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The God I Want?
theologian and author N. T. Wright. He records his thoughts after seeing a provocative title, THE GOD I WANT, in a second-hand bookshop. THE GOD I WANT? The God I Want? Left to myself, the god I want is a god who will give me what I want. He—or more likely it—will be a projection of my desires. At the grosser level, this will lead me to one of the more obvious pagan gods or goddesses, who offer their devotees money, or sex or power (as Marx, Freud and Nietzsche pointed out). All idols started out life as the god somebody wanted. At a more sophisticated level, the god I want will be a god who lives up to my intellectual expectations: a god of whom I can approve rationally, judiciously, after due consideration and weighing up of theological probabilities. I want this god because he, or it, will underwrite my intellectual arrogance. He will boost my sense of being a refined modern thinker. The net result is that I become god; and this god I’ve made becomes my puppet. Nobody falls down on their face before the god they wanted. Nobody trembles at the word of a homemade god. Nobody goes out with fire in their belly to heal the sick, to clothe the naked, to teach the ignorant, to feed the hungry, because of the god they wanted. They are more likely to stay at home with their feet up. . . . Can such a god really be God? — N. T. Wright, FOR ALL GOD’S WORTH: TRUE WORSHIP AND THE CALLING OF THE CHURCH. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997, p. 23. ISBN 0-8028-4319-0 [The prophet Isaiah had something to say about the difference between Israel’s God and the homemade gods of the idol makers. If you can, take five minutes to read Isaiah 44 with particular attention to the difference between a god that we form and the God who says, "I have formed you."] Have a great week, Chip Stam Director, Institute for Christian Worship School of Church Music and Worship Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Louisville, Kentucky www.carlstam.org www.sbts.edu |