Last night we had a nice meeting on the book, "the Shack." I was reminded of the fact that so many of us grew up in churches that put God in a box. Well meaning folks that wanted to make God understandable, packaged Him in certain ways, using scriptures of their choice, and created a very human, manageable, understandable God. The problem with the God of the box is that we squelched his love and tried to control His doctrine. We inadvertently replaced his love with our human teachings.
When we take the love out of God, there is nothing supernatural left.
Let God out of the box. Just accept that you and I don't have all the answers. The God that we worship does not fit into anyone's doctrinal box. We need to bow in reverence and awe of Him and stop trying to make Him fit our ideas about what we think He is like.
When we give up being in charge, then we can begin to come to know the God that is truly great and truly other. When we stop trying to direct him and manipulate others to follow Him, we can simply accept that he loves us and celebrate this life that we have been given.
It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.
5 comments:
Yesterday you talked about passages.
Today you are talking about the passage from death to life that leads to the Kingdom.
The key was purchased and placed in the door - We were invited to knock.
Lead on brother Brinkman.
Mark Harris wrote a song that I heard on the radio this morning. I think it fits very well in this thread
I don’t have a God I can put on a stand,
Or a God I hold in the palm of my hand,
I have a God that’s holding me.
I don’t have a God that I can create
In the place I live with the money I make
I have a God; He made everything.
So I don’t need a temporary man made deity,
When I got the real thing,
I got the real thing.
He’s the Lord of all the earth
The maker of all things,
He alone is the one true God.
Kingdoms rise and fall,
But even through it all,
He remains, the one true God.
I don’t have a thing that I got on my own,
I don’t have a care that I carry alone,
But I have a God who’s carrying me.
I don’t have a sin that he doesn’t forgive,
And I don’t have a heart that is worthy of his,
But I have a God who still loves me.
So I don’t need a temporary man made deity,
When I got the real thing,
I got the real thing.
He’s the Lord of all the earth
The maker of all things,
He alone is the one true God.
Kingdoms rise and fall,
But even through it all,
He remains, the one true God.
Amen, Jeff! You did a great job last night in your discussion of the various criticisms of this book. I couldn't agree with you more! Thanks for reminding us that God is more than we could ever understand...or put in a box.
I haven't read The Shack yet, but whenever I hear people talking about it, it reminds of an incident in my life a long time ago. I had a childhood friend we used to call Cat. (short for Kathy) When Cat was 8 she got really sick for a long time and almost passed away several times, but ultimately got better. Now when we hit teenage and early adult years, we we're not nice kids. Did allot of bad and illegal things and constantly we're in trouble with the police.
About when I said enough and went to live in a monastery to turn my life around, Cat went to New York and started to prostitute herself for drugs. She ultimatley died a horrible death in this lifestyle.
Approx one year after her death, her father and brother came to visit me at the monastery. I was fully expecting and waiting to be assaulted. But instead he says "one question. Why didn't God take her when she was younger and sick?" I just said I don't know and sent him to the elder.
The problem is when we look at things, we only see our narrow view and opinion of it. God sees and knows the big picture. I know of at least one Father who mourns becuase his little girl wasn't taken. I'm sure there's countless more.
"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God" Rom 8:28.
We don't need to understand it or try to fathom it. We just need to believe it.
But if we can't put God in a box, how will we tell others what they should believe!? Surely you're not suggesting that we all bask in the glory of an incomprehensible God, spreading the love and grace that is freely given to us. That kind of thing might be contagious. People might start thinking God really IS love, and focus more on loving others than following the rules. You might as well throw out the rules in a world like that.
So maybe you should be careful what you say. If we take God out of the box, there's no telling what kind of people will think they can become Christians.
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