And Man Created God in His Own Image

Some time back I heard a celebrity make the statement, “The God I believe in . . .”. This is a common statement and is not limited to celebrities. In fact, I’ve heard it from politicians, church members, and even religious leaders. Usually, it is a statement of comfort. It conforms God to an image of what we are comfortable with. It confines Him to the limits of what can be easily explained.

Even worse, it is a statement of idolatry. In our attempt to comprehend God, we are in danger of creating and worshipping an image of God that is less than He has revealed Himself to be. This is idolatry. Though we would never create a physical image of God, all of us form a mental image. We have a conception of who God is and what He is like, and we worship God based upon this concept.

The ugly truth is that our image often reflects ourselves. Our perception of God tends to emphasize the aspects of God’s nature, character, and attributes that appeal most to us. We are most comfortable with those most like ourselves, and our worship of God becomes little more than self-worship

Every truth about God, however, is not convenient. He should make us uncomfortable. There should be mysteries that we cannot fathom. It is in the tension of the unpleasant, difficult and seemingly contradictory details of divine nature that the truth often lies. God is not who I conceive Him to be. He is who and what He has revealed Himself to be. Our concept of God must exceed what we know of Him, for at its highest, we must say, “God is more than this!”

How long has it been since your perception of God has made you uncomfortable?