For those who believe they have a relationship with Christ

[help3434]

What does it mean to have a relationship with Christ? How do you know that you have a real, two way relationship?

[Wootah]

I would like to know my relationship with Christ is at least the same as my relationship with my father.

So here are my thoughts at the moment.

Two rocks cannot have a relationship.

Two masses of flesh cannot have a relationship.

I can also talk to someone and still not have a relationship with them.

Also I think I can have a relationship with someone even if they are overseas, or at home when I am at work or simply just not in the room right now.

So what is a relationship?

It appears to me that a relationship has something to do with the promises we make to each other.

What do people think so far?

[help3434]

[Replying to post 11 by Wootah]

I think a relationship involves two way communication rather than just reading words in a book and then praying to the person described in the book.

[Wootah]

[Replying to post 11 by Wootah]

I think a relationship involves two way communication rather than just reading words in a book and then praying to the person described in the book.

but do you agree a relationship requires more than two way communication?

am i allowed to say i have a relationship with my brother who lives overseas even though we dont talk much? were i in need i would call him and trust the relationship implicitly. how is that possible according to you?

[sleepyhead]

Hello,

I would also add that a relationship between two people would require that they both have a concern for the others welfare. If there only concerned with there own interests then it's not a relationship.
Since Christ doesn't really need anything, in order for it to be a relationship Christ must be concerned about the individuals welfare.

[help3434]

[Replying to post 13 by Wootah]

Well sure you have a relationship with your brother. You do talk to him even though it is not very often, and you certainly have in the past.

[Wootah]

[Replying to post 13 by Wootah]

Well sure you have a relationship with your brother. You do talk to him even though it is not very often, and you certainly have in the past.

I'd say it's whatever faith I have in my brother that forms the relationship.

Hey do you think we can have a relationship with a dead person - a life partner or parent or grand parent?

[pmprcv]

What does it mean to have a relationship with Christ?

Very self-explanatory: it involves dialogue, spending time alone with Him, etc. Similar to most human relationships.

How do you know that you have a real, two way relationship?

Personal subjective experience is the most general answer I can give you. I know because I feel it, and because I feel it I believe it.

[help3434]

[Replying to pmprcv]

Dialouge? So you can hear Christ speaking back to you?

[pmprcv]

Dialouge? So you can hear Christ speaking back to you?

Indeed, but it's not necessarily hearing with your ears; but with your heart. And through signs, etc.

[McCulloch]

What does it mean to have a relationship with Christ?

Very self-explanatory: it involves dialogue, spending time alone with Him, etc. Similar to most human relationships.

When I spend time with someone with whom I have a relationship, that person is physically there. Dialogue involves both persons speaking and both persons listening. In the case of Christ, he is not physically there. In fact, you have to imagine that he is there. You may speak to him, and presume that he can listen, but he speaks not. For any human relationship that I have, I can literally introduce others of my human friends to that person. Please note that I am using the word literally here with its standard correct meaning. You cannot introduce me to Christ, so your relationship with him is fundamentally different from human relationships.

How do you know that you have a real, two way relationship?

Personal subjective experience is the most general answer I can give you. I know because I feel it, and because I feel it I believe it.

How is that any different from imagining it?

Dialoge? So you can hear Christ speaking back to you?

Indeed, but it's not necessarily hearing with your ears; but with your heart. And through signs, etc.

Did you mean brain when you said heart? Indulge me for a while, and lets be literal. The heart does not listen, it pumps blood. In fact, the ears do not listen either. The ears detect sounds, transmitted to the brain which listens. So, the question is what signals, generated by Christ do you detect ; how do you detect them? In the case of normal human dialogue, I detect auditory signals, human speech, using my ears. How is it that you distinguish these signals from those generated by your own imagination?