The Problem of God’s Invisibility

Is the idea of having a relationship with God unique to evangelicals? I don’t hear people from other traditions talk about this very much, but it is ubiquitous in mine. The language was first introduced to me in college, though the principles were part of my upbringing. Having a relationship with God means participating in the spiritual disciplines – prayer, Scripture reading, etc. – in a personal way. It means that we aren’t just sinners in need of a Savior; we are children in need of a Father. My tradition teaches that having a relationship with God is the most important thing a person can do and is the true heart of Christianity. The ministry that I was a part of at Ohio State put it bluntly: “It’s not a religion; it’s a relationship.”

That’s certainly overstating the case. Christianity is best understood as a relationship with God within the context of a religion. Christianity is clearly a religion, but our God is fundamentally relational, not only with his creatures but also within himself. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit eternally exist in a union of self-giving love. The key insight that evangelicalism offers to the Church is that the heart of our faith is a real heart. God wants more than our allegiance and obligation; he wants to be known by his people. He wants his people to know that they are known by him, and that they are still very greatly loved. God wants a relationship with you.

But how are we supposed to have a relationship with God? How is such a thing imaginable, much less possible? If we had even an inkling of the true nature of the Creator, how glorious and holy and majestic and completely other he is, would we not think it the utmost blasphemy to say that even the most righteous among us can walk with God, can talk to him, can hear from him? If we fear for our lives in the presence of angels, how much more so in the presence of God? And yet, the Scriptures tell us that God’s greatest desire is to have a people, a family of human beings that cry out to him, “Abba! Father!” God doesn’t want servants; he wants children.

The Problem of God’s Invisibility

Even as God has bridged the gap of possibility between himself and man, there is still one thing that makes having a relationship with him exceedingly difficult: He is invisible. How am I supposed to have a relationship with an invisible God?

As a young child I had an imaginary friend named Bastian. Our favorite game was The Floor Is Lava, and we would jump from couch to couch, avoiding certain death on the carpet. Though we would play together, Bastian lived entirely in my head. (No, Bastian was not a ghost. Our house was haunted, but not by him.) Atheists say the same thing about God: He is merely our Imaginary Friend. By this they mean, of course, that he is just as make-believe as Bastian. Or, perhaps more accurately, he is Bastian taken to the extreme—the imaginary friend who is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present.

Atheists tend to be materialists, meaning that they only believe in what can be observed, that all reality is material reality. The atheist’s posture is one of scientific examination—head bowed, not in prayer but in observation, studying that which is before him like a biologist with a microscope. In this posture he takes the supreme position in the world. Everything is below him because everything is observable by him. All reality is subject to his rational gaze. There can be nothing above him because he cannot observe or examine that which is above him, and if it cannot be observed then it cannot exist. The invisible, not only to our eyes but to all our methods and technology, has no right to exist in the world ruled by scientistic materialism.

But there are many things which cannot be observed, much less understood. The world is filled with nonmaterial reality: love, consciousness, and the mind to name just a few. No one has ever seen the mind, but we know that minds exist. These things stand next to the atheist, not beneath him. They call to him, “Look over! See that which is near you but cannot be observed by you until you relinquish your posture of highest position.” And if there are things next to us, why should there not be things, or the One Thing, above us? Must we see God to believe in him? Must we see him to venture a relationship with him? God’s invisibility need not be a problem for us anymore than love’s invisibility. We can have a relationship with God even though we cannot see him.

The Mercy of God’s Invisibility

God’s invisibility is ultimately a mercy, of course, for if we could see him we would not survive the manifestation of his glory. Our ancestors in the faith believed that no one could see the glory of God and live. As a man goes blind when staring at the sun even for a short time, so he would lose his whole life if he were to gaze upon the beauty and glory of God, for the radiance of his holiness would obliterate us in our lowly and sinful estate. It is good that we cannot see God. Good, but not helpful.

The invisibility of God is not helpful because we are wired and conditioned to have relationships with people we can see. This is why the internet and social media consistently fail to live up to their promises of bringing people together and forming tight-knit communities. Relationships require visibility, presence, and connectedness. To have a relationship with God is truly an act of faith because we must suspend our disbelief in the invisible. Like Indiana Jones in his quest for the holy grail, we step out into the chasm and trust that our foot will find solid ground.

Know = Love = Obey

There’s simply no getting around it: life with God is a life of faith. To pray to God is to trust that he hears you, that he cares about what troubles you, even though you can’t see him. So a relationship with God is an exercise of faith, but how do we do it? How do we actually have a relationship with the invisible God?

Something struck me very early on in my preaching career and I have never forgotten it. It’s a simple statement that I believe will help us with this question: To know God is to love God is to obey God. This is the essence of having a relationship with God, whether we can see him or not. We know God, and in knowing him we love him, and in loving him we obey him. This is also the proper sequence. Before we can obey God as he wants to be obeyed (willingly and with our whole heart), we must love him. But we cannot love God until we know him. And we cannot know him unless he first reveals himself to us.

Our relationship with God is more than knowledge, but certainly not less. It is knowledge and feeling. But it is more than both of these, too. Our relationship with God is knowledge, feeling, and duty. We are obliged to obey God because we love him, and we love him because he has made himself known to us. Our whole being is taken up in our relationship with our Creator. Not one part of you is left out of this relationship of love with Love. To know God is to love God is to obey God. God’s invisibility does not have to be a problem for his children. This is how we have a relationship with the One who made us but whom we cannot see: We know him as he has revealed himself, we love him as he is, and we obey him as he has commanded us.

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash. Painting found in internet search for “Isaiah sees God artwork”. Artist unknown.