What is God’s Problem?

On a Mission
He was a man on a mission from God. Angry, bitter and violent. He was literally breathing out murderous threats against his opponents. He was a very powerful man in his society and religion and no one wanted to mess with him. With written authorization in hand, he was going from town to town, arresting his opponents and dragging them into court. It’s believed that Saul of Tarsus was responsible for the imprisonment and death of many people in the first century AD. His opponents were members of a new sect that threatened the religious establishment and they had to be stopped at any cost. These misguided people were following the life and teaching of an unorthodox young rabbi named Jesus. On this particular day Saul was traveling to the city of Damascus and it was business as usual. But all that changed when he had a dramatic encounter with the real Jesus. That event changed the course of Saul’s life. He had been dead wrong about God.

Unlovable
God has become a big problem for many people. I believe the reason is that most people don’t know what God is really like. What they do know is the religious people they’ve encountered who represent God don’t seem very nice. They’ve been told they need to love a God who does not seem very lovable. How can they love an angry old man who oppresses women and minorities? Why is God so old fashioned about clothing, culture and music? Why is God against fun? What about all those wars His people start? Why do those televangelists keep asking for money? Why can’t all the Christians just get along with each other? Why do we need so many churches when it seems like no one really wants to be there? These are real questions that real people are asking.

Speed Dating the Divine
It’s impossible to love or trust someone you don’t know. Before any meaningful relationship can start, people have to get to know each other. It’s the same with God. But building a relationship with God can be a bit more challenging. Before we even think about praying or possibly picking up a Bible, we typically begin to experience God through other people. People tell us all about God. What He’s like. What He thinks. What He loves. What He hates. What makes Him happy. What makes Him angry. (Some folks really seem to enjoy telling us makes Him angry.) There are other people who want to share more personally about their own relationship with God. We can learn a great deal about God by simply observing the lives of people who truly know Him. This seems like the approach that would be the most authentic.

What is God’s Problem?
How can we be sure what God is really like? What if He’s in a good mood even though many of His followers would lead us to believe otherwise? What if He’s really much more loving and accepting than the religious folks who preach at us? If we’re serious about it, we have to take time to get to know God in our own way. Over the years, many religious people I’ve encountered didn’t do a good job of representing God. His character, love and attitude toward people have often been distorted and maligned by followers who are more concerned with their own agenda than their fellow man. God is love, but you’d never know it by hanging out with some of the folks who claim to know Him. God is forgiving, but many of his followers are not. God is life, but it’s not hard to find churches and religious groups that are stone, cold dead. What is God’s problem? I believe it’s people. We are His problem. Like Saul of Tarsus, some of us are dead wrong about God. And when our spiritual compass is not pointing to true North, we’ll get off course and take others with us.

The Genuine Article
God is the most amazing, loving, forgiving, compassionate and kind person in the universe. Just because there are people who do not represent Him well, doesn’t mean we should stop trying to get to know Him. There have always been people who claim to know God, but who hate and harm others. When someone’s attitude or actions do not consistently reflect God’s character that person cannot possibly know Him or model what He’s really like. The best way to detect a counterfeit is to compare it to the genuine article. The best defense against being misinformed or mislead by a pretender is to know what God is really like. Jesus lived as God in the flesh. Reading about his life and mission in the New Testament Gospels is a good start. But there’s no substitute for knowing Him as a person. When you begin a relationship with Jesus something will happen in your life that’s called transformation. God’s Spirit makes a connection with your spirit and then you begin to experience love and life for yourself. You’ll know because you’ll be drawn to love God, other people and even yourself in a new way.

Back on a Mission
Paul was a man on a mission. He had a new name, a new identity and a new mandate to go from town to town sharing his life and his faith with people he formerly hated and opposed. His mission was to reach out to the ‘Gentiles’ with a message of love, forgiveness and acceptance. These folks were way outside the circle of God’s chosen people–the Jews. They were considered pagans and idol worshipers. They were bad news. But Paul’s mission was to bring them the Good News. There was a time when Saul was God’s problem. He was the reason people were turned off by religion. Downright terrified, actually. But this religious Terminator had now become a Liberator. The hater was now a lover. This transformation happened when Saul had an authentic encounter with Jesus, followed by some love and support from his new friends in the faith. He experienced divine love from the Divine and from real people. These people knew Jesus and modeled Him to Saul…until he became Paul. Our choice to model Jesus in our everyday life will have an amazing impact. You might say it’s our mission from God.