Why is there so much controversy among Christians regarding what a relationship with God entails?

Allow me to clearly illustrate the existence of controversy by way of examples. As a first example, consider the book [*Marvels & Miracles: God Wrought in the Ministry for Forty-Five Years*](https://www.amazon.com/Marvels-Miracles-Wrought-Ministry-Forty-Five/dp/1534965351/) , which includes a synopsis featuring an inspiring message for those seeking a deeper relationship with God (bolded): > Often described as the 'Grandmother of the Pentecostal Movement', Maria Woodworth Etter was a figurehead of the early Pentecostal and Charismatic Christian movement. Her ministry would touch hundreds of thousands and eventually through the power of her books, millions. Thousands more would attend her Holy Spirit-filled meetings, bringing the sick, the lame, the possessed and the lost. In those meetings the Holy Spirit would visit in such a powerful way that men and women would "lay like dead" while other would start trembling or speaking in tongues. Marvels and Miracles is Maria's accounts of the marvels and miracles that took place during her ministry. It speaks of her calling, her initial lack of self-belief in being able to follow that calling and the signs and wonders that followed once she had accepted it. **For anyone seeking a deeper relationship with God or for those who are yearning to read about what he is able to do through those who pick up the mantle of faith, Marvels and Miracles promises to show you**. As a second example, consider Jack S. Deere's teachings in his book [*Why I Am Still Surprised by the Voice of God: How God Speaks Today through Prophecies, Dreams, and Visions*](https://www.amazon.com/Surprised-Voice-God-Through-Prophecies-dp-0310108152/dp/0310108152/ref=dp_ob_title_bk) : > Not only does God still speak to us apart from the Scriptures—**we should expect Him to**. > > This is the story of how Jack Deere learned to hear the voice of God in his life **and how you can too**. It’s clear that the ideas promoted by these books would raise some eyebrows among critics like [Jordan Standridge](https://www.gracechurch.org/standridge) from Grace Community Church, who expressed his views at the Cripplegate, where he [wrote](https://thecripplegate.com/three-reasons-god-is-a-cessationist/) : > ### Three Reasons God is a Cessationist > > [...] > > God is not the author of chaos. And that’s the only way to describe what happened in 1914 at the Azusa street revival. For more than 1800 years of church history, God had stopped giving men sign gifts until supposedly He let man out of his box again. This produced speaking in unintelligible languages. It produced unconfirmed and unprovable healings, and, ultimately, turned prophecy into unreliable and fallible statements. It produced women preaching, and all kinds of ecclesiological problems. > > And as we look around today, so many questions arise. As we hear of all the miraculous gifts that are being claimed all over the world, we have to ask ourselves a simple question. Has God taken man out of his “can’t do miracles box” after 1800 years of church history and given them back the abilities that a few people at the beginning of the church age had? If he has, why has he entrusted these TBN money-hungry charlatans with these abilities? However, [J. P. Moreland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._P._Moreland)—an American philosopher, theologian, Christian apologist, and distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology at Biola University—would counter with his latest book, [*A Simple Guide to Experience Miracles: Instruction and Inspiration for Living Supernaturally in Christ*](https://www.amazon.com/Simple-Guide-Experience-Miracles-Supernaturally/dp/0310124190) , whose synopsis states: > Does God Still Do Miracles Today? *A Simple Guide to Experience Miracles* will give you confidence in and awareness of the supernatural realm as you learn how to flourish spiritually by experiencing more miraculous interventions in your life and ministry. Internationally renowned philosopher J. P. Moreland looks at the nature of miracles and explains **why bearing and receiving credible testimony to God's miraculous acts is a crucial feature of a mature Jesus-follower**. He also shows how to distinguish a real miracle from a mere coincidence. **Miracles bring comfort to believers, strengthening faith in God and creating boldness in our lives**. In other words, for J. P. Moreland, diving deep into one's relationship with God and maturing as a follower of Jesus means embracing the miraculous aspects of Christian living. However, let’s set aside the controversy surrounding the miraculous for now and let's focus instead on seeking God’s face—a central theme throughout the Bible. GotQuestions explores this in their article titled [*What does it mean to seek God’s face?*](https://www.gotquestions.org/seek-Gods-face.html) , which explains: > The true nature of worship is to seek God’s face. The Christian walk is a life devoted to seeking God’s presence and favor. The Lord wants us to humbly and trustingly seek His face in our prayers and in our times in His Word. It requires intimacy to look intently into someone’s face. **Pursuing God’s face is equivalent to developing an intimate relationship with Him**: “O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory. Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you!” (Psalm 63:1–3, NLT). > > [...] > > Seeking God’s face means desiring to know His character and wanting Him—**His presence**—more than any other thing He can give us. According to GotQuestions, *seeking God’s face* involves developing an *intimate relationship with God* and pursuing *His presence*. Essentially, one mystery is explained with two mysteries. If we concentrate purely on the aspect of pursuing *God's presence*, one might consider the approach of [Brother Lawrence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother_Lawrence) , a 17th-century Carmelite friar, who authored the well-known classic of Christian mysticism, [*The Practice of the Presence of God*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Practice_of_the_Presence_of_God) : > The text attempts to explain Lawrence's method of acquiring the presence of God. A summary of his approach can be gleaned from the following passages. "That he had always been governed by love, without selfish views; and that having resolved to make the love of GOD the end of all his actions, he had found reasons to be well satisfied with his method. That he was pleased when he could take up a straw from the ground for the love of GOD, seeking Him only, and nothing else, not even His gifts." "That in order to form a habit of conversing with GOD continually, and referring all we do to Him; we must at first apply to Him with some diligence: but that after a little care we should find His love inwardly excite us to it without any difficulty." Lawrence pleads that all work is valuable to God and one need not accomplish great things to please Him. The labourer is as valuable to God as the priest. (Note: a comprehensive list of 17th-century Christian mystics is available [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:17th-century_Christian_mystics).) Yet again, someone like John MacArthur, in his sermon [*The Promise of the Holy Spirit, Part 2*](https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/43-75/the-promise-of-the-holy-spirit-part-2) , would offer a contrasting viewpoint: > It was a number of years ago now – it’s probably been 20 years or so ago – when I was surprised to see a wave coming into the church under the title *Experiencing* God, *Experiencing* God. If you go to any Christian bookstore over the last 20 years or more, you’re going to find books on experiencing God. There were a couple of Southern Baptist pastors who developed, not only the books, the perspective, but then began to develop curriculum, and more curriculum, and more books; and this literally became an all-encompassing, all-engulfing movement in the evangelical church experiencing God. > > [...] > > **Christian mysticism, through the Middle Ages, and even until now, has always sought to find God in some experience, some feeling, some emotion; some means by which the senses imminence is present. This has become a popular notion in evangelical churches that there are ways in which you can feel God, in which you can sense God’s presence**. > > Perhaps the most popular one is music. If you get the right music, if the music is sort of musically seductive enough and emotionally energized enough, people will say, “I just feel the presence of God. Don’t you feel the presence of God?” > > **Well, of course, that is absolute nonsense. You can’t feel the presence of God. You don’t have any mechanism to feel the presence of God. I’ve never felt the presence of God; I don’t even know what that means.** But I do know this: He’s here. And more than that, He not only inhabits the praise of His people; is joined to His people in union all the time so that the church itself literally is in constant communion with God collectively; it’s not only true that where two or three are gathered together, He is in the midst. But, this is true. --- Why is there such a controversy among Christians over defining core and fundamental aspects of Christian living, **particularly in regard to understanding the nature of a relationship with God and what it entails**, including what Christians can yearn for, aspire to, and expect from such a relationship?