Would the Real God Please Stand Up?

Lately I have begun to notice that there are a lot of differing opinions as to who God is. It reminds me of the old TV show that used to ask at the end of the show "Would the real (God) please stand up?" I know that everybody has their own way of looking at God. Each of us got our image of God from some place - our parents, our preacher, from Sunday school, from a magazine, from our own imagination. I see a great divide in the world over what God is really like, primarily into two sides, and they are very different. It makes me wonder what the real God might look like, because if I were to talk to 5 different people, I think I would get 6 different responses to the question of who God is.

The two versions that seem to best categorize the images we have of God are divided on one basic premise: either God is love, and thinks you are the best thing since sliced bread, way worthy of sending His son for, or He is a God that demonstrates His love by looking past your repulsiveness and forgives you, despite your hideous sin, but can't stand the sight of you without looking through Jesus. It boils down to this: one version of God sees us as basically good, the other as basically bad.

It seems an important question to answer - how does God see you? It seems pretty foundational to not only how we see God, but how we relate to Him, to the world, and to life. The picture we have in our heads affects everything about how we 'are' in the world. If God is wrathful, punishing, and angry, we react to that image accordingly. If we see Him as loving, patient, or graceful, we will respond to that image. What we think about God makes or breaks how we relate or don't relate to Him.

Ask yourself for a moment this question; "What is my God like?"

There is probably an answer that comes into your head. You list a bunch of qualities about what you think God is like. Now let me ask a second question; "When life goes really bad, what do you believe about God?" If you are really honest, there might be another picture behind that answer. I find that in my past, 'God' changes quite a bit based on what is going on in my life. When things were great, I saw Him as giving, loving, enduring, patient. When life fell flat on its face, suddenly I wondered if God was distant, angry, disapproving, disappointed. When life was too busy and I felt lost, God was frustrated, waiting for me to get my act together, and a little displeased with me.

In the last year I have had a huge rethink on my image of God, and I have been challenged with the thought "God loves me". I have always believed He loves me, but there has always been a caveat in the sentence. He loves me if I am doing all the religious activities. He loves me if I behave well. He loves me if I am serving Him. But if I am really honest deep down inside, there is always a 'but' in there. My 'but' says that He loves me, but there is something I could do to screw that up. My 'but' says that there must be a limit somewhere - that I could do such and such to make His love stop. Like I am that powerful!

I am finding it really hard to just be with 'God loves me', and that God is really love. So right now that is my spiritual act of worship. I have sorta committed to not move on to anything else until I can fully take that in. No luck so far. It is too overwhelming, and it disrupts too many years of works theology. It leaves me powerless before Him. And I don't like that feeling.

Thoughts by Mike Ege.

Life coaches Mike and Laura Ege challenge people who are tired of shallow, ineffective faith to go beyond the brink of what they've always known and ignite a spiritual journey full of adventure, purpose, and freedom. To learn more about living a spiritual edge-venture and sign up for a FREE email series, '7 Radical Freedoms', visit their site at http://www.OutsideEdgeCoaching.com.