God

The Life Group that Alana and I attend on Sunday night started a new series last night. It is the Foundations study on God. The first session deals with what God is like. When we have thoughts about God, we think of him in a particular ways, most of the time, not based on biblical truth.
As we talked last night we looked at what the bible says about God and then thought of our own personal views of God. We had the typical views that most humans have: God is a father; God is a judge, God I light, etc. As the pastor, I felt like I was supposed to have a really clear, concise, theological view of God that would impress everyone and bring some kind of clarity to the conversation. As we discussed last night and as I reflect on it this morning I am convinced that the very thought I had about that shows my lack of depth and understanding about the real God.
You see, as humans I think we spend time trying to impress others and God with how much we know, our deep philosophy or just how spiritual we are. It is the antithesis of who God is in reality. God is not like that. He is not out to impress or show off.
God is about love in action. He is about sacrifice and gentleness. He is about showing love where love in neither easy nor deserved. I guess what I have really come to understand about my view of God is that although I have years of training, know the theological arguments and am a “professional” in religion, I only know the surface of the God of the universe.
The more I think I know God and how he works the more I discover my thoughts are mere images and dreams of a wandering traveler. To quote John Newton, the author of “Amazing Grace” once again: “I know two things; I am a great sinner and Christ is a great savior.” In many ways, I guess that is enough.