Spiritual Hiccups - Concepts of God

In one of the Church Unbound sessions this morning, Brian McLaren quoted or, more likely, paraphrased William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury who died in 1944.  "If our concept of God is flawed, the more we worship the worse off we are.  We would be better off as atheists."  Where do we get our concept of God, and how do we know if it is flawed?  Most Protestants would say we check our Bibles, but I'm not so sure that's a simply task.

Today's readings may illustrate my point.  In one we hear a portion of the Samson stories about a warrior strongman who doesn't look all that different from Hercules.  In Acts we hear a recitation of the Exodus story, of  Moses being prepared to help lead Israel from slavery.  And then in John we see Jesus healing a royal official's son (from a distance) as a "sign."  So we have a strongman who "judges" Israel, a story of rescue from slavery, and a healing.  In the first, Samson doles out his share of death and destruction to Israel's enemies, presumably with God's blessings.  Then we hear of how God works to rescue Israel from bondage under the royal power of Egypt.  Finally we see Jesus who uses no weapons, but threatens the power of Rome by calling people to believe in him, to entrust themselves to a power other than the Emperor.


So the question arises, "Is God a god of violence who visits destruction on our enemies; is God a god who rescues the slave from the oppressor; or is God a god who heals and calls people to abandon traditional loyalties to nation or empire and become citizens of God's reign?"  


I won't for a moment pretend that these are the only three choices for a concept of God.  Nor will I suggest that all concepts of God are mutually exclusive.  But some concepts are.


A different question may be a way of getting at your concept of God.  "What is Christianity's primary message and purpose?"  The way you answer this question says a lot about your concept of God.  To look at one possible answer, if Christianity is supposed to provide a means of escape from this evil world and this messy, bodily existence, what does that say about God's relationship to God's creation?  If God is intent on destroying sinners and the earth, what does that say about the nature of God?


What do you think is the Christian faith's primary message and purpose?  Where did you learn that?  Things to ponder...


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