I've been reading a book lately called See With New Eyes by Ty Gibson. The idea behind the book is to reset the reader's picture of God. You see, God has been misrepresented. Sometimes, a lot of the time, by the church. Now you're about to say, "Whoa! You're a Christian. How dare you say the church has gone wrong!" Well, my first loyalty should be to God, not the church. So let's get something straight here. The church has fucked up.
Start with this: have you ever heard a "fire and brimstone" sermon? They used to be more common approximately a century ago and previous. The modern day equivalent is the "Revelation and the End Times" sermon. The basic premise behind the sermon? Scare people into coming to church. By painting a picture of a horrible death and a harsh, destructive God, the church has tried to convert unbelievers. And look how well that's worked. Some years ago, I remember hearing some statistics regarding "Revelation sermon" converts. There was a lot of cheering because a number of people had converted. However, within a year, the majority (probably 90% or more) had left. The cause? Couldn't say for sure, but I can make a guess--things didn't add up. The church's message to the infidels and its message to the believers said two different things. "The end is coming! God is going to destroy you for your wickedness! Convert now!" vs. "God wants to save you. God forgives. God is love." Can you see a bit of a dichotomy? Can you understand why people would be confused? Why people might think that Christianity is full of crap?
And don't get me started on the Crusades. I'll just say bad idea.
But back to the original topic. The church has misplaced its picture of God. God really is love. And we need to reread our Bibles with that in mind. For instance (and I just read this a few minutes ago), let's revisit the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve have eaten the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. As a consequence for their disobedience, God curses both man and woman and kicks them out of the garden. Pause here. When you previously heard/read the story, did you ever imagine God being stern or angry? That's the picture that I grew up with. Creation had started fine, but once mankind screwed up once... punishment! But what if... what if that picture is incorrect? What if God wasn't angry at that time? What if He was sad? What if He was crying? Let's revisit the scene. God has just found His son and daughter hiding from Him. They used to run to Him, laughing. And now they cringe away at the sound of His footsteps. At the sound of His voice. He knows what they've done. He knows that the consequence must follow. But He doesn't want to do it. "This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you." You remember your parents telling you that just before a spanking? Where do you think they got that phrase from? I'd like to imagine that God was thinking something along those lines, if not saying it, at that time. With tears running down His face, the Father told his children that their lives would be difficult and painful. And then He gave them some new clothes and gently pushed them out of His garden and locked the gate behind them. Can you hear the "pit, pat" of tears falling to the ground? Those aren't from Adam and Eve. They've already gone over the hill. Who's left?
Does that change your picture of God a little? Do you begin to see? I like to think I have.
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