Peripatetics: The Art of Walking
Monday, December 05, 2005
Shrinking God?
This is a quote I read in a devotional guide entitled, "A Place For Skeptics: A Spiritual Journey For Those Wh May Have Given Up On Church, But Not On God." It's by Chris Mitchell and Scott Larson. This particular quote comes from Chris Mitchell as he wrote a chapter called, "Do You Ever Wonder About God?"
Here's the quote...tell me what you think, okay?
"Americans are known for liking big things. Our cars, meals and homes are pretty big compared to those found in most cultures. It's ironic then that so often our concept of God isn't very big at all. We've reduced the 'Creator of all' to the 'man upstairs.'--someone understandable, explainable. No wonder we've lost our sense of wonder about God.
I'm sure we have lots of reasons for trying to shrink God down to a managable size. We like control. We fear surrender. We crave certainty. Sometimes we're so busy trying to run the world ourselves that we overlook the opportunities we have to see and remember just how big God is. Whatever the reason, when we shrink God, the result isn't less wonder, it's less life."
Brent 7:53 AM
Comments:
I just read a very similar thought from A. W. Tozer ("The Knowledge of the Holy") -"Left to ourselves we tend immediately to reduce God to manageable terms. We want to get Him where we can use Him, or at least know where He is when we need Him. We want a God we can in some measure control. We need the feeling of security that comes from knowing what God is like..."
We like the sense of "security" (albeit, FALSE security) that comes from STUFF and being able to "define" who God is. We are huge control freaks. We don't like the unexpected. We don't like to think that our "stuff" can go away in a second thereby shoving our security out said "huge" door. We want to reduce God to understandable terms so that we can define EVERYTHING in our lives - that way it's all in "control" and seemingly predictable. When we can't define God (especially when He's BIG), we can't "predict" Him and therefore our world MIGHT get out of control. (I'm guilty of much of this, too, so I'm not pointing fingers.)
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We like the sense of "security" (albeit, FALSE security) that comes from STUFF and being able to "define" who God is. We are huge control freaks. We don't like the unexpected. We don't like to think that our "stuff" can go away in a second thereby shoving our security out said "huge" door. We want to reduce God to understandable terms so that we can define EVERYTHING in our lives - that way it's all in "control" and seemingly predictable. When we can't define God (especially when He's BIG), we can't "predict" Him and therefore our world MIGHT get out of control. (I'm guilty of much of this, too, so I'm not pointing fingers.)
