School’s Out

Alice Cooper was on to something we Christians ought to heed.

Before you go screaming into the night about me trying to draw some parallel between Alice Cooper and Christianity, please allow me to explain. Mr. Cooper (no, not the “Hanging with…” one) drew his inspiration for the song from the television movies featuring The Bowery Boys. In one of these movies the character Sach did something stupid and one of the other characters told him, “School’s out.” What he meant was: “Hey, wise up, you’re going to have to figure this out for yourself.” That’s the sort of aha moment I experienced about my relationship with God and relationships in general this week.

Relationships take commitment, they take work, and even though I know I’m allowed grace from my Father, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23, I have to do better. The kind of relationship God wants with me isn’t all that different than any other loving relationship. He wants us to seek him out, not merely answer the door when he knocks (Revelation 3:20). Thankfully He knocked this week as I resumed my morning prayers after a six week hiatus due to back surgery. I resumed my prayers because that was my habit on my drive into work. The practice of praying while I drive wasn’t the problem; the problem was it had become just a habit. And that’s no way to keep a relationship.

John 14:7 says, “If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” After the lesson He taught me this week I have to question how much I do know Him. Maybe I’ve been missing the boat for a while now. See, I think I got into a comfortable routine, something that was convenient for me and I just rolled with it. I stopped seeking the intimacy Jesus talks about in John 14:23 …“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” I think that for that time in the pickup on my drive to work I asked God into my life but not as a member of my home; more like a guest. Ouch. There has to be more to it than that.

I have to make God part of my life, not for 15 or so minutes a day, not for 60 or 90 minutes on Sundays, but all the time. I seek to make Him part of me as Jesus said in John 14:20 “In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” I don’t think that I’m truly asking Him into me when and only when I settle back into a habit of talking to him once a day. If this were a friend of mine I don’t think I’d have him as a friend for long. So where do I/we go from here?

Well, just like Alice Cooper sings every year about this time, school is out. No more classes, no more people telling us what to do, no more praying as a habit and no more connecting with God just when it’s convenient. I know now that school should be out forever and that I shouldn’t go back at all. I can say that because my charge, my challenge is to seek Him out. As it says in Proverbs 8: 17: “I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.” I take comfort in that, even as I know that school’s been blown to pieces.

I have to say I feel like I’m entering uncharted territory in my relationship with God. I think I’ve thrown out the textbook and I’m ready to build a unique relationship. I’m looking forward to that. If you know someone that might need encouragement in that direction I hope you’ll share this with them.

I don’t always pair biblical references with the Godfather of Shock Rock but I do blog every week. If you would like to read more, click here to go to my home page. After you’ve read a bit I hope you’ll subscribe. Subscribing is free and just means you will get an email on Saturdays with links to my weekly posts. You can subscribe right here and please don’t worry, I never sell or share emails so you won’t get a bunch of spam.