During the Civil War Abraham Lincoln was asked whether he thought God was on the side of the North. After a few moments of thought the grim-faced Lincoln replied, “The real question is not whether God is on our side, but whether we are on God’s side.”
Churches today must face the same question. Are we calling on God to be on our side – whatever that may be – or are we joining God’s side? Put another way, have we constructed gods of our own making to serve our needs or are we serving the God of the Bible? God asks, “To whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal (Isaiah 40:25).
Author Don McCollough suggests that many churches today have created either a “god-of-my-cause, a god-of-my-understanding, or a god-of-my-experience” that fills the void left by an abandonment of God and of true Christianity.
The “god-of-my-cause” manifests itself when churches begin with what they believe to be a good and worthy cause (liberation and feminist theologies come to mind immediately) and end up using God to justify their participation. This re-casting of God into the mold of the cause is tantamount to fashioning a new calf of social righteousness.
The “god-of-my-understanding” is a vile and demonic representation of Christianity. Denominationalism is at its roots responsible for much of the strife and hostility seen in the church today. Doctrinal lines are drawn in the sand, enemies named and challenged, and theological self-assuredness abounds. Yet as McCollough points out, Christians forget that God is not contained in any theological system. Indeed, theological endeavors demand humility as much as critical thinking.
Finally, the “god-of-my-experience” has intercepted the movement of the Holy Spirit in many congregations. Churches are locked into my form of worship, my style of prayer, my focus in service. This mentality squeezes the life out of the body. The subjective rules over the objective, style wins over substance. The result is that Christians become “ingrown” and narrow-minded.
What can be done to overcome such tendencies? First, we must understand that a god we wish to fashion to fit our cause is ultimately no bigger than ourselves. Secondly, we must accept that this god cannot save us from our sins. Third, we must understand that any god that does not free us from the prison of our individual perspectives is nothing but a construct of our minds.
Whose God? The God who is not contained by houses made with hands, theological systems, or political persuasions. The God revealed to us in the pages of the Scriptures, and in the Son who came to pay our penalty for our sin, and in the Holy Spirit who indwells every born-again believer. That’s God friends.
