Wrestling with God

In the famous Genesis story of Jacob wrestling with God we read, “Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered. Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.

These few lines tell us so much about religious trauma.  Polls and studies are teaching us more and more about the wrestling many Christians (and ex-Christians) have gone through and continue to experience.  Although I would like to believe that most of the wrestling we hear about has been in response to high control religion and unhealthy churches, I am certain that for many, these experiences have felt like wrestling with God directly.  Whenever one’s worth has been determined by how much one gives, how much one serves, how much one accepts the “right answer”, or how much one sacrifices, damage is being done.  

The Good News of Christ is that we are all God’s beloved.  Does each of us have room to grow and to learn?  Absolutely!  But, our salvation is not determined by how we do or do not serve the church, who we love, what we believe.  Our salvation is established by nothing more powerful than God’s love for us.  

At The Beloved Community at The Trees, we take our wrestling with God seriously.  And, little by little, we are learning to welcome the blessings God is offering us.  We are learning to shed the false identities of unhealthy doctrine and to take on the name of God’s beloved.  While we are wrestling to hold onto God, we are letting go of harmful and traumatic theologies that have limited our abilities to love ourselves, our neighbors, and God.  And, we are being blessed by God each and every time we come together to worship, share a meal, and remember that we are God’s beloved.  Friends, whether you join us for a worship service or are visiting us online from afar, if you find yourself wrestling with God, know that your wrestling is being blessed and that you too are God’s beloved!  

Rev. Phillip Bass