Something To Chew On

My mind has been working through something, searching for answers that only my heart holds.

I've been reading Buck Naked Faith, by Eric Sandras, and it's been messing with my mind! AND, I've only just finished the first chapter. I used to think that I knew what it meant to be a Christian, but between this book and the one Jason's reading (A New Kind Of Christian, by Brian McLaren) my paradigms are being tested. The idea in Buck Naked Faith which challenged me most was how the author compared our relationship with God to either a bonsai tree or a real tree. He explained how bonsai trees (you know the little trees that Mr. Miagi kept in Karate Kid?) are planted and started just like real trees, but after they've grown a short while they are uprooted and placed in a pot, given little water, all new/excessive growth is cut off, and protected from any sort of weather that might challenge it's growth. They are made to look like real trees, strong, weathered, able to bear fruit. However, Sandras continues his point saying:

The problem is that bonsai trees are stunted, contrived, and internally very weak renditions of the trees God intended them to be. If you expect a bonsai tree to bear fruit, you'll be disappointed. And if you place a bonsai outdoors in the rain - never mind the snow and wind - it will die. (pg. 18)

This idea asked me to look at my relationship with God, or what I might have called a relationship with God. I have grown up going to church, so I've learned how to do it well. It is humbling for me to come to the conclusion that what I was calling a relationship with God wasn't that, it was obligation. There was little, often no joy in the disciplines I've been taught. They were just that: discipline. But, would I make myself spend time with a friend? If they're really a friend there is no obligation in talking to them, spending time with them, sharing my heart with them, listening to them share their heart. So the question is this: would my relationship with God be a real tree or a bonsai?