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Don't put God in a box

When w r iting c olumns /blogs /w hatev er s f or my w ebs ite, I tend to s teer c lear of ov er tly theologic al themes .

Rather , I tr y and let w hat I believ e inf luenc e w hat I w r ite on w or ldly topic s like s por t, politic s , s por t, politic s , s por t and politic s . Dylan has w ritten w ay too much about sport and politics. It's theology's turn.

How ev er , the time has c ome f or me to br eak out of my us ual mode and v entur e aw ay f r om the mater iaologic al ( y es , I know , its not a r eal w or d) and into the theologic al.

Natur ally y our f ir s t ques tion is , w hy ? Well, lately Iv e been hous e- hunting, and las t w eekend my mate Tim and I s tumbled ac r os s this s ens ational apar tment in Randw ic k.

We w anted it. Badly .

So w e applied and, w hen I got w or d the r eal es tate agents had been c hec king my r ef er enc es , I dar ed to dr eam. What happened nex t? It tur ns out w e w er e r ejec ted almos t as c ompr ehens iv ely as Kev in Rudd by his Labor c olleagues in mid 2010.

This got me thinking though, w hy w as my applic ation r ejec ted? Now , as a Chr is tian, I hav e a w onder f ul tendenc y to s ee Gods hands at w or k in lots of things . How ev er , as Chr is tian, I als o hav e a s tupid tendenc y to s ee Gods hands at w or k in lots of things .

Do y ou get w hat I mean? Bas ic ally , if any s or t of c oinc idenc e happens , ins tinc tiv ely I s tar t f illing in the gaps and s tar t as s uming that I know ex ac tly w hat God is up to. So, w hen I got w or d the agents w er e c hec king my r ef er enc es , I s tar ted as s uming God w as at w or k and ens ur ing that my applic ation w ould be appr ov ed.

Fas ter than I c ould s ay Billy Gr aham , I r ealis ed how f oolis h that w as . A nd this is my c r itic is m: s o many Chr is tians hav e a tendenc y to put God in a little, neat box and as s ume they know ex ac tly how He w ill w or k in ev er y c ir c ums tanc e.

A nd this is the pr oblem! So many of us as s ume that bec aus e w e know God, w e ther ef or e get God.

I don't mean that God is a total my s ter y . He's c lear ly r ev ealed s ome things about Hims elf to us s o w e c an get an idea of w ho He is . For ex ample, the Bible c lear ly s tates that God is lov ing, God is tr ue, God is jus t, etc . How ev er , ther e ar e elements of God that w e c lear ly don't get. God, f or ins tanc e, is all- know ing ( 1 John 3:20 s ay s God know s ev er y thing) and all pow er f ul ( dis play ed by things s uc h as His c r eation the univ er s e) . No human being know s abs olutely ev er y thing, but God does . A s s uc h, s inc e w e don't know ev er y thing, it's quite a mis take to think that w e c an f ully under s tand God. Is aiah 55:9 s ay s " A s the heav ens ar e higher than the ear th, s o ar e my w ay s higher than y our w ay s and my thoughts than y our thoughts ." In other w or ds , w hile God is not s o unf athomable that w e c an't pr oper ly know him per iod, ther e ar e as pec ts of God that w e c annot under s tand. That does n't s top people f r om as s uming they do though.

Y ou know w ho els e made this mis take? Jus t about ev er y one in the entir e Bible. If ther es one thing human beings ar e s uper b at, its as s uming w e know bes t. For ex ample, the bigges t c r itic is m many atheis ts thr ew ar ound dur ing the r ec ent Queens land f loods w as , How c ould a good God allow s omething b ad to happen? Things don't alw ays turn out how w e expect. The c entr al philos ophy behind this ques tion ultimately s tems bac k to the ac c us er believ ing they know bes t, and if they w er e in c ontr ol, they w ouldnt hav e let it happen.

A nd, f r ankly , is nt this w her e mos t of the objec tions to Gods ex is tenc e s tem f r om? The f ac t that people as s ume they know w hat is good, and ther ef or e God w ill and s hould ac t pr ec is ely how they ex pec t He s hould ac t all the time.

What does the Bible hav e to s ay on this ? Well, the eas y ans w er w ould be lots , but Ill thr ow my s elf a bone and tur n to Job. Bas ic ally , Job w as a r ighteous man w ho w as af f lic ted w ith dis eas e, all his f amily died, he los t all his pos s es s ions and, es s entially , r ealis ed that his lif e s uddenly s uc ked. So he as ks the obv ious ques tion, Wher e is God???

A c c or ding to Job c hapter 38, the Lor d f inally ans w er s Jobs ques tion. A lthough, not in the w ay Job w as hoping or ex pec ting.

Rather , God pr oc eeds to r emind Job that He is God, not Job. It tur ns out that Job didnt need to know why. Rather , he s ay s in c hapter 42 v er s e 5, My ear s had hear d of y ou, but now my ey es hav e s een y ou. Ther ef or e I des pis e my s elf and r epent in dus t and as hes .

In other w or ds , Whoa! Y ou ar e aw es ome! Who the hell am I to ques tion w hat y ou do???

I f ind that s tar tling bec aus e I hav e an almos t unquenc hable thir s t to know w hy things happen.

Whenev er I hear par t of a s entenc e, Ill almos t die unles s I hear the r es t. My hous emates f ind me totally annoy ing bec aus e, w hen they r e about to leav e the hous e, Ill pes ter them c eas eles s ly w ith ques tions on w her e they r e going, w ho they r e s eeing etc . Its not bec aus e Im c r az y , its bec aus e Im jus t pr etty damn c ur ious !

A nd that is the bigges t pr oblem w e hav e today . When s omething does nt tur n out the w ay w e w anted or ex pec ted it to, w e immediately s tar t to ques tion w hether a) God c ar es , b) Is God punis hing me f or s omething? Or c ) Does God ex is t af ter all?

The ultimate pr oblem w ith thes e c onc lus ions is w e ar e s tar ting at the w r ong point. We s tar t w ith the as s umption that w e know bes t, and that God w ill ac t ac c or ding to our plan.

One v er s e w hic h c aus es s ignif ic ant c ontr ov er s y on this is s ue is Ps alm 37 v er s e 4: Take delight in the Lor d and he w ill giv e y ou the des ir es of y our hear t.

Many Chr is tians take this at f ac e v alue and think/pr eac h, Well, if I pr ay r eal l y har d, then w hatev er I w ant, God w ill giv e me. Sw eet!

So people r ead this v er s e and as s ume that the c ar they r eally w ant, the s pous e they r eally w ant, the hous e they r eally w ant etc w ill be giv en to them by God, if they r e r eally good. In f ac t, loads of people believ e this , ir r es pec tiv e of w hether they ar e a Chr is tian or not. Is nt this the entir e pr emis e on w hic h kar ma is bas ed? If y ou do s omething good, s omething good w ill happen in r etur n. Just because I pray really hard doesn't mean I'll get an Aston Martin.

A f r iend of mine f r om high s c hool onc e s aid to me, Dy lan, I hav ent told a s ingle lie this w eek, s o Im pos itiv e that Mic helle and I w ill hook up this w eekend.

Unf or tunately f or my mate, they didnt hook up w hic h led to the f ollow ing r emar k, Dy lan, I ev en pr ay ed that God w ould let Mic helle and I hook up, and I w as r eally good. What happened? Nothing! Wher es this God of y our s , huh?

Clas s ic .

Some c hur c hes ev en go s o f ar as to c laim, If y ou giv e lots of money , then God w ill giv e y ou ev en mor e money ! c onv eniently ignor ing 1 Timothy 6:3- 5

I hate to be the bear er of bad new s , but Ps alm 37:4 does nt mean that, if y our e good y oull get w hatev er y ou w ant. Rather , it s ay s , and this is the impor tant point, if y ou delight in the Lor d, the des ir es of y our hear t w ill be God- f oc us ed des ir es .

In other w or ds , y oull get w hat y ou delight in God Hims elf !

Now , to people w ho dont believ e in God, natur ally that does nt s ound like muc h of an of f er . Hec k, if s omeone s aid, delight in unic or ns and y oull get one, I dont think Id be that impr es s ed. But, to a Chr is tian, this is f undamental to w hat y ou believ e. The ultimate r ew ar d of Chr is tianity is nt about getting out of hell and into heav en. Rather , its about r ec onc iling w ith God and know ing God Hims elf .

The bes t ex ample I c an giv e her e is Jes us Hims elf . Jes us had his ow n des ir es . He didnt w ant to die on the c r os s ! He pleaded w ith God that if ther e w as any other w ay of r ec onc iling humanity to God, hed gladly do it. But, he ultimately s aid, not my w ill, but Y our s . In other w or ds , I know w hat Y ou w ant, and bec aus e its w hat Y ou w ant, it ther ef or e is w hat I w ant. In f ac t, in John c hapter 17 v er s e thr ee, Jes us s ay s , " Now this is eter nal lif e: that they know y ou, the only tr ue God, and Jes us Chr is t, w hom y ou hav e s ent." For Jes us , the ultimate des ir e of his hear t w as to 'know God'.

So, w hats the main point? When Ps alm 37:4 s peaks of the des ir es of y our hear t, it means that thos e des ir es w ill be God- f oc us ed des ir es . A nd the God giv en des ir es of y our hear t w ill be to get to know God better .

be to get to know God better .

A nd gues s w hat, if y ou tr uly long to know God, y oull pr obably make a bit of an ef f or t to get to know God, and y oull pr obably f ind that getting to know God is ac tually pr etty aw es ome. A nd the nex t des ir es of y our hear t w ill, mos t likely , be a des ir e to be mor e like Jes us .

So, nex t time y ou get an email f r om that gir l y ou like, or y ou dont get the hous e y our e af ter , or y ou dont w in the lotter y , dont as s ume that God is either r ew ar ding y ou or punis hing y ou. Dont as s ume any thing! The dis c iples hung out w ith Jes us ev er y day f or thr ee y ear s and they had no idea w hat He w as going to do nex t!

Rather , r emind y our s elf that God know s w hat Hes doing, bec aus e Hes God, and w e s hould be f oc us ed on getting to know Him better , and ther e jus t might be a r eas on y ou dont know about, as to w hy things tur ned out the w ay they did. So, dont put God in a box . Hes too big! Clic k her e to email Dy lan about the abov e c olumn. Clic k her e to go bac k to the homepage.