Abstract: Who My God Is
A picture is painted in the mind of every young American Christian,
of a God, a white God with a long gray beard, seated on a gleaming throne.
He welds a gold scepter in His right hand,
and His flaming wrath in His left.
This is not the God of Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob.
Nor, Ruth, Mary, or her beloved son Jesus.
This is a picture of the gods of Greece, the Vikings, and Incas.
Their gods are petty, ill-mannered, and mortal.
Unfortunately, the indoctrination into the pagan view of God does not end here,
Aside from the laughable comparison to Zeus,
We are taught to appease our angry God with sacrifices and good behavior,
and in this pack of lies are sown seeds of disappointment and resentment.
Our consumer culture molds us to believe grace is a feeling,
faith is measured in possessions (which is why we treat God like Santa Claus),
hope a marketing slogan,
and love is a form of ethereal magic.
In this construct, the anxious and depressed are cast out as inconvenient,
the poor are rebuked as lazy,
the optimistic are mocked as foolish,
and those who choose love over tribalism are lonely.
This is American Christianity:
God is angry, so you better act right.
If you act right He will give you what you want.
If you do not get what you want,
There is something wrong with you.
If there is something wrong with you,
God is angry.
It’s not true,
This is the Lord:
“Blessed and loved are the anxious and depressed, for God is with you in your darkness. Reach for Him and He will answer.
Blessed are those are mourn, the humble, the thirsty, the merciful, the peaceful, the lonely, and those daring to love as the Father loves.”
He’s the God who runs after lost sheep wherever they wander,
who gave Himself up for us,
who welcomes us back once we realize what a shit we’ve been,
and lives in us regardless of how we feel.
I thank God the picture I held as a boy,
the narrative I believed as a young man,
the lies strangling my heart,
are all false.
Grace is His favor,
without end or price,
steady and sure,
from the beginning to very end.
Faith is a trust,
whatever the outcome,
our heart and minds are His,
and He knows best.
Hope is the sign of endurance,
the mark of a Believer,
it holds onto the highest good
as He does in all things.
And love…the most glorious of His presents,
is everything good-
endurance, patience, kindness,
peace, joy, hope, faith, righteousness,
and more.
This is the God of Adam, David, and Elizabeth,
the Father of Jesus,
the one who gave His only Son,
and the God whose throne is cold, because His desire is to walk with us.
