Letters from Paul

What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. – Tozer

I would guess that most everyone is familiar with the television show “The View.”  I can honestly say that I have never watched the show and from what I have heard, I’m not missing anything.  This show picks topics and four or five women sit around, argue, and/or give their view on any particular subject.  I guess that makes for good entertainment and perhaps people really do care if their view on a particular subject, lines up with the view of one of the stars on the show.  The concept certainly underscores the philosophy of today, “Everyone’s view or opinion is just as valid as the next persons.”

When it comes to God, I see the exact same philosophy, even among Christians.  I see websites and blogs, not unlike this one, in which people’s view of God is quite diverse.  Let me share just a few views I have heard from people and seen written on the internet.

1. When talking to atheists, other than the fact that they do not believe that God exists, their view is that Christians worship a megalomaniac.  The only thing the Christian God is concerned with is . . . well . . .  himself.
2. I have talked with others whose view is that God wants them to be happy.  God is concerned with their comfort and well being.  This has been appropriately called the “health and wealth gospel.”
3. I have talked with others who are choosing to live a sinful lifestyle and their view is that God is a God of mercy.  They proclaim that Jesus is our Savior and then regardless of what they choose to do with their life, God just simply has mercy on them and they are forgiven.
4. Some believe that God is that old man in the sky that is ready to strike them down if they mess up.  They see him looking over everything we do and as soon as we make a mistake . . . BAM.  God is ready to unleash his wrath.
5. Lastly, others I have spoken to simply see God almost in a Deist sort of way.  Yes, they believe in Jesus because they know that He is the only way to heaven and God does step in every once in a while, but for the most part, God is simply watching what we are doing and letting nature take its course.

There are so many other “views” or opinions, but for the sake of the length of this blog, let’s stop here.

What is interesting is that whereas I wholeheartedly disagree with the atheists, they seem to have at least one thing right.  Their view is at least focused on God, and who he is, rather than God’s conformity to man’s inclinations.  What I have discovered is that for many people, their thoughts, ideas, and views of God are intricately tied to their own wants, desires, and inclinations. So for instance, those who believe that their happiness and health is God’s plan for their life; they see God as a benevolent distributor of good earthly gifts.  When people simply want a Savior and not a Lord, they view God as simply compassionate, but certainly not demanding.  When people are Pharisitical (rules, rules, and more rules) they view God is simply a god of “lines in the sand” and unmoved.  When people view God  “at a distance,” God is all-powerful, but not really interested in the affairs of man. 

God addressed all these issues by constantly forbidding his people to practice idolatry. 

WHAT???  We don’t carve images and/or create likenesses of things in this universe and then bow down to them.  How ridiculous.  You may see that in primitive cultures, but we know better today, and yet; we are guilty of doing the exact same thing in our minds.  We have created a god that harmonizes with us.  The truth is, our sanctification is composed of us being transformed.  Not the other way around.  Let me share another Tozer quote from The Knowledge of the Holy.

Among the sins to which the human heart is prone, hardly any other is more hateful to God than idolatry, for idolatry is at bottom a libel on His character.  The idolatrous heart assumes that God is other than He is – in itself a monstrous sin – and substitutes for the true God one made after its own likeness.  Always this God will conform to the image of the one who created it and will be base or pure, cruel or kind, according to the moral state of the mind from which it emerges.

Why would the holy conform to the unholy?  Why would the perfect become more like the imperfect?  I believe there are several reasons we have actually begun to think like this.  Why we have exchanged the truth for a lie.

1. We live in an age of relativism.  I touched on this earlier.  What is good for you is good for you.  What works for me works for me, but there is no objective standard.  It is politically incorrect to say, “You are wrong.”  The exclusivity of God, his people, and his standards are seen as restrictive.  So, simply change them.  We are even taught that everyone’s opinion is valid and we all bring something to the table.  Let me be politically incorrect.  If your opinion concerning God is contrary to God’s Word, it is not valid and it has no value. 
2. It is easier.  Change is tough.  It is simply much easier to change God than to be submissive and changed by God.  When you read about people who attempt to change lifestyles and habits, you will hear things such as 12-step programs, classes, and accountability groups.  Change is tough, so if it is possible to proceed without changing, why not?  I recently preached on being poor in spirit and in that message I spoke of the fact that it is not pleasant to see ourselves in the presence of God.  Please show me anywhere in the Bible where people, called by God, were satisfied, pleased, or encouraged by their standing or status apart from God.  It simply didn’t happen.  So, if we don’t want to deal with the harsh reality that we are fallen, why not just remove that part of God that makes us uncomfortable?  Instead let’s just mold God into our image.
3. We are Biblically illiterate.  Many of us have grabbed onto a phrase or a word that we really like about God and that is as far as our biblical literacy goes.  We have individual inclinations towards words which appeal to us.  These words are descriptive of God’s character such as love, just, righteous, mercy, grace, and compassionate, etc . . . We latch onto a word and that gives us our definition of God, but there is a problem.  A right theology (a right view) is not tied to A WORD, but rather to GOD’S WORD.  The Bible contains the fullness of what God has revealed to us concerning Himself.  Unfortunately, we do not take the time to read or study God’s Word, therefore; we are liable to only listen to other’s ideas.  Because we have neglected the reading of God’s Word for so long, we even have preachers and teachers who depend on lessons and study guides rather than the Bible for weekly study.  We must access the truth.  We must see the wholeness of God as presented in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.    

Read what Paul wrote to Timothy:

As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, not to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the good order from God that is by faith.  The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith  Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions. (1 Timothy 1:3-7)

How many myths are we spreading?  How many confident assertions about God which are only part-truths or absolutely false are we making?  Isn’t it time to stop saying, “I think God is like . . .” and “I feel that God is . . .”  It may sound harsh, but my opinion and your opinion concerning God is worthless, unless it lines up with who God says He is.  Let us be students of God whose greatest desire is to know more about our Father, our King, and our God.  I do not want to imagine, preach, teach, or speculate anything about God which is not in accord with who God says He is.  Let me leave you with one more A. W. Tozer quote:

The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him.

May we never ascribe to God what is unworthy of Him.  Lord, change us.  Transform us.  Make us more like you.  Let us see you for who you are, and not what we want you to be.