"My God is like..."

You know that uncle that only sees you for a few hours every five years?  You know the one - he knows basically two or three things about you and bases his entire characterization of you on them.  To him your entire personality can be summarized in a simple title: doctor, fireman, housewife, Packers fan, reality tv watcher, etc.  It's not his fault.  He doesn't really know you, but he wants to.  And his chance encounters with you have enabled him to have some small insight into who you are, so his portrait of you isn't totally unfounded.  And chances are, the traits he attributes to you are probably those he finds the most appealing.  Unless all of you limited interactions have been completely unappealing - then you may be the "sharting" nephew, or the "drunken wedding toast" niece.

We all do it.  We base our perceptions of people on what we know and what we like.

And I think we have collectively done it with God for generations.

I hear people say all the time, "I believe in a God who is kind."  Or perhaps, "My Jesus is peaceful."  Cal Naughton Jr. from Talladega Nights liked to picture Jesus as a figure skater dressed in white who did interpretive dances of his life's journey.  Miranda Lambert thinks she'd get along with Him because they both like wine.

Most of us aren't so far fetched, but we do seem to attribute only the most comforting attributes that we can think of to our God.  Peace, rest, blessing, cash, health - yup that's his business.  But what about wrath, plague, fire and discipline?  Many would say that those traits are characteristic of an "Old Testament God."  But the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ changed our relationship with God - it didn't change anything about God himself.  In fact, He is the same Yesterday, today and forever, right?

So what's the big deal with focusing on the comforting traits that we know about our God?  Isn't it okay to see the softer side of Jesus?  After all, as Christians, we needn't fear God - right?

The problem, I believe, is just that.  In choosing to characterize the Creator of the universe a la carte, we limit ourselves from truly knowing Him, and our relationship is at best, superficial.  Further, we prevent ourselves from developing and maintaining a healthy and necessary fear of the omnipotent being whose very will sustains us.

We also run the risk of "creating" a God who is far weaker than the original.  If we ignore God's ability and willingness to judge, His wrath and His power - we're left with a stuffed-animal "Buddy Christ" to run to in times of trouble.

David worshiped a God who slayed his enemies, whose wrath ruined those who dared oppose Him.  David didn't praise God for passively standing by and allowing misfortune to fall on his enemies - He praised God for destroying them.

It has been a long time since we stopped to think what it is like to be sinners in the hands of an angry God.  And in that time we have come to believe that it isn't okay for God to get angry, or kill, or judge.

But God is perfect in His very existence.  It's a bit of a mind-stretch for us to realize that He kills at will and wipes out civilizations based on His judgement.  He gives and takes away - all without every having any fault.  Why?  He's God.

Is this to say that God isn't merciful?  No, He is the only being able to know both perfect Justice and perfect Mercy.  But He must have both.  To think that He requires one without the other would make Him less than God.

And that's the point.  I believe that God wants us to know Him.  The God of the old and New Testament.  The God who gives and takes life.  The God who reigns down fire from heaven and makes the blind see.  The God who saved the nation of Israel by parting the Sea and then used the same waters to kill a heck of a lot of Egyptians behind them.

In doing so, we will get to know our God for all that He really is.  We can then truly be grateful to be on His side, and not under the threat of the overwhelming power and wrath that He is capable of.  We can then truly know Him.  That's what He put us here for after all, right?



"In the end, that Face which is the delight or terror of the universe must be turned upon each of us, either with one expression or the other." -C.S. Lewis