the resume is not enough

A good friend of mine recently said "the Word of God is not the starting point for Christians, it is EVERY point for Christians".

In the conversation we were having, I mentioned the bible introduces me to God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit, but that is not the end-all to knowing them, rather it is simply the beginning.

The bible introduces each of them, talks about God's nature and His power, and gives me some stories of some of God's folks between two and five thousand years ago.

That's a good starting point for me.

The bible is God's resume.

Here's my name, here's my background, here's my qualifications, here's my experience, here are my accomplishments, and a fractional smidgeon about me perhaps by listing a few hobbies or other idiosyncracies.

Think about any resume you've ever created.

You wrote something to encapsulate yourself and give people a basic idea of who you are. You did this with the hope you would be invited to be teammates together.

Let's say they brought you on as a teammate. They did so based on your resume, your capability to be a teammate who would be contributing toward whatever they are doing.

But it wasn't the resume alone, was it?

People do not become teammates based solely on the face value of what is on paper. In this society there is always at least one interview with multiple people, or multiple interviews with various folks.

What's on paper alone does not encapsulate you. They would embrace you based not only on your resume but also from meeting you, probing deeper, getting a sense or feel about you beyond what's in black and white.

Let's say that went well enough and the invitation for teaming together was consummated.

In addition to your qualifications, skills, work, etc, they would also get to know you. They would get to know your personality, the you that your resume could never fully describe even if it was ten pages. (which is unheard of in terms of resume length. Most folks strictly want a one page resume, two pages absolute tops.)

The resume is but a snapshot.

Knowing the full you would entail spending time with you, getting to know your personality, your temperament, your sense of humor (if any), your tendencies.

They would get to know what you do when various types of things occur while you are teammates.

They would see what you do when pressure and stress abound. What you do when unexpected crisis pops up out of nowhere. What you do when things are slow.

Those who hired you would get to know you so much deeper and so far beyond what was on the original resume they read about you.

It's the same with God.

The bible is His resume. It provides us a brief summary of F/S/HS, but it in no way characterizes all of God.

If we and He join up as teammates, we get to know Him beyond the qualifications and experiences listed on His resume.

We come to see what He does when pressure and stress abound. We get to know His personality. What He does when things go well. We get to know His sense of humor. What He does when unexpected crisis pops out of nowhere. What He does when things are slow.

From interactions and dialogue and going through all manner of situations, we can know God so much more than the description in black and white words on paper.

The resume is but a snapshot. It is only a beginning.