How Great is Your God?

One of the common refrains in ancient times is determining how great your god is by the prosperity of its theocracy (ruling by god). It was the cause of many fights between Israelites and Philistines, Moabites, Amalekites, etc. It was a reason for wars, conflicts, revolutions in that a god favored the leader to restore order, justice, peace, influence and power to a people. And success in that endeavor meant you were right that this god was on your side. Conversely, failure meant the other gods were mightier.

Even a cursory review of history puts the God of Abraham, Israel and Jacob in poor light. If the Israelites had any territory, it was small...though important in terms of eastern Mediterranean trade routes. But never on the scale of the Greeks, Macedonians, Babylonians, Egyptians...and later the Romans.

The Romans had 400 years of building an empire before Christ appeared. The Israelites had 400 years of silence. The Romans had internal conflicts; the Israelites’ territory was overrun by one nation and another, almost constantly except for the brief reigns of David and Solomon. They were the Poland of ancient times, sandwiched between two massive imperial powers for centuries.

Why then would you say the God of Abraham was powerful? Sure His people were perhaps a million, a million-and-a-half strong at the time of crossing Jordan into the Promised Land, the promised territory, and their unusual victories struck fear in some of those inhabiting that territory. But within a few hundred years, the nation’s influence had died until David, and then it was gone again in a few generations. Many of the people were sent into exile to those more powerful nations.

N.T. Wright argues that Christ’s appearance is the climax of the history of God’s people. It is how God’s people would have global influence through the sharing of the Good News: that God’s favor is not shown in prosperity but in justice, love. Christ’s Good News was put to the test daily as He walked, as some say, at the Godspeed of 3 miles an hour. Matt Canlis learned while living in a small towns in Scotland that villagers know everything about you, the good, the bad and the ugly. They know such things about your parents, your siblings, your sweetheart, your kids. There’s no hiding, no lying. If you start spouting off that you believe the Kingdom of God is coming, your reputation is put to the test. If you start saying, “I and the Father are one” you’d better run to the caves if you can’t back it up.

Why would anyone listen when Roman soldiers and conscripts are standing nearby or on the next block or patrolling less than a 10 minute stroll away? How can you maintain belief that your god is Jehovah-Jireh, the God who provides, El Shaddai, the God who provides bounty and/or victory, when you yourself have no power nor influence and subject to the capriciousness of the ruling militia and the ruling classes? Centuries later, when leaders of Rome adopted this Christianity in the 4th century, it put a stamp on the fact that Rome was already losing ground for the last 200 years, and perhaps was desperate.

And yet, belief in this God has prevailed.

The subject question is not asked with regard to the persistence of faith, but on what do we claim God’s favor. Are we in God’s favor when circumstances are going well for us? It seems America in the last 200 years is more like Rome than Israel. Pax Americana for the last 70 years mimics the height of Pax Romana (peace of Rome), a goal supposedly given to Rome by the gods to restore justice and peace to the world...by conquering it. So is the god of America, the God of Israel (the underdog) or the god of Rome (the superpower)? You want it to be the latter. But what’s the evidence in God’s story?

Modern Church, Wrong Strategy?

Recently, I saw a perspective that evinced the response, “Of course!” And the fact made me wonder if God had implemented the wrong strategy...or maybe the wrong strategy was implemented by humans. The fact: most people spend 40+ hours at work. A small portion spend 1+ hours at church. Why is the church the main focus for discipleship and outreach? At some point, the modern church—and here I mean the institution past the 5th century AD—is a periodic advertisement for following Christ. At best, it’s a school to ‘equip the saints’. Most of the time, for the events that happen in a church service or mass, it’s an advertisement for God.

If the church is an advertisement, what should be the focus? What should happen on Sunday mornings, Wednesday evenings, and the occasional retreats?

The main marketing—outreach—thrust for Christ are the ‘service’ users and providers. And it’s mostly them that turn the others off. How do we ‘equip the saints for ministry’ the other 167 hours of the week—or 112 hrs if you allow people to sleep?

If God wants to reach the world—and He does—why do we think He’s using the church as the main thrust? My guess: He’s working through other means and we, who are invested in churches, haven’t caught on yet.

Walking the Talk

Okay, the title is a over-used phrase...but the sentiment is real. If we really believe _____, then we will do __________. If we’re not doing ____________, perhaps we really don’t believe _________.

One of those root beliefs allows us trust God in all of its layers: do I believe He is dependable (i.e. He’ll show up when He says He will)? Do I believe He’s competent (i.e. He can do what He says He’ll do)? He’s approachable and will listen to me without derision and so we can be vulnerable with Him? He lives out His values and is not capricious—which admittedly can be a tricky belief if you watch what He does in scriptures?

Also, this cuts to our idolatry. We too often look for other things/ideas to give us peace: our bank accounts, our human relationships, our reputation, our influence—our socioeconomic status in short. What happens if it’s threatened? How much do we trust? How much do we think that status reflects our relationship with God? We might evaluate our circumstances for indications that we’re in God’s favor, God’s will...If a 1st-century career counselor met with the apostle Paul, the church-planter might be advised to stick with tent-making. “Paul, you’re being stoned, jailed, shipwrecked, run out of town...maybe you should consider a different career. Things aren’t going well for you. I think God has something else in mind for you to do. Just be a businessman and do evangelism with your customers and other one-on-one situations. Don’t be going into marketplaces and preaching to crowds...” When in business, our efforts aren’t showing financial success, we will think that God isn’t interested in this. If we really believed that it’s His money, His assets, and we are just stewards, we wouldn’t panic if He chooses to move the money to other places as investments in new areas...as long as we’re doing all we can, working as if He’s the Boss, and praying for guidance.

The same is true for social justice issues. Why wouldn’t we act as His hands, His eyes, His heart? If we really believed all people are created in His image, and He loves them unconditionally, how can we not love, respect and bless everyone...even the jerks and scary types?