#253. Painting God mad.
May 26th by Jon
One time my friend Ryan and I were talking about God. In the middle of the conversation I told him I thought God was chasing after him. His response was instant and puzzling: “If God is trying to kill me, he missed his chance when I got in that car wreck at 18.”
I wasn’t trying to say that I thought God was chasing Ryan down for the purposes of exterminating him. I meant that God loved him and was eager to show him that love and was running after him. But Ryan’s answer reflected what I thought for most of my life too, “If God ever gets his hands on me, he is going to punish me and make my life miserable.”
My vision of God was of an angry, old man with powers beyond my understanding and punishment beyond my creativity. His favorite activities, beside Frisbee, were smiting people and striking people down where they stood for their transgressions. The only reason He wanted me near was so that I was close enough to hit with a big, holy hammer. He was forceful and ominous.
Unfortunately, I’m not the only one that has thought this. The photo in this post is from a newspaper in France. The headline is “Think for yourself” and we can clearly see that a night-colored person representing God or religion is forcing the young woman to pray. There is condemnation and slavery and punishment captured in the faceless, dark shape that is controlling the scene. Looking at it, I can’t help but wonder, “How did we get here?”
How did the God who Isaiah 30 tells us “longs to be gracious to you” and “rises to show you compassion” turn into such an angry ogre? I think one of the ways is that we all too often paint him as mad. We go through the Bible with a deep red mad highlighter and select the verses that capture his fury best and then we quote them as proof of a furious God.
I was reminded of this recently when someone posted a comment on this site. The full comment is too long to address and will be the subject of a post on one of my other sites, but here is an excerpt:
I would be extremely afraid if I were you. Have not you read Numbers?? What happens when people start complaining of what Godly people are doing? God ..not man.. God… kills them. In fact, God caused a plaugue that killed over 14,000 complainers in a single day. They were complaining of meek Moses and Godly Aaron!! Are not you afraid of our God who does not change?
Before I talk about this comment, let me say that this person gave me some good advice. I took to heart what she said and actually tweaked the post I wrote because she was right, a few of the sentences were pretty jerky on second glance. Though I may have disagreed with her delivery method, there was some truth in her message. I think she did a great job of pointing out where I was being sensational and that’s honestly not good. It is a blessing to me when readers take the time to call me on something I’ve messed up. It’s the only way this site will get better. But, within her thoughts, was also the continuation of the idea that we serve a vengeful God.
The biggest challenge I have with the comment is that it completely nullifies the life and death of Jesus Christ. When we want to paint a picture of God as a brutal no holds barred cage fighter, we often have to downplay or as this person did, completely edit out Jesus. Did God kill all those Israelites in Numbers? Yes. Is anger one of the colors in His palette? Yes. Could you quote me a million verses where He powerfully expresses that anger? Yes. Have I done things that are worthy of me being killed? Yes. (I once wrote a post called “My 6 most smite worthy moments.) Does Christ radically change all of that? Yes.
You see, I don’t have to choose my words on this blog with the fear of a plague should I get them wrong. I don’t have to wonder if an incorrect sentence is going to get me killed instantly like the men and women in the desert. I will definitely be held accountable for what I do, and need to respect that with fear and trembling, but if I waited until I was “perfect” to write, there would never be a word on this site.
Am I afraid of our God who does not change? Yes, I fear the Lord, and I find it really difficult to try to capture who He is in such a flat medium as a blog. But more than that, I am in love with our God who does not change. The one that loved me enough to send His son to die for me. The one that longs for me. The one that upon seeing a prodigal like me decides to throw a party, instead of throwing punishment. The one that sent a high priest to intercede for me. The one that allows us to “approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
The last thing I’ll leave you with is that saying the word “love” is not the same thing as being love. One of the final sentences in the comment I was left by the person mentioned above was that her purpose was to “lovingly trying to warn you…” Anytime you raise the potential threat of a plague, wrapping up your comment with love doesn’t really soften the blow. If anything it seems like an example of saying “in Christian love” before you punch someone in the face.
Comments
I am so with you on this post.
Still, I would change the “Do I fear God?” answer to a resounding No. Do I reverence and respect Him…absolutely. Even though at times my irreverence may go afoul of propriety, I still do not fear Him. My fear of Him vanished, even my fear of His Holy Discipline VANISHED, when I truly understood what Jesus had completed on the Cross.
My High Priest is right there, interceding for me at those moments I go wandering off the proper playground. I may get reigned in with the rod, or my tail end smacked with the staff…but my Perfect High Priest is there and when the Father sees me, He sees me through my High Priest not through my deeds/misdeeds.
Now, had I no relationship with Christ, no direct access to the throne of grace…then yes, I am inclined to think that I would run into Angry/Vengeful God more often than not.
This is a great post!! This has been, and is a wonderful site for me to visit each day. LOVE IT:)
I want to commend you on addressing the other person’s comments; I have found that on some blogs unless you are giving them kudos and telling them how wonderful they are, they pass around your heart felt feelings to their circle of friends who are like minded, analyze them and label you a loon or crazy all because you see things differently.
You, on the other hand, seem to welcome all comments and treat all those who do comment with respect, even if the comments are negative. This shows me you have a true christian heart who has an open mind and not easily offended.
Keep up the good work; don’t be discouraged by the ones who are negative; who knows, your reply to them might be just what they need to hear.
Oh, by the way, I am not the person who left the comment you are talking about. Looking forward to your detailed post about it, I know it will be enlighting, addressed tastefully, and humorous.
Well spoken.
Wow. There is so much I want to say. I will keep it as simple as my rambling self is able. I’m sorry these things were said to you. I love Jesus. I love Christians and I love your blog. Thank you for having such an accepting perspective on this person’s comment. That’s hard for a lot of us to do.
I guess it’s pretty simple to me. Poking a little fun at your very own subculture and all of it’s idiosyncrasies is not “complaining of what Godly people are doing.” If you were poking fun at missionaries for being missionaries or making fun of justice, grace and mercy then I too would tell you to brace yourself for punishment. But you aren’t. If anything, you’ve found a way to throw in a lot of beautiful things about Christianity in a way that’s refreshing.
I recently wrote a bit about my feelings when people get so focused and distracted by judgement. You probly don’t have time and that’s cool, but here you go – iflifeisahighway.blogspot.com
post “This and not that”
Thank you again. Peace,
Heather
When I was six or so, I had this mental image of God as being a well-tanned guy with a turban on his head – sort of like an Indian snake charmer. He’d sit next to Jesus (who looked just like all those Polaroids I’d seen of Him in Sunday School) up in the sky and just look down on me with delight. “Oh Jesus,” He’d exclaim. “Look at little Andy!”
Hey, I said I was six.
Anyway, I was so impressed with how cool God was, I told Beth about it. Beth was a year or two older, and very smart. I said cheerfully, “You know, it seems like God’s like this magician or something.”
Beth looked at me very soberly and said, “You’re not supposed to make fun of God!”
Scared the hooey out of me. For a long time.
Thanks for a great and fun insight.
Andy Wood
http://www.lifevesting.com
I have few comments… first, to jeni. Please look at both the OT and NT for references to fearing God and then think practically about who He is – an almighty being perfect in wrath, holiness, love etc… As C.S. Lewis said in the Chronicles of Narnia – “He is not a tame lion…” While we should not and do not have to live in a state of panic over his impending wrath, fear (along with love, respect, etc.) is an altogether appropriate reaction. If you look at what that word fear means (in both OT & NT) it means, guess what, FEAR, BE AFRAID! One last thing, your first mistake is (I believe) seeing fear and love as mutually exclusive.
Jon,
This post is a prime example of Christ-like humility. I seem to recall a post on one of your sites related to fear of becoming an arrogant jerk when success hits. With this kind of attitude and submission to Christ, man – you are on the right track.
I might liken my fear of God to, perhaps, standing next to a nuclear reactor safely contained w/in its walls… would I be a little afraid? would you? would I ever consider reaching into the core of that reactor? God is love, yes. God is also wrath, anger, holiness… and he is all of these things perfectly and simultaneously (read J.I. Packer’s Knowing God). We step quickly into heresy when we deny God any part of the prism of his character.
Jenl-
I don’t really think that “fear” in the Bible is a knees-knocking “oh my gosh God is going to smite me” fear. It’s more of a reverant awe. In that sense, I do fear God. We should all fear God. If you wanted to, you could pop on over to blueletterbible.org and look up the original hebrew words and see for yourself.
And to Jon,
I love this site. I love posts like this. Keep it up!
the black sculpture in the photo is not shapeless. faceless, yes, shapeless, no.
anon -
thanks for the heads up. I tweaked it
Jon
This is a really great post. I’ve been having a huge struggle reconciling the Vengeful, wrathful facet of God with the Loving, Merciful, Gracefilled side of God. I definitely have not reached a solid conclusion, but I believe that is the beauty of the mystery. God wants us to continually pursue, and his dual nature is one way that He accomplishes this.
Read ‘The God Who Smokes’ by Timothy Stoner. He speaks a lot about the OT side of God. I don’t necessarily agree with everything he says, but he helps you balance out who God is.
Peace and Grace.
People always seem to get so bent out of shape over the idea of “fearing God”, usually picking one extreme or the other, but I think the idea of fearing God makes perfect sense. And I think that it’s very possible to have a healthy balance of fear and love in your relationship with God. He shows this when he likens himself to being our father. For those who have had a troubled childhood I can understand how this image could be distorted, but in a healthy parent-child relationship fear and love are both present and they coincide beautifully. As a child you know that your parent has authority over your life, that they have the power to correct you, discipline you, or deny you of something, but still you hopefully have that relationship with your parent where you can be open with them, screw up time and again in front of them, or just fall flat on your face and know that they’ll pick you up and love you in a way that no other human could, because their love is unconditional and they only want the best for your life.
God has authority and power in our life; he has the ability to take us where he wants to, teach us how he chooses, discipline us as he sees fit, and like a child to a parent we should look at that power with fear and awe. When the prodigal son is returning he’s racked with fear because he knows the power his father possesses over his circumstance but instead is met with open arms because of his father’s unconditional love for his son. We should fear the power that God possesses, we should know that his love for us is uncondtional and fervent.
Really like the post and your honesty. Refreshing.
On another subject, I think the dude in the faceless suit is one of the Blue Men. Or maybe the bad Spider Man. Either way, creepy….
Wait! Is that really you Jon? You madcap trickster.
That photo looks like the dark thing is Satan trying to pry her hands apart.
Not only did I used to think God was out to hurt me, I thought he was into torture or just ignoring me. Because he wouldn’t deliver me from my addictions and then get mad at me for my sin. Truth was, that he DID deliver me. I chose to remain in my sin. And he was hurt. He was upset. But he still loved me. And took me back. Thankfully.
God poured out his wrath on Jesus so he could love us without restraint or condition. I’m not the least bit terrified of God the way people often think we are supposed to be, but I am very terrified of treating that wrath that he poured out on Jesus as anything less than a complete.
i’m sorry, maybe it’s just me being silly.
but a guy named stoner, writng a book called “the god who smokes”?
anyone else laugh @ that? sounds a little like someone was hitting the peyote, or playing a joke.
anon -
visually I could see that, but the ad is part of a campaign for a newspaper and the other ads in the campaign show the black figure doing other things that “keep your mind small.” In this ad, the headline says “Think for yourself” as a less than subtle discourse on the idea that religion/God forces you to think a certain way. The paper is positioning itself as the way to open up your mind and be free.
Jon
I liken the attitude of your commenter to those who equate patriotism with never criticizing the government. I have yet to come across a post on this blog where you criticize God or complain about the godly actions of the church. You use humor to point out the things we’ve grown attached to that have nothing to do with God or the real mission of the church. That’s edification. Yes, we all need to watch out for self-righteousness and the “jerky” use of sarcasm, but there’s a difference between a humorous blog about orange drink and lock-ins, and the actions of the Israelites in that story.
Well,
Andy Wood…i don’t think that they are polarids of Jesus, it’s his senior picture.
Stacy, thanks for the blue men comment. i laughed out loud.
That is a crazy photo!
Hi, me again…
I guess I should clarify…firstly I did not mean to imply that I felt above or beyond the wrath side of God, nor did I mean to diminish that aspect of His character.
I guess I was just saying that to me, I’m trusting so much in the completed work of Christ that to have a Knee-knocking Fear of God seems counterintuitive to me. Yet, I do know that in His presence I will fall to my face, that my knees will not have a chance to knock because they will have buckled. And I certainly feel the bite of His discipline when it comes. All forms of fear, I guess.
Doesn’t the Word say that Perfect love casts out fear? So the fear I had of Him before my relationship with Him exploded (before my security in Christ)…that is the fear that is gone, friends. I think that is all I was trying to say…My Reverent Awe, most definitely still intact. In fact, grows every day.
And to the commenter who said my mistake was thinking fear and love were mutually exclusive–I see what you mean. So hard to articulate my God understanding in comment form, ya know?
Jon, I’m loving the site, and the discussion on this post!
i wish we could all read “the shack” together… and focus on the love instead of the judgement… i think it’s lovely that you are so gracious about this…. i’m biting my proverbial tongue… OFF.
God scares me. Freaks me out. The more I am in love with him and pray and seek him, the more scary and beautiful and complicated and unfiguraboutable (so not a real word) he becomes to me.
That is what makes him extra-awesome and super neato.
I don’t see him as angry so much as I see him as one who has the capacity (rightfully so) for smite. His mercy is awesome. I deserve smite like a million times over. Bonus super extra neato.
God loves me. And you.
Super super bonus extra mega neato to the third power.
When Iooked at the picture, I thought it was Satan trying to keep her from praying. See how he’s prying her hands apart.
I feel you Jon. I was just trying to be a bit optimistic. I work for the media and hate how God has been revealing to me slowly but surely how so much of media is fundamentally in opposition of God and his word. A newspaper is THE LAST institution that should be criticizing another institution for keeping one’s mind small.
Just when I thought I’d read your best post!
That one was so good. While we need help discerning between right and wrong about a lot of things, we so desperately need the message of God’s overwhelming grace!
So true, that you’d never write if you were just waiting to get everything right. Bravo!
I thought I had a lot to say on this until I started writing. This reminds me of the good for good/bad for bad post. This has been a concept that has occupied much of my thought as I’ve sort of come into my own as an adult and as a Christian.
I think a fear of God is more than healthy. He holds us in His hands, our very souls… but first and foremost, God is love. I find grace to be a huge paradox, but the more I know of God personally, the more I find we develop such wrong ideas about Him.
I’ve come to describe myself as a “recovering legalist” now. I know that doesn’t seem related, but basically the legalist places the Christian back into bondage after salvation. To keep God happy and pleased with you, one has to follow rules all over again and it’s a viscous cycle that I believe Satan loves.
Thanks Jon, again, for allowing the Lord to use you with this site.
Awesome! I really enjoyed your thoughts here. We must never take God and his Word out of context. Too many view God through their own limited lens without the context of all of his words to us or even worse only through someone else’s lens. It is important to read each verse of the Bible, God’s very words to us, in the context of all His words to us and most importantly through Jesus, the Word of God.
On my blog sound of a soft breath I quote and link to your post.
Thank You!
sound of a soft breath
I used to fear god. everytime i did something wrong i would move away from go hoping he didnt see it. But i realise thats just plain stupid. I am still struggling to run to god when i make mistakes,but i do not fear god anymore.. not in a negative way though
It seems like we too often fall into one of two parallel traps: Painting God Mad or Coloring God Love. But even if it weren’t for the cross, in which both wrath and love are wonderfully interconnected, we have personal examples of how anger and love coexist as human emotions (when something unjust happens to a friend or family member, for example).
God compares himself to all these human relationships for a reason. If I get too philosophical thinking about how to fear and love God at the same time, or I could think about when I was a kid and would disobey my mother so much in one day that she would play the “Wait until your father comes home” card. Did I love my father? Absolutely. Did I know fear? Oh, yeah.
I don’t want to cower from God, but neither do I want to presume on his forgiveness. I could stand to be a little more afraid sometimes.