Too Far?

“Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel.’”

John 5:19-20

Sometimes I wonder if I go too far, or am too…stringent, with clarifying Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I am convinced that cultivating healthy, Trinitarian relationships is ESSENTIAL for healing, power, and LIFE (Ephesians 3:14-21 among many others). But I wonder if I can be guilty of overemphasizing the topic.

And then I meet with Bill (name changed). Bill is drifting. Recently laid off. Trying to understand his life and what God is doing. He shares various parts of his background. Raised in church. Participates in ministries. Married with wonderful kiddos. Mostly successful career. But now in his early to mid-40’s he is really battling life.

At the appropriate time I probe his faith. I draw the same graph I have been drawing for years. Y axis is 0 to 10 on intimacy. X axis separates the Son, Father, and Holy Spirit. I ask Bill to rate his intimacy with each Person of the Trinity (many of you know this drill 😊) He scores himself an 8 in Jesus, a 5 in the Father, and a 2 in the Holy Spirit.

I have already made a mental note from our conversation that he only uses the name God, not yet saying, “Father.”

So I ask him, “What kind of effect do you think it would have on you emotionally if you tweaked your prayer language and said, ‘Father,’ instead of, ‘God.’?”

He replies, “I don’t think it would have any impact at all because I didn’t have a relationship with my dad so the father/son dynamic doesn’t mean anything to me.”

So…………do I go too far? Do I overemphasize healthy Trinitarianism? Am I wrong in trying to convert people from invoking God to Father?

I don’t think I am. I could be. I very easily could be. But I don’t think I go too far.

Jesus’s words in John 5:19-20 above demonstrate a healthy, robust, central relationship between Jesus and His Dad. In fact, God is called Father 113 times in the book of John, 111 of those are by Jesus!

I think overstating the impact of healthy relationships with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit would be very hard to do.

I responded to Bill’s confession, “Have you ever considered the possibility that the reason the father/son dynamic means nothing to you is because the joy of that relationship has been stolen from you?”

“No.”

We continued talking about Satan’s work to destroy mission critical targets in our lives. He left our time with the opportunity to reconcile his relationship with our Father. (We also briefly touched on the Holy Spirit being a 2 but didn’t want to overwhelm him.)

From Bill to Mark.

A couple weeks ago, Mark (that’s his real name) preached a message at his church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Mark is the Worship Arts Pastor at FBC Charlotte. He is a very close, ride-or-die friend. He preached from Exodus on God’s care for Israel.

After listening to his sermon, I sent him the following,

Consider the difference, for example, in your second point. “God Helps Us in Difficult Times.” “Your Father Helps You in Difficult Times.” Adoption is the primary NEW reality of salvation. I am now a son to my Father. He is my Dad. Help me see Him as my Dad and in that to be healed of my dad. “Your Father helps you in difficult times because…HE’s your Dad! And that’s what dad’s are supposed to do!” 

Gratefully, Mark didn’t toss me to the curb or tell me I am going too far! Mark has FANTASTIC parents so it can be more difficult for him to understand the degree to which his audience battles father/mother wounds.

I write this to urge you in two ways…

Soak in being a son/daughter of our Father, brother/sister to Jesus, and temple of the Holy Spirit. Your adoption is a MAJOR, CENTRAL reality of your salvation. (1 John 4:16)

When meeting with others, and you get access to their hearts/stories, ask them about their intimacy with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Trexo continues to co-create increasingly simple exercises that communicate profound, powerful Kingdom truth. IF you can draw an x and y axis, then you can show people Trinitarian Intimacy.

LIFE in the OVERFLOW is LIFE in the OVERFLOW of the Father…….and the Son……..and the Holy Spirit. AND, it is LIFE lived together!