What does Tribe teach about intimacy with god?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At Tribe, the teaching on intimacy with God starts with a sharp distinction: proximity to Jesus and intimacy with Jesus are not the same thing. Brian Hunter drew that line from two Gospel scenes where the disciples were physically beside Jesus and still missed what was happening, while a woman who came close to him in vulnerability and transparency understood everything. As Brian put it, "Proximity does not necessarily equal intimacy." The disciples had access; she had intimacy, and intimacy was what produced clarity.
The two qualities Brian traced in those stories were vulnerability and transparency. The woman in Luke 7 did not wait for a safer moment or a more private setting. She acted openly, in front of people who would have judged her, because what she carried toward Jesus was more urgent than protecting her reputation. That kind of closeness, built on honesty about who you are before God, is what the teaching at Tribe holds up as the soil in which real clarity grows. Brian framed the question this way: "If he already knows and he still wants to hang out with you, what does that say about him?"
That same thread runs through the teaching in the Full Reward series, where Brian connected intimacy with God to the very currency of a life well lived. The gold that survives judgment, drawn from 1 Corinthians 3 and Revelation 3, is not the product of impressive religious effort. It is the fruit of obedience that grows out of closeness with God rather than out of self-generated striving. Dead works, as Brian quoted from Watchman Nee, are not only sinful things but any works that have their source in ourselves rather than in God. Intimacy is what turns ordinary obedience into something that lasts.
Taught from Mark 14:1-9 · Luke 7:36-50 · James 4:8 · 1 Corinthians 3:10-14 · Revelation 3:14-18
The passage taught · 1 Corinthians 3:10-14
10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another builds on it. But let each man be careful how he builds on it.
11 For no one can lay any other foundation than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 But if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or stubble;
13 each man’s work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself will test what sort of work each man’s work is.
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- September 7, 2025 The Gold of Jesus A Jackson Hole pastor teaches that Christians are rewarded not for good intentions but for obedience to their specific calling, and that every moment of faithful surrender matters for eternity.
- February 12, 2024 Clarity Comes Through Intimacy Brian Hunter explores how intimacy with Jesus brings clarity through vulnerability and transparency, drawing from two Gospel accounts of a woman anointing Jesus.
- February 11, 2024 Clarity Comes Through Intimacy A pastor and congregation in Jackson Hole explore how intimacy with Jesus, built on vulnerability and transparency, brings clarity in an increasingly complex world.
Mentioned along the way
- March 3, 2025 The Sin Offering Leviticus 3 shows that God designed blood sacrifice not to satisfy his anger but to draw us into intimate relationship with him.
- March 2, 2025 The Blood Bridges the Gap Brian Hunter walks through Leviticus 3 to show that God designed blood sacrifice not to manage his anger, but to draw people into genuine closeness with him.