“There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which [God] who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, ‘Mine!’”
– Abraham Kuyper, theologian, journalist, and former prime minister of the Netherlands
“If there is a God, where was He? Why did He let that happen? Why didn’t God stop it?” I was 20 years old, and it was just days after September 11, 2001, when a man angrily asked these questions. He wasn’t talking to me, but I intended to regale him with a philosophical perspective that would illuminate his simple mind to the complex realities of the divine order. It didn’t work. He didn’t give a rip. He didn’t care about the mysteries of free will and sovereignty. He just saw planes smash into the World Trade Center. He saw people engulfed in flames plunge to their death. He didn’t want the musings of an amateur philosopher; he needed something more.
That may have been the first time I clearly heard the question, “Where was God?” but it wasn’t the last. Since that day, I’ve heard the question repeated and rephrased: “If God is loving, why would He let that happen? Why didn’t He show up? Couldn’t He have stopped it?” Often in those moments of examination, many religious people try to defend God, as I did. They feel obligated to be God’s defense attorney or publicist. The intention is to make God look good, be understandable, and sort of bring Him down to earth.
I’ve heard well-intentioned people say things like, “God didn’t do that. That’s the devil.” “God will never give you more than you can handle.” “God needed your child more than you.” “He is now a little angel.” “It isn’t our place to ask why.” Or worse. In those moments of intense scrutiny, the faithful often fall back on empty expressions, platitudes, and clichés. It’s fortune cookie philosophy or greeting card counseling with a religious twist. The thoughts may sound like they are in the Bible, but they lack substance and truth. Occasionally, people really want to know, “Where is God? Why didn’t He stop this from happening?”
All of the doubts, frustration, confusion, and skepticism are circling around a couple of core questions: “Who is God? What is God like?” If God is… (fill in the blank however you want), but then something in life threatens that belief, we are faced with a problem. If my pastor, priest, teacher, parents, or grandma told me something about God when I was a kid that life now proves to be false or unreliable, what gives? Did they lie to me? Is everything I’ve learned about God wrong? Maybe what I’ve been taught about God is just a nice bedtime story or religious fairytale?
Our view of God often begins to be shaped in childhood. As life forces us to grow, change, and embrace more complex realities, sometimes our opinions about God from our youth just don’t seem to keep up. The God we learned about in Sunday School, catechism, or from grandma doesn’t seem fit for the challenges and rigors of everyday life. We love grandma, but eventually we conclude that the god she told us about when we were a child is only for children. The Bible does talk about child-like faith, but that is different than a childish faith. Faith that doesn’t mature and grow eventually sours.
For some, it is a first-semester science class in college that reveals their feeble faith. It very often prompts them to question God’s existence (atheism). If not His existence, then His awareness or involvement in the world (agnosticism). The god of their childhood is incapable of standing up against the arguments of academia. For others, a personal crisis in life can bring doubts and disappointments to the surface. Even for so-called believers, the idea that God is good all the time seems questionable when life isn’t so good. In our disappointment, we decide that who we’ve been believing in, singing about, and praying to isn’t worthy of those things. Here’s the point: what we believe about God shapes what we expect of Him.
If we believe God is just a character in some nice fairytale stories, of course He wouldn’t belong in science, logic, and higher learning. If we believe God promises health and wealth to moral, well-behaved generous people, then we expect that from Him. Beliefs, views, and opinions about God are all over the map. And because of that, expectations of what God supposedly does and does not do vary wildly. Depending on your background, you could view God in a variety of different ways and base your expectations on that set of beliefs.
However, instead of having an accurate understanding of God, we often settle for a caricature of God. Like a caricature drawn at a county fair, we overemphasize and exaggerate one or two specific characteristics of God and ignore all others. Caricature artists will also create, imagine, or fabricate something that isn’t even there. We can do the same with God. Here are a few caricatures that summarize what some people believe about God.
God: The Divine Santa Claus
Throughout the year, I do my best to stay off the naughty list and stay on his nice list. I do some charity work and try to be good, so that when I need to talk with him (pray), I can sit on his lap, give him my wish list, leave him out a plate of chocolate chip cookies, and BAM! Christmas day comes and Santa (god) delivers everything I told him I wanted and needed. It’s all good until Santa doesn’t give me what I want.
God: The First Responder
Crisis comes and we call 9-1-1. We pray, hoping god will answer the “phone.” “God, if you get me out of this mess, I’ll never do this again.” Or “God, if you make this go away, I’ll do [fill in the blank] for you.” Often when the emergency is over, we forget our promise.
God: The Punisher
Angry and vengeful, god is waiting for you to make one wrong move and then he’ll strike you dead. No mercy is his motto. People who view god like this often walk on religious eggshells completely terrified of god. This god has zero love, grace, mercy, or compassion. The punisher god is all law, order, and judgment. Don’t you dare enter a church – the roof will certainly come crashing down on you!
God: Just Out Of Reach
In the 16th century, Michelangelo created one of the most renowned pieces of art in history. Lining the walls and across the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel are incredible frescos illustrating various events in the Bible. God is painted with a stern face, long gray hair and beard, and what looks to me like a pink robe. Even though you may not be a fan of fine art, this might be how you view god – as a distant, just out of reach being, floating around in the clouds.
God: The Old War Veteran
Each year in towns across America, military veterans march down mainstreet in their local parades. People stand and applaud. Communities remember the sacrifice of these brave men and women. Many times the veterans are old and frail and it may be hard to imagine them young and full of life. God the old war veteran is somebody who did some great and awesome things “back in the day.” Where and what exactly he did we don’t know, but there are some monuments and statues somewhere. He was useful and important, but those days have passed. As a courtesy, we’ll stand and applaud for him on a holiday, usually Christmas and Easter.
God: The (hopefully) Heavyweight Champion of the World
God is locked in a cosmic battle with the devil and the forces of evil. These two are viewed as opposites and equals. In the end, we hope that god will win this divine tug of war against evil.
God: Father to Unruly Children
God is shocked by the actions of Adam, Eve, and all of humanity. This idea of god sees him as constantly scrambling to adapt. He is constantly operating in a Plan B-type mode. If people would just do right and “let go and let god” then everything would go to plan. God is a parent standing by totally helpless while his children run wild!
God: The Grandparent
God is like a fun grandparent. No rules, no bedtime, cookies, tons of fun, and endless snuggles. When something bad happens or rules are enforced or consequences for bad behavior are given, that just couldn’t be god, because he is just love!
God: One Of Many
In Greek mythology, the gods lived on Mount Olympus. The god Cronos/Saturn eats all his kids, but Zeus/Jupiter escapes. He later returns and overthrows his father. Eventually, we get the demi-gods. The gods of Mt. Olympus were preceded by the Titans. Where did they come from? Perhaps they came from an endless line of humans who became gods, the God of the Bible or Jesus or whoever is just part of this big, violently unhappy family on Mt. Olympus.
God: The Absent-Minded Owner
God created something beautiful, and then rested. Is he sleeping? He must have washed his hands of it. Is god aware that things are literally spinning out of control? He’s the driver completely asleep at the wheel of the universe. It must be up to us. Good luck folks. “May the odds be ever in your favor.”
Some of these descriptions are ridiculous and extreme, but I’ve met people who have explained God, maybe not in these exact terms, but in every one of those ways. Again, what we believe about God determines what we expect of Him.