Why Some People Can’t Stand The Bible’s Idea of God

Have you ever wondered why some people are so set against the idea of God?

Or at least they’re set against the Bible’s idea of God.

Recently I came across this quote from G.K. Chesterton, he nails it!

Chesterton wrote this about a play by Bernard Shaw that was banned because one of the characters professed belief in God.  You can read the context here.

You are free in our time to say that God does not exist; you are free to say that He exists and is evil; you are free to say (like poor old Renan) that He would like to exist if He could.

You may talk of God as a metaphor or a mystification; you may water Him down with gallons of long words, or boil Him to the rags of metaphysics; and it is not merely that nobody punishes, but nobody protests.

But if you speak of God as a fact, as a thing like a tiger, as a reason for changing one’s conduct, then the modern world will stop you somehow if it can.

We are long past talking about whether an unbeliever should be punished for being irreverent. It is now thought irreverent to be a believer.

Chesterton isn’t simply referring to atheists but also the common tendency in man to mold God like play-dough into a form that makes him feel comfortable and that he can easily change when it fails to please him.

Tell everyone that you’re god is nonjudgmental, nonexclusive, and nonpreferential  and what do you end up with?

A non-god with non-abilities, at least not any that mean anything!

A god that won’t tell you what to do and more importantly a god who won’t condemn who you are!

You have a god that’s ever willing to agree with your ever changing morality, a god that is created by your imagination and for your imagination. It’s a personal god who looks an awful lot like you.

If I’m to be honest with you, there are times when I try to create that kind of god for myself, times when I try to smooth over some of the rough edges, it makes me feel better about myself for a moment.

Then I realize that I need a God that is as real and untamable as a tiger!

There’s something wonderful and intriguing about wild animals. Maybe it’s that neither I nor you have created them. We find  beauty in them that we never would have thought to create on our own. We find strength and danger that we can’t control. We see an amazing synchronization of purpose and form.

We are in awe of the tiger’s elegance and gruffness all at the same time!

Here’s the lesson:

Don’t water-down a breathe-taking, awe-inspiring, fear-inducing, holiness-demanding God!

Take Him for who He is, as He is!

Do the same for others, show them God’s judgement and grace at the same time, don’t mince words. If he’s a tiger you’ll never out run Him!

Look! The Lord GOD comes with strength, and his arm rules for him. Look! His reward is with him, and his payment accompanies him. Like a shepherd, he tends his flock. He gathers the lambs in his arms, carries them close to his heart, and gently leads the mother sheep.
(Isa 40:10-11)