God, sin is a barrier and Jesus died to remove it. They want kids to feel loved by and connected to their adult leaders. To pull this off, they pull out all the stops by creating a week filled with fun and adventure. It all sets the stage for kids to genuinely connect with Christ.
Here’s another example. Let’s say a husband wants to communicate to his wife how much he loves and appreciates her. Before leaving for work, he could simply say, “I love and appreciate you. Have a nice day. See you for dinner.”
Are his words sincere? They may be, but they lack any sense of genuineness or romance. It sounds more like an item he’s checking off of his t0-do list.
What if instead, he was to give it just a little more thought and creativity? What if he focused on the experience element and kicked it up a notch?
After arriving at work, he sends her a text message that says: Can’t wait to be with you tonight. Don’t make plans!
Later in the morning, he calls us just to see how her day is going. She tries to get some information about his text message, but he doesn’t reveal his plans just yet.
That night after dinner, he makes sure the kids are taken care of. If it’s young children, he does bath and story time and tucks them in while his wife relaxes. If the kids are older, he helps with homework.
Once the kids are settled for the night, he lights a few candles and brings her something to drink along with her favorite dessert. While she enjoys them, he gives her a foot massage. It doesn’t end there though. While massaging her feet, he asks, “What are your dreams? What do you see God doing in your life?”
Maybe it would look a little different in your home, but you get the point. Experience matters.
So are you up for trying the “Experience Experiment”?
Decide what you want to communicate. It doesn’t have to be some deep theological truth. It could be as simple as–I care about you. Then decide on the relationship–is it with your spouse, your child or someone else?
Finally, set aside a little time to think through the experience you want to create. Is it something fun? Adventurous? Challenging? It’s up to you. The possibilities are endless.
Then just do it. It doesn’t have to be perfect. And it certainly doesn’t have to cost a lot of money.
Are you up for it? Let me know. And when you’re done…let me know how it went.
There are several other elements that can add a lot of sizzle to your experience. I already hinted at a couple of them. We’ll talk about those at a later time…unless of course you want to know about them now. Email me if you do: greggstutts@yahoo.com