Stop Shrinking God
Too often believers want to shape God according to their denominational doctrines. God must be this way, or that way, and God wants these extra rules added into what it takes to be saved, and God only likes this sort of worship service or music.
Stop.
God does not fit inside your box, inside the comfortable dogmas of your particular church, or inside your sphere of complete understanding. His thoughts and ways are higher than our own (Isaiah 55:8) and He is greater than our particularities. He is not bound by your church's constitution (or by a country's), He is not limited by your preference for translation of the Bible, He is not confined by political party or by society's idea of what is acceptable.
Our God turns our logic and rules upside down; He cares for and favors the weak and poor over the rich, He loves the humble and rejects the proud, He favors the simple over the elaborate, and admires charity practiced by His followers over the pursuit of power. He calls us to be modest instead of flaunting cheap beauty, to be faithful to Him and each other instead of indulging in fleeting fancies, and rewards jobs quietly done in service to Him rather than the flashy careers the world applauds. God calls us to be focused on building His Kingdom rather than a temporal realm, He calls us to be willing to suffer for His cause and to live simply rather than focus on money and prosperity. He tells us to forgive those who hurt us, while we would rather get revenge, and He tells us to be merciful when we would rather give judgement.
God's thinking is drastically different than that of the worldly minded, and contrary to our nature. Yet more and more churches and believers want to move God into a more comfortable category for our sinful natures. They preach God wants us to be rich, because in their hearts they'd rather seek money than God. They preach God wants us to hate people who are different, because they'd rather hate than love. Love takes work, hate comes easy to our fallen natures. These churches and believers tell us that God has set a thousand rules in place, when actually Christ said His yoke is easy (Matthew 13:11) and the burden of faith is light. These churches want to bind you with rules and doctrines and dogmas because they want to be the focus of your life, not to let God be. If you have to focus on keeping your elders and deacons and pastors and priests happy, how much time are you actually spending in communion with God? These churches, and they come in all denominations and styles, will tell you that God approves of their church, but not the one down the street, that God will give mercy to members of their church, but not to someone else.
They shrink God to fit inside their box, nicely packaged, easily controlled, with a filtered message that matches their doctrine.
God is bigger than that. God loves with an unfathomable love. He loves us enough that He died and rose again rather than be without us for eternity. He suffered to spare us what we could not bear, and asks only in return that we love Him back. That in loving Him, we will turn against our sinful natures and turn towards His holiness. That in loving Him, we will love our neighbors. That in loving Him, we will trust in Him even when we can't understand what is going on, but we know He is in control. That in loving Him, we will revel in the grace and mercy He has shown us, and then show that grace and mercy towards others.
Let God be big, don't try and shrink Him. Rejoice in His overwhelming love, His holiness and grace. When you find yourself trying to make God small, to fit your grasp of Him or to make Him comfortable for you, stop! And if you are carrying around a heavy burden of man-made rules, doctrines and church by-laws, that are making your faith dreary and a chore, then put that burden down. Cling to Christ, His burden is light, and faith in Him is a joy.
God's grace be with you,
Fr. Charles
Too often believers want to shape God according to their denominational doctrines. God must be this way, or that way, and God wants these extra rules added into what it takes to be saved, and God only likes this sort of worship service or music.
Stop.
God does not fit inside your box, inside the comfortable dogmas of your particular church, or inside your sphere of complete understanding. His thoughts and ways are higher than our own (Isaiah 55:8) and He is greater than our particularities. He is not bound by your church's constitution (or by a country's), He is not limited by your preference for translation of the Bible, He is not confined by political party or by society's idea of what is acceptable.
Our God turns our logic and rules upside down; He cares for and favors the weak and poor over the rich, He loves the humble and rejects the proud, He favors the simple over the elaborate, and admires charity practiced by His followers over the pursuit of power. He calls us to be modest instead of flaunting cheap beauty, to be faithful to Him and each other instead of indulging in fleeting fancies, and rewards jobs quietly done in service to Him rather than the flashy careers the world applauds. God calls us to be focused on building His Kingdom rather than a temporal realm, He calls us to be willing to suffer for His cause and to live simply rather than focus on money and prosperity. He tells us to forgive those who hurt us, while we would rather get revenge, and He tells us to be merciful when we would rather give judgement.
God's thinking is drastically different than that of the worldly minded, and contrary to our nature. Yet more and more churches and believers want to move God into a more comfortable category for our sinful natures. They preach God wants us to be rich, because in their hearts they'd rather seek money than God. They preach God wants us to hate people who are different, because they'd rather hate than love. Love takes work, hate comes easy to our fallen natures. These churches and believers tell us that God has set a thousand rules in place, when actually Christ said His yoke is easy (Matthew 13:11) and the burden of faith is light. These churches want to bind you with rules and doctrines and dogmas because they want to be the focus of your life, not to let God be. If you have to focus on keeping your elders and deacons and pastors and priests happy, how much time are you actually spending in communion with God? These churches, and they come in all denominations and styles, will tell you that God approves of their church, but not the one down the street, that God will give mercy to members of their church, but not to someone else.
They shrink God to fit inside their box, nicely packaged, easily controlled, with a filtered message that matches their doctrine.
God is bigger than that. God loves with an unfathomable love. He loves us enough that He died and rose again rather than be without us for eternity. He suffered to spare us what we could not bear, and asks only in return that we love Him back. That in loving Him, we will turn against our sinful natures and turn towards His holiness. That in loving Him, we will love our neighbors. That in loving Him, we will trust in Him even when we can't understand what is going on, but we know He is in control. That in loving Him, we will revel in the grace and mercy He has shown us, and then show that grace and mercy towards others.
Let God be big, don't try and shrink Him. Rejoice in His overwhelming love, His holiness and grace. When you find yourself trying to make God small, to fit your grasp of Him or to make Him comfortable for you, stop! And if you are carrying around a heavy burden of man-made rules, doctrines and church by-laws, that are making your faith dreary and a chore, then put that burden down. Cling to Christ, His burden is light, and faith in Him is a joy.
God's grace be with you,
Fr. Charles
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