Here is my response to a recent Trust30 prompt. I’m a little nervous about posting it here, but I think that’s also part of the exercise. If you don’t agree with what I’ve written, let’s talk about it in the comments.
It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. – Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance
The world is powered by passionate people, powerful ideas, and fearless action. What’s one strong belief you possess that isn’t shared by your closest friends or family? What inspires this belief, and what have you done to actively live it?
I believe Christians talk about God too much.
One of my biggest struggles as a pastor has been that I’ve never been comfortable talking about God in the way that many of my Christian friends like to talk about him.
They’re always attributing various acts, motives, and outcomes to God.
God did this . . .
God said that. . .
God told me to. . .
The reason this bothers me so much is that I have no clue how they KNOW it was God who did or said what they’re giving him credit for saying or doing. I believe that God is constantly at work in and around us. I also believe that much of God’s work is far too mysterious and complex to describe in the casual tones of football commentators on a Sunday afternoon. God’s activity is best seen after the season is over, not in the middle of the game.
I remember one instance where someone in our church had a loved one in the hospital. The prognosis was dire. Death was imminent. Then one day, against all odds, she got better. He told everyone in sight that God had performed a miracle. She died the next day. Every skeptic who was paying attention couldn’t help but wonder why God’s miracle only lasted for 24 hours.
Sometimes we want to be able to tell our very own miracle story so badly that we jump the gun and end up making God look bad.
It also bothers when people of faith recruit God into whatever they’ve decided to do. God almost always wants them to take the higher paying job or marry the younger woman. I think we should pray before we make decisions and ask God for guidance, but when it comes time to announce our intentions, there’s no reason to give God the credit for what could be the biggest mistake of our lives.
One of my favorite stories in the Bible is the story of Esther. One detail that separates it from all the other books in the Bible is that God is never mentioned in the story. Mordecai never appeals to God when trying to persuade Esther to take her stand. Esther doesn’t trot out the name of God when confronting the King. While God is obviously at work in the events of the story, the storyteller lets us connect the dots for ourselves.
I find such understatement in matters of faith to be more persuasive than those in which people can’t tell a story, explain a decision, or take a position without playing the God card in an attempt to enhance their credibility or relieve them of responsibility.
I believe we honor God’s holiness by talking about him less, not more.
What do you think?
Telling Stories, Asking Questions, Learning Lessons
Wade,
I’m going through the #trust30 prompts, too. My post was not all that different from yours. Thanks for sharing it publicly. I agree–it is tempting to have a great deal of confidence in knowing what God is up to. It appeals to our need for certainty, and I’ve seen it backfire just as you have.
I’ve found that defining faith as the tension between certainty and despair to be a helpful one. So thank you for your faithful response to this prompt.
Thanks Trey. Are you sharing your responses online anywhere?
Hey Wade,
I have been reading you blog for a while and it always gives me something to think about (which is good!). Regarding your post, I think this happens to me too in someways. I often wonder how we can truly know when something we feel/say/do is a direct order from God or is our own desire or a combination of both. Also, I think in some cases people really think God spoke to them and they are not trying to avoid responsabilities or enhance their credibility. I believe God is constantly talking to us in ways that don´t always make sense to us and I also believe that God can talk to us in a specifi way that only makes sense to us.
Andres–thanks for jumping into the conversation. Knowing the voice of God when we hear it would be wonderful. I’m too easily confused though. 🙂
My all-time favorite Randy Harris quote: “Based on the things that the Lord has ‘laid on your heart’, I’m beginning to think that the Lord is an idiot.”
Only Randy can get away with saying that!
Hmm. Agree and disagree. I too am uncomfortable with people attributing things to God so freely and casually. That’s not really talking about who God is, that is simply someone’s pocket God to pull out at their convenience or the desperate attempt to believe God is working the way we think he should be working. But how can we not talk of who He is, of Him. He is the love of our lives. How can we not speak of his love, his mercy, his justice, his Spirit, his Son. Sharing a conversation with someone pondering the Alpha and Omega, the Ancient of Days, the Lion of Judah, our redeemer, creator of all things, consuming fire is one of this life’s greatest joys and along with our service is a surefire way to spread passion among brothers and sisters and awakening to those who need it. I for one have felt that we talk of God too little in the church. In the foyer you hear talk of lunch, and kids, and homes, and sports, anything but the reason we came to that building in the first place. Is the sermon enough God talk until next Sunday? This makes me just as uncomfortable as referencing him casually because it’s as if we don’t consider God important enough to bring up. He should be the center of our lives. We are to honor him in all we say and do and think and feel and yet how often do we talk about him? Maybe we don’t need to talk of God less but change the conversation.
Kathleen–I love what you’ve written and I agree. It’s the nature of conversation that is bothersome. Your last sentence nails it. So many of us want to bring God into the conversation, but we really don’t know how to do it without trivializing him. Thanks for stepping out and sharing your thoughts.
This is a great post. “In My Opinion” and based on what I’ve read, “taking the Lord’s name in vain” is NOT about saying “OH MY GOD!” — it’s about attributing something to God that isn’t his. Saying he said something he didn’t say. Saying something happened, because “it was just a God Thing”. As a great author once wrote, I call BS. It wasn’t a God Thing. Maybe by some six-degrees of separation it was, but it could have been Joseph Smith’s fault using that kind of transitive logic.
And while we’re on the subject, these black “-God” billboards make me want to scream. There was one at a church I drove by that said “Meet me here Sunday. -God”. AT A CHURCH. God did not say that, and besides that you shouldn’t wait until Sunday.
There’s another huge one by the highway that reads “What part of ‘don’t take my name in vain’ didn’t you understand? -God” I want to find the idiot that put that up there and say “NO- What part of it did YOU not understand?! — ME” I bet God slaps that guy with a board when he gets up there. But I’m not saying that He told me He would.
“It’s a God Thing”, I doubt it.
“God has really been helping me to become a better person.” not according to anyone who knows you.
“God has increased our church membership by 400% in the last 2 years!” Let me tell you something: based on what I’ve read in the Bible, God probably doesn’t care who is listed as a “member” of your church. Where does Christ tell anyone to go and sign up to be a member at a church anyway? Before you say anything about “gathering of believers” you should look up what the original word was and what it actually meant.
Okay. I feel better. Thanks, Wade. 🙂
I meant to say that you should meet God wherever you’re at, whenever it IS and not wait until you get to a building on the day after the 7th day. I’m not a 7th day Adventist, but for all those people that think God told them to go to a specific building and perform a specific ritual on His Holy Sunday need to brush up on their history.
Okay, now I’m done. Sorry. 🙂
This is a difficult topic. I’ve seen people misuse “God’s leading” to justify unwise and foolish decisions.
I also grew up hearing that “the meaning of life is to glorify God” only to be surrounded by Christians who spoke of Him only on Sundays. This turned me away from the Church for much of my childhood and teenage years. I wonder what the middle ground is
At the risk of sounding charismatic, I’ll share my opinion. I think that Christians don’t talk about God enough. I agree with you that people too readily credit things to God that cannot for sure be accredited to Him. On the other hand, at what point do we admit God is actually active in our day to day lives?
I reacted against charismatic ideas for a long time, to the point where my faith was very logical and concept-oriented. In many ways it still is. I think I have more interaction with God’s Word than with God Himself. But I’ve gotten the feeling over the last few years that I may be missing that aspect of my faith.
I don’t think that God regularly communicates through emotions and small day to day moments (like passing a billboard). And I think that if He does it cannot be forced. However, I have had a few moments over the last few years that were unmistakably God pushing me to do something. All of them were specific ministry opportunities that I felt this overwhelming feeling that I needed to do something, even though at the time I didn’t feel like doing any of them.
I’m not trying to draw any conclusions, only to admit that I think this is a complex issue. God, God’s Will, and God’s communicating with people should not be trivialized or simplified. But back to your original thought, I agree about flippantly bringing God into a conversation to add credibility or to sound spiritual. However, I do think that as Christians the topic of God, what He’s done, and what He’s doing should be on our lips far more than it is now.
Just some thoughts.
Josh–I like what you say here. For me it’s not a matter of how often we hear God speak to us, but rather how much we should talk about what we’re hearing.
I agree!! Not that that makes any difference!! I rarely give God the credit until after the outcome is assurred. I often wonder who is prodding my decisions, my desires or God’s intervention. As i look back over the years, i can see His hand at work in many instances, but not all. I think there have been many times God has said “what do you expect me to do with that?” And He has watched me survive, but not unscathed many events. I do trust He will save me, inspite of myself, because of Jesus!! Thanks for allowing and prodding us to think.
I remember this quote, just not who said it: God’s will is often best seen in hindsight.