God Can Not Be Contained

A message for anyone who thought they had to go somewhere to find God

I used to think I had to go to church to have a spiritual life.

And when no church felt like it was made for me… I assumed my soul was meant to wither.

If anyone else out there feels this… I’m writing this for you.

I wish I could hire one of those planes to write in the sky:

GOD IS BETWEEN US RIGHT NOW!

I’ve often said that this whole BETWEEN ministry—and the book I just spent years bringing into the world—was written for me 15–20 years ago.

For a younger version of me. Hungry. Curious. Spiritually searching… and not sure where to find food.

I believe there are millions of people like that version of me.

People longing for some kind of faith that feels real… but it seems like the only options available to them are either A) a shame-driven, high-control, cult-adjacent Christian-nationalism or B) a painfully boring, slowly-dying tiny corner church that smells of decay and old lady perfume.

So they stop trying. They drift away.

They wonder if maybe faith just isn’t for them.

Maybe they call themselves “spiritual but not religious.” Maybe they’ve been labeled “nones.” Maybe they quietly walked away from something they once loved… and didn’t know where else to go.

But that’s who I long to reach.

The person sitting at home wondering if there are others like them.

People who are curious. Open. Thoughtful. Inclusive. People who want to nourish their own souls… so they can show up more fully for others.

People who are looking for something real… but don’t know where to find it.

GOD IS BETWEEN US RIGHT NOW!

… the plane loops-the-loop as it flies away.

The Apostle Paul was trying to say something like this, too.

Not with a plane in the sky… but with a letter.

“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?”

(1 Corinthians 3:16)

Paul was writing to a community that was divided. Arguing. Choosing sides. Trying to figure out who was right.

And in the middle of all that noise, he basically shouts: Don’t you see it?

God is not somewhere else.

God is not locked inside a building.

God is not waiting for you to get everything right.

God is already here.

In your midst.

The temple is no longer a place.

It’s a people. It’s you. It’s us.

It’s what happens when we show up with each other.

Paul wasn’t saying, “You are God.”

He was saying… God’s Spirit lives among you. In your shared life together. In the space between you.

You don’t have to go somewhere special to find God. You don’t have to perform your way into belonging. You don’t have to earn access.

God cannot be contained.

Not in buildings. Not in systems. Not in denominations. Not in ideologies. Not in oaths. Not in doctrines or dogmas.

If you’re here… You are already standing in it.