Ever think about how the earbuds you wear produce music in your ears? They work on the same principle as the giant subwoofer that rocks the stadium at a concert. An audio signal is carried by a rapidly changing electrical current that creates a magnetic field. That field interacts with a tiny magnet, causing a thin diaphragm to vibrate at the exact frequency of the audio signal. The diaphragm (the speaker cone) expands rapidly, creating a wave of high pressure, then contracts rapidly, creating a pocket of low pressure. This propagates sound waves that move through your ear recreating the audio signal – your favorite song – for you to enjoy.
What happens if the delicate diaphragm fails to vibrate at the same frequency as the audio signal? There are different possible causes, including a phase variance (see last week’s column), but the result is distortion and loss of clarity, or loss of volume.
Something like this happened between humans and God when the first humans rejected him and went their own way. Since then, God and humans have vibrated at different frequencies. As a result, much of our beauty and clarity have been lost, and we cannot hear God when he speaks. This leads to further problems, not just with God but with one another.
I wrote in greater detail about this last week. This week I wanted to explore a different possibility. What happens when we are in phase with God and achieve coherence with him? This is something like what St. Paul had in mind when he wrote, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also behave in accordance with the Spirit” which might be paraphrased, “Let’s make sure our frequency and the Spirit’s frequency match and are in phase.”
When sound waves achieve coherence, interesting things happen. If, where you are sitting in the concert hall, the speakers are reproducing the band’s soundwaves exactly, your brain will be able to map out where the vocals and various instruments are located on the stage. Coherence will give you a sense of where you are in relation to the music. In spiritual coherence, a person can map out where they are with God and where they need to go. This is practical and powerful in real life.
Because coherence eliminates phase cancellation, tones are not lost. We can clearly hear what is being played, sung, or spoken. In spiritual coherence, a person can hear when God speaks. This too is practical and powerful in real life.
When a group of people are in spiritual coherence with God (and, therefore, with each other), rich times of worship result—worship that changes lives. A church that is “in phase” with God can map out where it is and where it needs to go. Its people regularly hear God speak. With spiritual coherence come answers to prayer, for “if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18:19-20).
This alignment with God that I’m calling coherence enables a person to obey God and hold out against temptation. When a person is in a state of incoherence (out of alignment with God), temptation seems too good to refuse, for sin makes sense and feels right (or maybe just inevitable). But when a person experiences coherence (alignment with God), sin appears ugly and undesirable.
Is it possible for people who are out of alignment with God to ever get back in—to experience coherence? Yes, but not on their own. They need God to work from his end; on their own, they can never achieve it. The good news is that God is working to bring people into alignment with himself. The Bible tells that story.
How long does it take to be realigned – to come into coherence – with God? A lifetime, I think. Even more than that: it takes resurrection. Nevertheless, great progress can be made in this lifetime. Even now, people can move into phase with God to such a degree that they can hear and understand him when he speaks, receive his grace, and connect to his wisdom and love. The degree to which coherence can be realized in this lifetime is greater, I suspect, than anyone has imagined. And the benefits of coherence in this lifetime are greater that we have dared to hope.
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