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The other day I read a passage from a new Christian book that stopped me in my tracks. It was 4 simple words, 10 letters, but that particular combination of two nouns, a verb and an indefinite article made me set the book down and ask myself "do I believe that?" Now I don't know when you last read something that really caused you to go deep inside - beyond intuition and convention - and ask, "is this really true"? Anyway, the phrase was "God is a verb". In order to run it through the normal evangelical test filter, I had to first attempt to understand what it meant (translate it), then consider how I would interpret it (hermeneutics to the initiated), before I could examine its claims (considering the situation in which it was written and the situation of today, as every good biblical scholar ought), weigh the evidence (testing its soundness, in the jargon) and give my answer (application of Truth).

This filter thing takes time - and allows for no first reaction - as this can be dodgy and should always carry a caveat such as "this is my first reaction and I need to check it out and will get back to you..." - by which stage the impact has dulled. Then I thought, what about the plain simple meaning - its impact on me, mediated through God's spirit?

Simply put, God is not static but he is active, constantly and consistently. Consider this, he said, "I am who I am". He promised, "I am, is with you". As fully God, Jesus added, "Before Abraham was, I am". These are essentially statements of being, presence and activity. They are not, in themselves, simply theological statements, on their way to becoming the subject of PhD theses. In fact, on reflection they do not attempt to define what it is to be God, but reflect that God is. It is as though they were offered as assurances, love gifts and expressions of God's essence, his presence among us. So, looking at Jerusalem Jesus wept. Seeing the prodigal, the father was moved in his inner being and ran to him.......... I am. A "doing" expression.

As Evangelicals we often see God as the focus of our worship, the subject of our theology and the "holy other" of Christian longing. We attempt to define him and defend him, but find he is neither contained in any definition nor saved through any of our apologetics. I am not for one moment setting aside the need to engage with the word as written, but suggesting that by being so focused on the need to lead with orthodoxy (defined as sound biblical doctrine) we can miss the real presence of the word made flesh. We can neglect the impact of the word on our heart. I think what I am suggesting is that we need as evangelicals to engage our hearts as well as our minds or we can be like the Galatians "keen but clueless" (a Stottism I borrowed). Maybe, just maybe, we can redeem ourselves from the ultra-orthodoxy which leads with the law and not the head and the heart.

Michael Wardlow