False Gods

"There is no god - those who believe are fooling themselves.  I do not believe."  I have to laugh in wonder when I hear someone who belittles those who have religion.  After all, these people have a religion - they have beliefs that they cling to with religious fervor.   My Christianity is based on observing how meaningful, relevant and accurate the New Testament is to living a full life, on centuries of writing and interpretation, on personal experience with God's grace and miracles, on encountering the Holy Spirit - on faith, experience and study.  "Believers" in the absence of God rely on logic. (Note: I have no issue with those who simply do not believe - I have been there.  It is people who believe (know) there is no God that I address).

It usually boils down to three arguments.  One is that if there was a God, He wouldn't ___________ (let babies be born with AIDS, permit war, allow evil people to "win", etc.).  Essentially the idea is that if I were God, I would do a better job.  This is just a form of self-worship - the idea that we would be able to judge God, understand His purpose and criticize His methods raises us up to be gods.  Does the fact that a child would be a different parent mean there is no parent?  If there is a God, how could we possibly anticipate or understand or judge Him?

The second argument is related and usually includes a variant of "Look around you, everything is cause-and-affect - we are born, we live, we die.  Good people die, bad people thrive.  If I act, I reap the rewards or punishment."  This argument seems to boil down to - "if there was a God, I would have seen some evidence of Him."  My response here is two-fold - a) you haven't waited long enough and b) you aren't looking very closely.  To me the evidence of God's presence was obvious even before I accepted Jesus - just look at the wonder of His creation!  I have actually experienced God in a miracle and in the presence of the Holy Spirit (wait) but believed in some sort of God even before (pay attention).

Lastly, people attempt to prove there is no God by pointing out flaws in religious documents and/or the behavior of people who called themselves believers.  "I cannot believe in __________ (virgin birth, the Flood, the Trinity, etc.).  How about the ______ ("holy" wars, Crusades, witch-burning, etc."   I have some sympathy here because I used similar excuses for a number of years.   When I joined my church, I asked - "Can I join even if I don't really know if I believe this Trinity concept - God = Jesus = Holy Spirit?"  The answer was essentially - "Sure - join, learn, let your beliefs grow over time.  None of us will ever really understand God - all of us will have doubts or not understand every Bible passage or experience a lack of faith."   When I encounter someone who uses only this last argument, I encourage them to be open to spirituality - hopefully Christian, but whatever seems to answer the larger questions.  Admitting that you do not believe in a particular thing is not the same thing as saying you are incapable of believing anything.

The points above are not meant to distance myself from those who believe differently - but to identify a tendency that affects believer and non-believer alike.   At some point, we all wish that we knew everything and had true control over our fate.  This illusion affects us all.  It affects the Christian who doesn't understand why God will not answer a specific prayer.  It affects the worker who scrimps and saves for that glorious retirement and then takes ill or dies young.  It manifests itself when we curse our fate instead of appreciating what is good in our lives.   

One final sharing.  When I was at a low point, I was in pain every day.  I turned to a wonderful book - "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living".  Much of the information in that book was useful to me and it helped me start having occasional good days.  It spoke of the healing power of spirituality.  In particular, I adopted a little mantra that helped me relax - "God's will, not mine".  That simple phrase comforted me -- reminding me that I don't control my world and that whatever will happen will happen.  I still pray for God to cure the sick, to help me grow, etc. - but I do so with the often used "if it is Your will".  I am conscious that life is precious and can be taken at any point and I pray that it helps me live life more fully.

We don't get to understand God, to really know.  We need to listen for Him - to see His work in our lives and to appreciate that while we may not understand why things happen, we can accept what happens, appreciate the good and take comfort during the bad (and maybe learn and grow from them).

C.S. Lewis has some wonderful, related thoughts.  He uses two straight-forward examples.  In one, consider a painter.  To amuse a child, she may whip off a quick sketch - but when the painting in question is a work of love, great care is given.  Unsatisfactory work may be scrapped off and replaced.  If the painting were alive, it might well wish for the painter to stop - to not have the loving care - to become more like the sketch!  It seeks less love!  Similarly a pet may resent the restrictions needed to help it form a loving, mutually beneficial relationship with an owner.  The mature pet would realize that its condition is vastly superior to what its condition would have been like in the wild - but the immature pet envies a wild counterpart its ability to do whatever it wants.  The second example really speaks to me...

email me at doug@hardts.net