A Different Kind of God

Last night at our “Get a Grip—Grasp the Truth” gathering, Dr. Craig Hazen, Chairman of Biola University’s Apologetics department, shared about Christ in a World of Religions. He contrasted Jesus and Christianity with other religions and repeatedly reminded us that “we’ve got the goods” when it comes to having a rational, believable faith. Great stuff!

It made me think of one of the ways in particular that we Christians “have the goods” compared to other religions. We simply have the best God. Our God is completely different from other gods. Other religions tend to view their god(s) as simply waiting to “flick” them from this existence—like flicking an annoying fly from your forearm—for the slightest infraction. Adherents to these religions never know if they’ve been good enough or religious enough to stay on the good side of their god.

Back during two memorable summers, when I was 13 and 14 years old, one of my brothers and I spent several weeks at ranch owned by my aunt, uncle and two cousins, whose ages corresponded to my brother and me. Those two summers hold some great memories of wildly riding their horses through the forests, exploring the Verde River, feeding the chickens and slopping the pigs. Awesome experiences for young boys. The only thing that tainted our time (besides taking a pick-up truck on a joy ride—my 14-year-old cousin behind the wheel—and slamming into a tree; but, that’s another story) was the fear we had of my uncle.

What made the weeks so idyllic was the fact that Uncle Larry worked for the City, far away. He headed down the mountain each Monday and didn’t return until Friday. Then, I remember my mood changing—stomach churning and palms sweating—when I’d see his yellow pick-up in the distance, trailed by a plume of dust as it headed toward the ranch on Friday afternoons. Most of our fun would soon be replaced by projects performed under his watchful eye. Even the rare, fun excursion on weekends carried the burden of not wanting to upset my uncle. (You can imagine how we felt after our ill-advised joy ride, but, that’s another story). We usually tried to be on our best behavior to avoid the wrath of Uncle Larry. But oddly, my cousin seemed to have a death-wish at times as he recklessly pulled stunts (like the joy ride) sure to bring a string of expletives, followed by a whack, or worse: a kick from my uncle’s lethally pointy cowboy boots! My goal was just to smile and stay out of Uncle Larry’s way. I noticed that even the animals on the ranch exhibited similar caution. They knew those boots too.

Sadly, other religions have mostly created Uncle Larry sorts of gods. One false move and whack! Or, kick! Life becomes a process of vainly trying to please them, or stay out of their way. Some have been misled into believing that our God is that like that. On the contrary, the Apostle Paul wrote, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:14, 15)

“Abba” is the Aramaic word for father, usually used in ancient culture by small children. The term denotes a trusting, intimate relationship between a child and his/her daddy. No other religion has a daddy as their god; far from it! It sounds worlds away from Uncle Larry, or the cruel parochial school nun, or any number of abusive authority figures that have tainted people’s true biblical view of God and caused them to lump Him in with those other, phony gods.
He’s our Daddy. If you’re part of His family, there’s no need to be afraid; no need to worry about Him looking over your shoulder; no need to stay out of His way. In fact, that’s right where He wants you: in His way.

“And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!'”
─Proverbs 19:23 nkjv