Nathaniel almost missed him. He was hung up on a detail and almost missed God on earth. I think we do the same thing at times. Instead of seeing God touch a group of people, we take offense at how the worship service was conducted. Instead of appreciating the breadth of Jesus’ love, we take offense at his condemnation of some. Instead of diving into his teachings, we dislike that they were in a style we don’t like. Like Nathaniel, we get hung up on little personal details and miss Jesus.
Also like Nathaniel, we just love it when Jesus does something neat and personal for us. Jesus, on the other hand, was more concerned for his worldwide influence, hence the reference to Jacob’s dream where heaven and earth are connected and God makes a promise to influence the world through Jacob. We have been trained to shop around for the best product that fits me personally, e.g., car, house, job, clothes. Our mission trips are planned around our schedule more than the world’s needs. Our selection of a home church is more about ease of traffic getting there than discerning where God is at work. We come to Jesus with the same mentality, i.e., we don’t really want to influence the world; we just want Jesus to show up and make me feel good. Nathaniel was impressed by Jesus knowing where he was sitting. “He saw me! He knows me! I had God come to me!” Jesus’ response? “There are greater things than that.”
The question is “can I see them?”
Am I so hung up on me that I can’t see God going and coming around me? Maybe worse yet, am I so hung up on me that I don’t really care about God working around me? After all which would I rather experience: an insignificant revelation about me or the transformation of the dysfunctional family down the street? Do I prefer a great personal devotional over seeing God change a neighborhood? Would my faith grow more from hearing God speak to me about me or from hearing how Jesus changed the leadership of a country? Is my Christianity about me or him?
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