Challenging Our Views of God

Have you thought about how we form opinions about God’s character? The picture of God we carry shapes how we relate to Him.

Our Collective View

Being raised in a Christian home certainly helped shape my perception of God, but so did looking at the plants and animals around me. As a young child, I wouldn’t have stopped to think about design vs natural selection. I simply saw that these things were cleverly designed, and it was relatively easy for me to believe that God created the world we live in.

In Romans 1:18-23, the apostle Paul tells us that ever since the creation of the world, God has been clearly perceived in the things He has made. But Paul also warns that our unrighteous behavior suppresses our knowledge of Him.

“For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” Romans 1:19-20 (ESV) 

Our unrighteous behavior clouds what God has already made known. Paul goes on to explain that believing in God comes by hearing the Gospel—hearing what Jesus has done to bring us back to God (Romans 10:17).

Once a person has entered into life with Jesus, the journey from there on involves learning more about the Kingdom life He has opened to us. Our learning is as much adding to our lives what is good as it is removing what doesn’t belong.

God can use many different ways to teach us about who He is; however, the root of who He is must always be found in Scripture.

If creation were your only evidence, what would you conclude about God?

What forms our understanding of His character?

Our Issues with God

Our experiences of authority figures can play a big part in how we understand God’s character. But even those of us who have listened to or read the Bible can form thoughts about how God is always angry, remembering that He ordered the Israelites to obliterate whole cities, or hearing Jesus’ words about someone’s lack of faith.

Gaining a bigger picture of God’s desires for His creation through the whole of Scripture helps us see some themes repeated. He longs for us to be near Him. He wants to take care of us. He longs for us to fully trust Him. He sees us as His children.

Historically, what we have not always been able to see is how our repeated inability to trust Him can affect the way we interpret what happens to us. When we feel that we are being pummeled by our enemies, we can begin to think that God made it happen. We conflate those things.

The more time we spend in His Word and align our lives more closely with what He wanted for us all along, the more this kind of erroneous thinking can be corrected.

What follows are some examples of how God has been correcting my understanding of Him.

Our Own Familial Issues

The earliest wound I remember was hearing my father use the word stupid in response to a process gone wrong. Like an open bookshelf, that word landed in my mind. Because young children don’t yet know how to filter out harmful content, I was a prime target for this encounter to make a huge impact on how I viewed my dad, but also authorities, leaders, pastors, bosses, and ultimately God.

The low view I had of myself caused me to believe that I was the reason my relationship with God wasn’t effective. It wasn’t until recently that I found this belief to be faulty. I’ve since taken up the belief that “God hasn’t exhausted Himself on me and He can do anything to bring me fully to Him.”

My parents, especially my mom, often questioned whether something non-spiritual could have value to a Christian. Dancing at weddings, dancing lessons, or parties with dancing all drew the same puzzled response from her. I’d go and enjoy my time but come home feeling like I had disappointed God by wasting time on earthly pleasures. Even taking a class on doctrine garnered questions from my dad that hinted at the same problem. Perhaps they didn’t see it, but I stayed out of trouble, and these things aided my safe passage through my young adult life. However, I always wondered if my time was wasted on these things and whether I should have committed myself to a life lived in service to the Church—and boredom.

Moving away from home and seeing more of God’s people around the world has opened my eyes to the many ways people enjoy one another’s company. Weddings are celebrated with dancing, and those who like to think and study enjoy things like studying doctrine and early church history. I love that Scripture tells us “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1, NIV), and Romans 14 reminds us that Christians may differ in how they approach matters that Scripture does not clearly prohibit. If there’s not outright prohibition, then we are free to enjoy this life!

How has your relationship with your parents affected the way you see God’s character toward you?

Black and White Thinking

I’ve noticed that people often fall into black and white thinking when it comes to religious matters.

When I read the parable of the four soils, I saw these as fixed conditions—that if I’m rocky soil, I’m doomed. My view of God in that moment was that He was inflexible and only spoke in absolutes.

What if this passage was meant to be a litmus test I could use at different points along the arc of my life?

Do you have weeds or stones in the soil of your life that choke out God’s word? Spend time eliminating things that distract you, ask God for help removing what gets in the way, and cry out to Him for the deliverance you need! Trust that He has no problem helping us in our distress.

Consider Thomas’ need to see and touch Jesus’ wounds.

“Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

Eight days later, Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”

Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:25, 27, 29, ESV)

Words like Jesus used in response to Thomas always felt like a slap in the face. Here we have God in the flesh showing Thomas mercy and at the same time mocking his lack of faith. But upon further reflection and study, I’m leaning toward the idea that Jesus wasn’t speaking solely to Thomas, but to people like you and me, who need physical experiences just as much as spiritual ones to aid our belief in God.

I believe that Thomas’ refusal to believe is much like our own pushback when our experiences leave us exasperated. Reading Jesus’ words that those who have not seen and yet believe are more blessed pushed that “I’m stupid” button from my early childhood wound. Because I often want hard evidence of Jesus’ nearness, I felt like I was a second-rate Christian.

Was Jesus being duplicitous by meeting Thomas’ need, then rebuking him for needing it in the first place? I don’t think so.

The Holy Spirit called to mind that Jesus did not meet Thomas’ plea to see and touch Jesus’ wounds with stonewalling or shame-filled words. If Thomas’ desire to touch Him was problematic, then why would Jesus appear in a locked house to meet his need?

In similar fashion, I have encountered God’s fatherly love in my own life. Out of desperation, one night while looking at porn many years ago, I kept the image in front of me while I talked to God about what this man meant to me in this moment. Like Thomas, I nearly demanded that I feel the embrace of God so I could have some kind of masculine assurance that I was loved. I don’t know what Thomas thought of his own demand, but I felt like mine was too much, as if I had burdened God with something trivial.

But a week later, during worship at church, God sent two young men to embrace me in a full-body hug, one of them facing me and the other behind me. I melted and panicked at my aroused state. I silently pleaded for God to make them stop. God lovingly spoke to my mind, “But you asked me for this.”

I had my own personal witness that God could meet me in a tangible way.

What if you are like Thomas in your unbelief?

What if you feel like God is mean, indifferent, or disappointed in you?

How do you think He would respond if you boldly, perhaps even rudely, declared your need for evidence that He cares?

Deeply Rooted Fears

Fear has been present in each of the stories I’ve shared. I have had many. One fear that’s still awaiting healing grew out of that early wound from my dad. It left me with a deep mistrust of authority figures and their words. Some have called this rebellion, but I would caution such language for a person who is hurting like this. The use of strong language such as rebellion only serves to push that child further into his mindset of fear, as it has in my world. Only now in my late 50s am I understanding that this fear was ever present and how it has responded to sharply worded statements by fellow believers.

smoldering wick

Scripture teaches us about God’s kindness through the character of Jesus. Matthew 12:20 says, “a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench…”

There’s even kindness hidden in Matthew 19:11-12 for those who are eunuchs. Without going any further into their plight, Jesus acknowledges the difficulty of their situation in contrast to those who are not eunuchs.

He sees. He knows. He loves. And He does so deeply and tenderly toward those who need it most.

At the age of 40, when I learned about the genetic disorder affecting my sex chromosomes and giving me a eunuch-like status, I was opened to a whole new set of thoughts and emotions I hadn’t had before. The feelings of being different than other men flooded my mind. Learning that Jesus knew the plight of the eunuch helped me trust how deeply He must love me. My trust is being won over and fears are subsiding!

When you feel afraid of God, whose voice or face from your past does that fear remind you of?

How might trusting in God’s merciful love change the way you see Him as Father?

Closing Thoughts

Looking back, I can see how many voices helped paint my picture of God: a single word spoken by my dad, my parents’ well-meant cautions, my own all-or-nothing reading of Scripture, and fears I didn’t even know I carried. None of these told me the whole truth about who God is. What has changed my view is spending time in His Word and discovering, again and again, that He meets me where I am—and that I don’t have to be a super-Christian to undo these lies. Like Thomas, I’ve asked for more than I thought I should, and He didn’t shame me for it. I’m still learning, but I’ve come to believe that God hasn’t exhausted Himself on me, and He hasn’t exhausted Himself on you either.

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