Connecting Point: A CLEAR PICTURE OF GOD

Thinking about the character of God, we all see God through our own eyes, and more specifically, through our experiences. Many of these experiences are negative. The great American Poet, Robert Frost, who is the closest thing to Poet Lauriat our country has ever known, described God’s character in tens if not hundreds of poems in many different and subtle ways. Always with reverence and respect; this is not true of not a few in our own culture.

Perception is part of the problem, so we must search for the truth.

Monica in the Free to Thrive video series described how she developed a distorted view of God based on a deeply troubling sexual abuse experience of her own. Looking back, Monica described her desperation and unmet longings after her fiancée broke off their engagement. She settled for questionable relationships and purposely put herself in unwise situations in the party scene. After a “friend” took advantage of her, her despair grew dark over the course of a year. Overwhelming feelings of rejection and thoughts of worthlessness flooded her mind daily.

In this depression she thought of the better part of twenty years when God was close, personal, and good to her; now she felt he was distant and unforgiving. Her fiancée and his rejection burned and hurt! Monica’s story is not unique. Author William Paul Young says, “It took me all of fifty years to wipe the face of my father completely off the face of God.” Both William and Monica healed in time. They took charge and addressed the pain of their past. Jesus was waiting for them.

History demonstrates quite a range of views regarding God. The ancient Greeks looked to pantheism, a vision of god in everything, specifically all of nature. The Ancient Eastern cultures embraced polytheism, meaning many gods and goddesses. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Europeans embraced a different idea of God: deism, which is a notion that God is merely a giant clockmaker of precision but uncaring. Benjamin Franklin directly said he was a deist. Jefferson, our third president, was never as clear as Franklin. But John Adams, his best friend at the end of his life, scolded him often for “deistic tendencies.” Certainly, in our times, even atheism abounds - a distorted view of God and of nature.

Christianity holds to the fundamental belief that Jesus was God in the flesh, stepping into existence in a lowly fashion; he lived a sinless life, was crucified for our sins, and died but was resurrected three days later all for the purpose of redeeming humanity. Quite the counter to deism, don’t you think? Romans 5:6-8 states, “At just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person, someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Through the Bible we get a consistent and accurate view of God. Ben Bennett, who co-leads the Free to Thrive teaching ministry states the following: “One, God is not angry with you, he loves you. Two, God is not obsessed with rules, but he is gracious and forgiving. Three, God is not distant, he is present and personal.” Nice. Our view of God will deeply shape our beliefs. A distorted view of God will simply create distorted beliefs and practices.

Basing our view of God on flawed humans is a recipe for disaster. No matter your background and negative experiences with others, have good cheer: consider what’s seen in history and the Bible. Jesus came so that we could have life, an abundant life despite hardship or pain. You can count on Jesus.