#132. Thinking God Lost His "A" Game.
Apr 10th by JonA missionary at a retreat that I barely knew came up to me one night with a message. He said God had given him something he was supposed to give me. So he told me a story.
That was weird to me. That felt a little strange or odd. That didn’t fit into the box I put God into. You see, I used to confine God to the Bible or the words of a minister. But I was wrong and I’m not alone.
Somewhere along the way, we quietly started believing the God that used to employ burning bushes and magical writing on the wall retired those methods of communication. He stopped talking with people in dreams. He quit doing weird and wild and ridiculous things. He got really small and really quiet.
He lost his A game.
But I think that’s wrong. I can’t understand why God would talk to Joseph, as in husband of Mary, about the birth of Jesus in a dream but he won’t talk to you that way. I can’t understand why Jesus would use examples like the way God cares about birds or teach us with seed and vine analogies if we’re not supposed to see him in nature.
So here’s what I am going to confess: I see signs of God in lots of places.
When secular band Angels and Airwaves sings:
“Where all the children left without a trace, only to come back as pure as gold”
I can’t help but think of Job 23: 10 which says:
“But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.”
In the song below I don’t hear Eddie Vedder, I hear what the Prodigal Son might have felt when he deserved to not be remembered as a son but was instead greeted with a party:
I swear I recognize your breath, memories like fingerprints are slowly raising
Me you wouldn’t recall, for I’m not my former
It’s hard when you’re stuck upon the shelf
I changed by not changing at all, small town predicts my fate, perhaps thats what no one wants to see. I just want to scream…hello…
My God its been so long, never dreamed you’d return
But now here you are, and here I am
I could play this game all night and I’ve written about this very concept before and will write about it again. The point isn’t less Bible or less church or less traditional things. If anything, it’s more. More seeing the Bible come to life in the everyday. More taking church outside the building. More seeing God in the way we look, not what we are looking at.
And that’s my question for you, where do you see God?
p.s. It was cool that for many people, the Fight Club post opened up a chance to talk about what they saw in that book/movie.
Comments
Sunsets and sunrises for sure. No canvas master can do that!
In “Horton Hears a Who” – seriously.
I read in an article not long ago that a lot of Jewish prophets and the like might have used a hallucinagen (sp?) that can be derived from the acacia tree bark. Whether that is true or not, I know for a fact that God is not past using “supernatural” visionary or auditory(sp?) approaches.
Seriously? I think people have changed. We are looking for different things. It means more to us to find justification in our faith through a usuary box tha says, “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus” than to hear him in what that donkie just said.
A similar argument is sometimes made for why we never hear people speak in tongues. Ummmm… I love some tongues. I just probably won’t do it loud enough for me to hear it in worship in my UMC
I see God in the city.
If we are talking about movies I completely loved the message in Signs and IRobot. I especially liked in Irobot where the robot starts telling Will Smith we are all made for a purpose and that he was made for a purpose from his creator….I shouted to my husband, “SEE! The Word is written on every man’s heart! Even people in Hollywood understand…they just don’t see.”
definitely in nature….same place you can see evidence of the fall.
And in my wife…..and sometimes my kids, although they often hit the opposite end of the spiritual spectrum.
I see God in the kindness of complete strangers all around me. I see God in times of trials. And I see God in coincidences. And nature. God is so awesome with weather and trees and grass, it’s just amazing to me. Horton Hears a Who though, that’s new. Have to think about that one.
I see God in a baby’s smile.
LOVING this blog! Don’t forget that Christians love a good potluck supper, Vacation Bible School, and one or two people in their congregation of a different color or ethnic background.
Most recently: In my coworkers, who I assumed would not support me because they aren’t Christians – but a portion of the money I’ve raised for an upcoming mission trip has come from them.
I see God as the flowers start to bloom and the grass turns green after seeing in the vast whiteness of a snow blanketed town or countryside after seeing him in the amount of different colors there are in the leaves as they prepare for the cold long winter months after seeing him in the waves of the big lakes, hearing him in the sounds of nature and distant children laughing and dogs barking. I see God in the sunshining through the clouds. I see God in the smile of a child. I see God in a new born infant and I see God in an older wise person. You can see God everywhere if you’re looking for Him.
I took a class about the writings of CS Lewis when I was at Seminary.
The prof made the argument that the Gospel is such a huge event, in fact THE central event in human history, it has spilled over into culture all over the place. So we see pieces of it in art, film, the news. We find ourselves drawn to stories of heroism, sacrifice, medal of honor winners, kidney donors. We aren’t just drawn to them for the stories themselves, but because on a deeper level they echo THE story – the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Thus it’s no mistake that we “see” God and his story written into everyday life.
Just found the blog yesterday and added it to my Google reader. Thanks. Keep observing and writing.
Honestly, after just reading your fight club post, I’d have to say I see God in Fight Club. Meaning, God doesn’t co-opt culture, people have a unique way of calling out to what God cares about even if they don’t profess his name openly.
I had a friend in high school who taught me to listen to secular love songs in light of the Christian faith. Intially, I think it was because Melissa was ‘romantically challenged’ due to being smarter than all the boys. While the rest of us called up the local radio station to dedicate songs to our boyfriends, Mel was dedicating them to “JC” for Jesus Christ.
The lesson stuck with me and I still listen that way. Shania Twain’s ‘From this Moment On” perfectly describes how I felt when I accepted Christ.
And Mel? She’s now married with two kids…and a very successful cardio thoracic surgeon on the east coast. Guess she knew what she was talking about.
bearcatprof
pink floyd, grateful dead, doobie brothers…
comfortably numb, need I say more?
Poet Percy Bysshe Shelley in A Defence of Poetry said basically the same thing way back in 1821.
Shelly writes, “At such periods there is an accumulation of the power of communicating and receiving intense and impassioned conceptions respecting man and nature. The persons in whom this power resides, may often, as far as regards many portions of their nature, have little apparent correspondence with that spirit of good of which they are the ministers. But even whilst they deny and abjure, they are yet compelled to serve, the Power which is seated upon the throne of their own soul. It is impossible to read without being startled with the electric life which burns within their words. They measure the circumference and sound the depths of human nature with a comprehensive and all-penetrating spirit, and they are themselves perhaps the most sincerely astonished at its manifestations, for it is less their spirit than the spirit of the age. Poets are the hierophants of an unapprehended inspiration, the mirrors of the gigantic shadows which futurity casts upon the present, the words which express what they understood not…”
Basically, that says even people who don’t even believe in God will often unknowingly reflect Him in their words — even to the point of surprising themselves.
ok i feel like i might be commenting to much – but fun fact, Angels and Airwaves’ lead singer loves Jesus. one of his songs is his testimony. its awesome
I really see God in thunderstorms, mainly His ability to be both powerful and beautiful at the same time. The combination of a thunderclap that shakes the walls and the gorgeous lightning patterns is remarkable. I’m drawn to thunderstorms even though they are somewhat dangerous. They are not to be taken for granted. We should have a healthy fear of them. We cannot control them. Under them, we see how small and helpless we are in our own strength. In many ways, I think this gives us an accurate picture of God. But it’s only a small picture.
When I was at college (a Christian university that was overly super-spiritual at times), I was condemned for my decision to see The Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. My boss even gave me a scripture and told me that God had told her to tell me not to see that movie. I went anyway, because God didn’t tell me; and was thrilled to come back and report that I had found a very vivid image of the salvation message within the film.
Absolutely! I see God in secular movies, music, tv shows, pop culture… And not some namby-pamby, ‘God in all of us’ rubbish, but a real, interacting and impacting eternal God of the universe. (Thanks, Nate for your comment, that really resonated with me. I love C.S. Lewis. I wrote a post a bit about that recently: http://notperfection.wordpress.com/2008/07/05/the-elaboration-pt-2/ )
I particularly enjoy some Hollywood attempts at ‘getting it’ (even if the theology’s all screwed up). ‘Bruce Almighty’ and ‘Evan Almighty’ jump to mind. That one scene in ‘Evan Almighty’ where the whole town floods, and both God and Evan are vindicated, and the dawning realisation of the ‘arrogants’, struck me so deeply.
I find God very deeply embedded in such things as pop culture, and I’m so grateful that he’s not hands-off, or afraid of getting his hands dirty.
Since I’m an avid gardener, I see God in my plants and nature, and it’s also my selfish “quiet time” to reflect.
Every spring, without fail, when the new life starts to grow out of the dull and dingy reminders of winter, I become deeply introspective and humbled. It always reminds me that I can have moments of new life after my winters too.
Hands down the biggest sign, for me, of God in “my” world: The moon.
I think it’s more powerful because we typically see it more infrequently than the rest of creation.
I remember making a very similar statement in my youth group years ago I relayed how seeing the beauty of the world around us – like looking up at the stars on a clear night or standing at the edge of the ocean – reminds me of God’s power and his love for us.
The way I look at it, you can find God in most works of art, or music, or the things you see every day if you view them with a heart that longs to seek him.
@Mandi and @Aili (even though I know you won't come back to read this most likely)
"Even the people in Hollywood understand."
The "people in Hollywood" include Christians. Many thousands upon thousands of us. Among whom were a producer of "I, Robot," the director and one of the writers of "Bruce Almighty" and "Evan Almighty."
You didn't think God was going to abandon Hollywood, did you?
I see God in dancing ….and way too many bands to list.
I see God laughing at me all the time… I just think of Jonah and how he used to get all mad and God used to laugh at him. .. I love it.
As ridiculous as this sounds, I see God in A Clockwork Orange. When people ask me why God doesn't just stop evil people from being evil, I point to that book as one of the stronger cases for free will.
I see God when the sunshine is shining through the trees
I see God in the homeless and oppressed. I recently heard Tony Campolo speak and he told a story about how he was walking down the street and a homeless looking man offered him some of his coffee. It's the same thing as when the widow threw in her half cent into the offering plate. Those that have a little seem to give a lot.
I totally agree with you. I am always seeing God in things and bringing it up to my friends. I have gotten a lot of 'uhhh' stares, that is for sure.
I see God everywhere in everything. A lot of times in the tiniest, most forgotten or ignored things… like… staples or paperclips… I'm just THANK YOU GOD FOR INSPIRING WHOEVER… I also see him a lot in fruits and foods. Not too long ago, I remembered having a conversation with God and i was telling him "I think it's weird that I don't like mushrooms… and your probably love them or think they are delicious… and I think they are gross." and then I went further to understand that although I have Jesus in my heart, there are some characteristics that I don't share with him… and I mean that in the sense that I can't say that eating mushrooms in a sin because I don't like them and i have Jesus in my heart…a lot of times we forget that God is God. you know? I mostly try to see the God in people… it helps a lot when it comes to relationships and stuff.
This is gonna sound crazy, but in dreams. After several examinations to determine I'm not losing my mind, the things my dreams predicted started actually playing out and I was like "o.O" but yeah, there it is.