A Finger from a Different World

My formative years were shaped by a female, so I'm naturally more empathetic and intuitive than your average guy (it has its pros and cons). That said, I'm always experiencing situations, namely spiritual ones, from multiple perspectives. When I find myself in one of these, I ask myself "how would a nonbeliever respond to this?" or "how does this message affect people with different backgrounds?"

I do this so often that I regularly feel what I think others would feel (which is why I'm no longer comfortable in most churches). For awhile though, I've been aware that the way Pentecostal Christians talk is kind of off-putting. They use the word "feel" a lot, and they throw around the word "Spirit" like they actually know what it means. Apparently God speaks to them all the time too, but if you ask them for some kind of hard evidence they can't help you. Basically, their language is vague, but you get the idea that they are either crazy or hyper spiritual or both.

This is where most articles would start scolding Christians for using such language, but I'm going in a different direction.

Let's imagine a painting of Two Dimension Land (see figure A). In this painting are two, 2D people. I will call them "Turd" and "Dogface" because I have a juvenile sense of humor.

Let's also imagine that this is not just a painting, but a WINDOW into the land of two dimensions. This means that in 2D Land, Turd and Dogface are alive with the full abilities of speech and cognitive thought.

One day someone from our world decides to reach their finger through the window for a couple seconds, and as it occurred, only Turd was present witness the momentous event. Enter Dogface. How would Turd explain the experience to Dogface?

Dogface: What are you doing out here...were you eating grass again?
Turd: No. Did you just see that thing in the sky??
Dogface: What thing? Dude, there's grass clippings all over your face. Why do you do that? It's so weird.
Turd: I wasn't eating grass.. that thing! It kind of just appeared, it was like a bunch of circles that started getting bigger and then got smaller and disappeared.
Dogface: Circles? Like the sun and clouds?
Turd: No, they weren't separate from each other.
Dogface: Oh, so you saw ONE "circle" that got bigger and then smaller?
Turd: No, uhh...there were a lot of circles...but, they weren't really circles...and they weren't separate. ...My stomach hurts.


[Turd has never seen three dimensions before, so to him, it seemed to be a series of different sized circles that appeared and disappeared in front of one another. In 2D land, there is no word for "in front of" because everything is side by side. Thus, Turd knows that this explanation is not enough to fully capture every sense of what just happened. Dogface is very skeptical, but is willing to give Turd the benefit of the doubt, even though he apparently likes to eat dirt. Let's pick up where they left off.]

Dogface: Here's what I think happened. You finally ate the wrong kind of foliage, and now you are hallucinating.
Turd: Dogface, come on, I'm serious. It was almost like....a finger.
Dogface: What's the point...lol.
Turd: What?
Dogface: It's a joke. ...finger? point?
Turd: I don't get it.
Dogface: Oye.
Turd: Seriously, I think it was a finger.
Dogface: How do you know for sure? Fingers aren't even circular.
Turd: I know, but I don't know I just feel like I was looking at a finger from a different world or something.
Dogface: A finger from a different world??
Turd: Errrgghh I don't feel so good.
Dogface: This goes beyond hallucination. I think some of that grass seed has sprouted a crop of crazy blossoms in your brain.
Turd: I wasn't eating grass!!! I just like the taste of fresh dew!
Dogface: Well, seeing as how the neighbor's dog has marked his territory across this entire field, I'd say there is a good chance that you have a stomach full of "fresh doo" right now.
Turd: What does Mr. Woofners have to do with me enjoying dew?
Dogface: *sigh*
Turd: errrrgg! Call a doct... [pukes]

So we leave the scene with Dogface still not convinced and a sickly Turd who has witnessed something beyond his ability to explain.

Doodoo humor aside, herein lies the problem of Christians talking about their relationship with God. Even the word "relationship" does not fully describe the interaction between deity and creation, but like Turd, we have to use what we know to describe the indescribable. We live in the 3rd dimension, and God who is outside of our 3D constraints has reached into this world and revealed some of who He is (some of which has been recorded by the Bible). Those who have been drawn to Him have witnessed divine intervention, and are left with the odd task of explaining it to others. So naturally we will develop a vocabulary that is all our own just so we can know what one another is talking about.

Can I, Andy Christopher, even explain what a spirit is? Here's what that conversation might look like:

Guy: Where did you go to college?
Me: Central Bible College
Guy: A Bible College? Do you want to be a preacher?
Me: No.
Guy: Then why did you go there?
Me: I don't know. I just felt like the Holy Spirit led me there.
Guy: I have to be honest, I'm not really religious.
Me: I'm not either.
Guy: Whatever. What is a "spirit"?
Me: Well, it's not flesh and blood...it's not human..
Guy: Then what is it??
Me: I guess it's like a ghost.
Guy: Like a scary transparent sheet with eye holes that moans?
Me: uhhh...let's start over. The Holy Spirit is God.
Guy: What's God?
Me: He's a person, but not a person. ...He's like a father.
Guy: My father abandoned me.
Me: Eeep.

Most of the time I avoid this conversation because I know that it will end with me looking like a nut job. You may see some familiar elements in that conversation that you have been apart of. It makes total sense that it is hard to describe an experience with God to a nonbeliever. If we could fully describe God to anyone, then He wouldn't be God.

Coming to terms with this fact turns typical American evangelism on its head because once you abandon the notion that all we need to do is learn slick sales skills and have a good strategy, you are free to work WITH God rather than FOR Him. I don't think the Church needs more slick and cool people who can manipulate conversations to make themselves look holy or learned. That just angers people and pushes them away. The Church needs people who are truly connected to God so they can be available to be used in any way and at a moment's notice. When a thousand debates and conversations may fail, it might be something as simple as paying for the taco bell for the car behind you at the drive through that changes that guy's life forever. God knows how to lead people to Him. Stop thinking you know more or care more than He does, and seek His face.

Guy: God has a face?
Me: Shut up.