Incompetent God!

September 17, 2020

Incompetent God!

When it comes to God, we have some choices. 

First, we can choose to believe God is absent.  We convince ourselves that God does not care so does not make His presence known.  We are often left with no hope. 

Second, we can choose to believe God is dead.  We convince ourselves that God never existed or, if God did exist at one time, God no longer exists.  We are often left with no purpose. 

Third, we can choose to believe God is incompetent.  We convince ourselves that God does exist and that God is with us, but God is not someone we can trust.  We are often left with no faith.

There are too many historical, Biblical, and eye-witness accounts to conclude that God is absent or that God is dead or that God is incompetent.  To draw these conclusions, is often the result of being deeply hurt or intellectually lazy or unwilling to trust. 

If I have been deeply hurt, I struggle to make sense of my pain and a belief in a loving God.  If I am intellectually lazy, I resist investigating the claims of Jesus with an engaged and objective mind.  If I cannot trust God to be consistent, I hesitate to accept what God says or does.   

I am quickly left depending more upon myself than upon Jesus.  My choices become more about my strength and my knowledge as well as my effort and my preference.  My choices are more often than not guided by me rather than by Jesus.

This approach to making choices is not new.  The last three or four generations have been exposed to a simple spirituality that is sometimes referred to as relative moralism.  The basic idea is that we determine what is right or wrong based on each unique set of circumstances.  There is no moral code.  There is no ethical standard.  There is no guiding principle.  My choices are all up to me!

In this spirituality, the Ten Commandments have no influence because God is incompetent or God is absent or God does not exist.  We choose to live as if God’s “Yes” does not mean “Yes” and God’s “No” does not mean “No.”  We are left trying to figure it all out with no guidance. 

In a similar way, the Great Commandment to love the Lord God and love our neighbor as our self has no influence because God is incompetent or God is absent or God does not exist.  We choose to live as if Jesus did not really mean what He said when He told us to love God and love one another.  We are left trying to figure it all out with no standards.

The good news is that God continues to reveal Himself to us in many different ways.  Jesus reveals Himself in the Bible, prayer, conversations with other Christ-followers, silence, fasting, reading, serving the poor, meditation, music, tithing, spiritual journaling, etc. 

Through the revelation of God, we discover what God wants us to be and what wants us to do.  There is a moral code.  There is an ethical standard.  There are guiding principles.  My choices are not all up to me; the Holy Spirit will help me choose a God-honoring and a compassionate way forward.

In Psalm 121:7 we hear God’s promise; “The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.” 

The spirituality of relative moralism ultimately fails to provide consistent guidance for our choices if we want to live a life of holiness.

We have a choice to make today.  Is our God absent or dead or incompetent?  Or, is our God continually revealing His way and His truth and His life so we might live a life of holiness?

There are standards and codes and principles that have been revealed to us through the Son of God, Jesus.  Loving the Lord God is a mandate not an option.  Loving every person is a mandate not something we do when it feels comfortable or when it helps us to get ahead.

Maybe the challenge we are facing is trusting God when His wisdom and His power and His love are greater and more mysterious than our own.  When we seek God’s self-revelation in Jesus we find guidance for our choices…and even more!

We also find a life that is filled with peace and joy and love; a life of holiness!  It is in those moments that we are filled with delight in the Lord Jesus.

Take Delight In The Lord!

Doug