MOLDING GOD INTO OUR IMAGE
INTRODUCTION: We’ve seen it a hundreds times-the American artist’s renditions of Jesus. We see the flowing blond locks and the bright blue eyes and the light skin. And why this portrayal? Some might say to just put a face to what the bible has kept a secret. However, it subtly alludes to a deeper meaning. And that is to be able to make Jesus just like us. And although he was like us in a human way, we can take that too far to where we make him too much like us. What’s so dangerous about that? [Friend but also Lord]
1) We minimize his deity. I preached a little while back about the need for us to be molded into God’s image. That’s because he is God and we are not. When we make the mistake of molding God into our image we are basically reversing the roles. We are minimizing his deity and maximizing ours. In an article for Men of Integrity, Jonathan Sprowl writes, “What is Jesus like? If you're like me, you've asked yourself this question many times. I'd like to think I can be totally objective when I answer this question, but sadly, it's easy to just imagine that he's like me. And I'm not the first person to fall into that trap. Take a look at paintings of Jesus from different cultures. If you're American, like me, you've probably seen one of Warner Sallman's many paintings of Jesus. He has long, flowing hair and sharp Anglo-Saxon features. He wears a serene look on his face with a kind of '40s Hollywood movie star glow about him. I've seen very few portraits of Jesus that make him look like the Jewish man that he was. This seems harmless enough on the surface. Why not make Jesus relatable to our cultural context? The problem is we don't stop at his external features. We remake him in our own image, bestowing him with our cultural values. In his American guise, he becomes a cosmic therapist or wealth bestower who just wants to make us comfortable and happy.” Part of minimizing God’s deity is minimizing his holiness. One of the reasons we mold God into our image is because in so doing we make him more tolerant of unholiness. We bestow him with our cultural values. We want so badly to be able to do what we want to do we make God into a being who is in line with our feelings toward our sinful thoughts and behaviors. We might have to ignore or twist scripture in order to do that but if we want to feel good about our badness we will do whatever it takes to feel comfortable in our flesh. In a devotional by Skye Jethani regarding his book, With: Reimagining the Way You Relate to God, he writes, “Every semester Scot McKnight, professor of religious studies at North Park College in Chicago, gives his students a test on the first day of his Jesus class. The test begins with a series of questions about what the students think Jesus is like. Is he moody? Does he get nervous? Is he the life of the party or an introvert? The 24 questions are then followed by a second set—with slightly altered language—in which the students answer questions about their own personalities. McKnight is not the only one who has administered this exam; it has been field tested by other professionals as well. But the results are remarkably consistent—everyone thinks Jesus is just like them. McKnight added, "The test results also suggest that, even though we like to think we are becoming more like Jesus, the reverse is probably more the case: we try to make Jesus like ourselves." McKnight's personality questionnaire confirms what the French philosopher Voltaire said three centuries ago: "If God has made us in his image, we have returned him the favor." Another reason why it’s easy to mold God into our image is because it’s hard for us to wrap our brain around how God can be everywhere at the same time. It’s hard to fathom how God is not bound by time and every point in human history is now to God. It’s hard for us to understand how God had no beginning. We measure everything by time so it’s hard to imagine anything not being subject to the restraints of time. God is not like us in that he is not limited by time or space. God can be everywhere at the same time. The word for that is omnipresent. That’s what God is. If we make him out to be anything less, we minimize his deity. There are some things about God that we just won’t understand right now. But to try to spend our time figuring God out can be like the young boy Augustine came across. Augustine, the early Church father, was walking along the seashore one day and he came across a boy who had dug a hole next to the edge of the water. He was furiously going back and forth from the sea to the hole, with his little bucket, filling it up with sea water and then emptying it in the hole. Augustine asked him, “What are you trying to do?” The little boy responded, “I’m pouring the sea into this hole”. Trying to wrap our finite brain around something as infinitely magnificent as God is like trying to fit the sea into a hole on the beach-it isn’t going to happen. Rom. 11:33-36. He’s God; we aren’t.
2) We minimize his power. Molding God into our image also minimizes his power. God is not only omnipresent he’s also omnipotent which means he is all powerful. But how can he be all powerful when he’s just like us? This is scary because if he isn’t all powerful then it’s up to me to get myself out of trouble. It’s up to me to figure out how to get through a precarious situation. I really have no one to rely on but myself. And when I feel ill-equipped to bring about a solution, I will panic and render myself doomed. If God’s power doesn’t supersede my power what hope do I have? The reality is, however, that God is all powerful and he is all knowing. God is omnipresent (he’s everywhere), God is omnipotent (he’s all powerful), God is omniscient (he’s all knowing). However, if I make God into my image then he ceases to be any of these things. And if God ceases to become these things then I can convince myself that I have become all powerful and all knowing. I am the authority; I am the one who knows how to run my life. I have the power to make things happen; I am in control. In this, we minimize God’s ability and maximize ours. If God is no more powerful than me then what do I need him for? In our pride we want so badly to be in control. If we make God into our image that’s what we’re doing. I’m the superior being. These are some of the dangers in molding God into our image. I can’t accuse Job of trying to mold God into his image but he did get to the point to where he was somewhat demanding of God. He felt he deserved some answers for what was happening to him. God needed to put things in perspective for Job. Job 38:1-7, 19-21, 33-36. Job got the point 40:1-5. Without humility we’ll minimize God’s power and maximize ours.
3) We minimize his love. If we make God in our image then we will convince ourselves that the way we would deal with people is the way he deals with people. Because we have rage and bitter resentments toward others we can see him being that way. Because we are unforgiving we conclude that he is too. Because of how emotional we are in various situations and with certain folks if we’ve molded God in our image then he also is directed by his feelings and has very limited and conditional love, patience, forgiveness, mercy and grace. We can get that way about ourselves too. We convince ourselves that because of something we did God’s patience has run out or he has stopped loving us. It’s hard because we get treated negatively by some people and we erroneously conclude that God is like that too. So-and-so hasn’t forgiven me for what I’ve done so maybe God doesn’t forgive me either. Other people aren’t gracious and loving to me so perhaps God is no different. Isaiah 55:6-9. We may be unmerciful and unforgiving and others may be this way toward us but this isn’t how God is. It may be easy for us to have anger and resentments but this isn’t the heart of God. The way we are is not the way God is. We think in the realm of the natural. God thinks in the realm of the supernatural. We think in the realm of limited knowledge. God thinks with all knowledge. We think in the realm of un-holiness. God’s thoughts are always holy, loving and wise. The way God handles things are always righteous and just. And whatever amount of holy, righteous thinking and behavior we have God’s is way above that. Fridtjof Nansen was a Norwegian explorer and statesman who lived in Norway between 1861-1930. He once tried to measure an extremely deep part of the Arctic Ocean. The first day he used his longest measuring line but couldn't reach the bottom. He wrote in his log book. "The ocean is deeper than that!" The next day he added more line but again had to record, "Deeper than that!" After several days of adding more and more line he gave up without learning its actual depth. All he knew was that it was beyond his ability to measure it. How ever hard he tried, his conclusion was “Deeper than that!” When it comes to the love, mercy, kindness and grace of God, these things are always deeper than we can ever measure. They are limitless, boundless and beyond our description and our comprehension. Psalm 145:3, “Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.” Unless we can accept that God’s greatness and capacity to love is beyond our ability to truly grasp then we will minimize
4) We minimize ourselves. Molding God into our image debilitates us. If we have the mindset of molding God into our image we will not be striving to be like God; why would we? What is there to strive for if God is like us? If we mold God into our image then we miss out on the opportunity to achieve spiritual advancement. In this we deprive ourselves of the better life. We rob ourselves of the stronger faith, purity and wisdom that God possesses and wishes to give to us. We need to see and pursue the elevated characteristics of God. 1st Peter 1:15-16, “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” We first need to believe that God is greater, stronger, wiser, holier and more loving then what we can imagine. Not just an intellectual belief but a spiritual one. Because if you were to ask any Christian, “do you believe God is greater, stronger, etc.” they would say, “of course”. We can say that God is greater but do we live our lives like God is greater? Or do we live like we are the authority? Do we live like we have the power? Do we live like we know it all? If we are then we are minimizing God which minimizes us. But if we truly believe that God is who he says he is then we will have the motivation and determination to strive for the next level of holiness and be molded into his image.
