In Search Of A God I Can Pin Down

I want a God I can understand and pin down! Those were the sentiments I read recently in a blog, even though not stated specifically. At first I felt somewhat frustrated about how people can so easily get themselves stuck in this type of thinking. Then I was frustrated about the theology that leads people to believe in a God that they can understand and pin down. Ironically it is a theology that is denied by religion but it is nonetheless communicated.

After all, if I can pin God down as a super human who lives in the sky and will dictate every single moment of my life then I will want to be close to a God like that. I will want to make that God my friend because I can get him to do special things for me. And then as a result, a religion that specializes in manipulation is pleased. By subtle communication that our lives are manipulated and maneuvered like a pawn on a chessboard by God in this game of life, people are introduced to a God they can understand and pin down. The often reached conclusion is that if I pray right, think right, be right, do right, believe right, give right and act right then this God will love me, guide me and do everything in his power to see to it that my life runs smoothly. It’s the expectation that nothing ever upsets the apple cart that is my precious life. 

Isn't there a part in all of us that wants it this way…. that predictable, controllable, easy to understand, God? Isn't that what “the church” tells us that God is like? After all, the obedience stuff are the things God expects. Good, by my definition is the pay back. So what's the problem? Who needs the mystery of a love relationship when you've got a leather bound rule book sitting right there on your coffee table?

But in that “rule book” God says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9) What do you do with that?

I find it interesting that what many people want and expect from God is the exact opposite of what Isaiah suggested. How often do prayers demonstrate an attempt to get God to think the way we think in order that we can get our way to be his way? And then when it doesn’t work that way the response ranges from disheartened to outright bitterness or rejection.

It is “God in a box” theology at its worst. How often has a knowledge of God been used to limit his greatness? How often is an arrogant confidence demonstrated when we think we can know what to expect from God in any situation? How often have the rules of conduct been so carefully reasoned and debated that we can follow them, without ever needing to seek him?  It’s a “God in a box” religion without his presence. It is idolatry of the first order. God exists for our pleasure. Whenever we have a need we can run to him, expecting him to wave his hand and make everything better. This kind of God is supposed to always hear our concerns but is rarely listened to for his concerns. He exists to give us what we want.

If God exists to give us what we want, is there a limit? Or maybe the better question is where your limit is? Does he intervene in this situation and turn a blind eye to that circumstance. Does his ear turn attentively to some things while turning a deaf ear to other things? From the perspective of prayer and positive outcomes when they are according to the will of God, the answer would have to be yes. However with that said I really have difficulty picturing a God that is rooting at ball games for the teams we like, or is fixing things so we get choice parking spaces or beat a ticket or land a job.

Those who attempt to live their lives this way often eventually find themselves maimed spiritually because they never learn to trust God and submit their lives to his ways in order to find true life. Instead, they become like the god they worship…. full of empty promises, legalistic demands and lifeless words.