Truth and Satisfaction

A woman at my church gave me a Christianity Today article the other day because it had an interview with Tim Keller. And she knows I'm quite a fan. Below is a quote from that article.

“C.S. Lewis said not to believe in Christianity because it's relevant or exciting or personally satisfying. Believe because its true. And if its true, it eventually will be relevant, exciting, and personally satisfying. To be a Christian is going to be very hard. So unless you come to it simply because it’s really the truth, you really won’t live the Christian life, and you won’t get to the excitement, the relevance, and all that other stuff.”

If we don't come to Christ because he is truly the Savior of the world, the one who has/is/will bring about restoration of the entire cosmos, but instead to make us feel good, we will not make it through trials. I'm reminded on the parable of the seed and the sower (the seed with shallow roots who received the message with joy but pulled away because of trial). Personal satisfaction and joy can be lost during periods of our Christian walk. Sometimes all we have to fall back on is the truth. I would imagine we've all experienced that.

But on the other hand, to see Jesus as only true and not relevant, exciting, and personally satisfying is also a danger (Keller and Lewis are not saying this, mind you, they are just arguing the order). Lately I've been reading through the book of John and have seen Jesus revealing himself as the true fulfillment of our desire to worship something. When he approaches the woman at the well in chapter 4, he explains to her that he is "living water" and that "she will never thirst" if he gives her a drink.

It seems pretty clear from John 4 that Jesus is personally satisfying, and that as a result of being satisfied in Him, she will not continue to have a ton of husbands and lovers. For she will be able to worship in Spirit and in Truth.

I think its another one of those BOTH/AND things. Jesus has to be true. And we have to receive him as the truth without waiting for any emotional response. But glorifying Him and enjoying Him forever is the chief end of man (Westminster Shorter Catechism Q#1). Therefore we must call people in the church and outside of not to neglect the normative (truth) or the existential (experiential) components of our rich faith. I'm going to try to present both realities side by side, still understanding that the truth will eventually produce joy and deep satisfaction (if it doesn't at the time of reception).