I talk to a lot of people about various topics, answering various questions, and discuss matters that they are passionate about. I find a lot of times that there are many views on God. While you may be thinking, “Of course, there are so many religions out there.” I am actually referring to Christianity, just Christianity alone. How can this one God (the only God) have so many followers, yet, be described with so many characteristics, some that are biblically based, some that are not, some that are Spirit led, some that are just felt from your gut? We say we serve God, but are we actually serving a god? If we are serving a “form” of God and not searching for Him totally…is that a form of idolatry?
While God is very difficult to explain, and impossible to understand, I see danger in the way we handle all that He is.
I have never been a big partaker in all that is Barbie. What I do know is that while on my way to all the good toys, like G.I. Joe, Transformers, and all toys that are BOY I would have to, at times, take detours through Barbie land. There are all kinds of Barbie. They are custom made to reach the target market. Uptown Barbie, Western Barbie, California Barbie, Ballerina Barbie, Irish Barbie, and hundreds of others. Girls see these dolls, like the thought of playing with and imagining the life of these dolls, buy these dolls, and play with them. There are people who even collect them because certain Barbie’s are worth more than others so they collect them and keep or sell them depending on the price at the time.
There is nothing wrong with that...
...unless, that is, this method is how you choose the god you serve. Some people may pick one characteristic and focus on it so much that they forget the other side of who He is. So we walk down the God isle of the store and pick out the loving God, and we “play” with the loving God idea and forget all about the fact that He is also a just God. That is fine with Barbie, but not God. If someone focused on one characteristic of me and then went around telling people of only that one characteristic, they aren’t really giving the full understanding of who I am. Is God loving? So loving that we can’t even begin to scratch the surface. He is merciful, gracious, just, jealous, holy, righteous, powerful, all knowing, everywhere, and so much more. All of these are right, but we have to remember He is all of these and not just the things we want Him to be.
God is not custom built for us, we are custom built for Him, He is the Potter and we are the clay. He does not change, nor is He able to be manufactured in any way to be exactly who we think He should be. He is who He is, the great “I Am.” It is our job to get to know all of who He is, and let Him transform us and use us to bring Him glory. It is a foolish task for the creation try to conform Creator into something that fits our fantasy, for our meager fantasies could not hold the splendor of all that He is.
I am convinced that many of the preachers on TV try to cram God into a mold that they want to use to further themselves. They aren’t alone, when God on earth came (Christ) people tried to make Him out to be something He wasn’t. He wasn’t leverage for political takeover, and He still isn’t. We, to some degree or another still struggle with this today. I am not trying to condemn anyone, but I want us to understand as we try to grow closer to the true God, while one of His characteristics may draw us (personally) closer to Him…that one characteristic isn’t all of who He is. If it were, it would limit Him and put Him in a box.
God is not a Barbie. Much like us, He is more than just one characteristic. While I would love it if people said, “Adam is so loving.” And it may be true, but if I were the God who wants people to know me thoroughly I want them to know more than that about me. While it is true that often one of His various characteristics may draw a closer us to a closer connection with Him, we must press deeper to get to know Him more. Only in this manner will we get closer to knowing the complexities and beauty of who the glorious God of the universe is.
*Note: This isn't to say that we can't keep in on an attribute of God for a time, but as we learn about a specific attribute, it will normally lead us to be enlightened on how beautifully His other attributes blend in with one another.
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