{"id":1996,"date":"2019-02-25T08:30:43","date_gmt":"2019-02-25T16:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/randyalcorn\/?p=1996"},"modified":"2019-02-13T14:13:35","modified_gmt":"2019-02-13T22:13:35","slug":"introduction-to-god-lowercase-g","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/randyalcorn\/2019\/02\/introduction-to-god-lowercase-g\/","title":{"rendered":"An Introduction to god, with a Lowercase g"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/p>\n

This is an excerpt from Greg Gilbert\u2019s book\u00a0What Is the Gospel?<\/em><\/a>\u00a0It\u2019s also cited by Ray Ortlund in his book called\u00a0The Gospel: How the Church Portrays the Beauty of Christ<\/em><\/a>. I highly recommend both books.<\/p>\n

Gilbert uses satire to portray the type of god that many people seem to believe in these days. He\u2019s basically toothless and harmless, so diminished in His attributes that He is neither to be feared nor to be loved on any deep level.<\/p>\n

He perhaps merits only our mild affection, not our fear, reverence, respect, submission or obedience. Whatever else we might say about this god, He is certainly not the true God revealed in the Bible. No wonder Satan loves for people to believe this caricature of the Almighty:<\/p>\n

Let me introduce you to god. (Note the lowercase\u00a0g<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

You might want to lower your voice a little before we go in. He might be sleeping now. He\u2019s old, you know, and doesn\u2019t much understand or like this \u201cnewfangled\u201d modern world. His golden days\u2014the ones he talks about when you really get him going\u2014were a long time ago, before most of us were even born. That was back when people cared what he thought about things, and considered him pretty important to their lives.<\/p>\n

Of course all that\u2019s changed now, though, and god\u2014poor fellow\u2014just never adjusted very well. Life\u2019s moved on and passed him by. Now, he spends most of his time just hanging in the garden out back. I go there sometimes to see him, and there we tarry, walking and talking softly and tenderly among the roses\u2026<\/p>\n

Anyway, a lot of people still like him, it seems\u2014or at least he manages to keep his poll numbers pretty high. And you\u2019d be surprised how many people even drop by to visit and ask for things every once in a while. But of course that\u2019s alright with him. He\u2019s here to help.<\/p>\n

Thank goodness, all the crankiness you read about sometimes in his old books\u2014you know, having the earth swallow people up, raining fire down on cities, that sort of thing\u2014all that seems to have faded in his old age. Now he\u2019s just a good-natured, low-maintenance friend who\u2019s really easy to talk to\u2014especially since he almost never talks back, and when he does, it\u2019s usually to tell me through some slightly weird \u201csign\u201d that what I want to do regardless is alright by him. That really is the best kind of friend, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

You know the best thing about him, though? He doesn\u2019t judge me. Ever, for anything. Oh sure, I know that deep down he wishes I\u2019d be better\u2014more loving, less selfish, and all that\u2014but he\u2019s realistic. He knows I\u2019m human and nobody\u2019s perfect. And I\u2019m totally sure he\u2019s fine with that. Besides, forgiving people is his job. It\u2019s what he\u00a0does<\/em>. After all, he\u2019s love, right? And I like to think of love as \u201cnever judging, only forgiving.\u201d That\u2019s the god\u00a0I\u00a0<\/em>know. And I wouldn\u2019t have him any other way\u2026<\/p>\n

Okay, we can go in now. And don\u2019t worry, we don\u2019t have to stay long. Really. He\u2019s grateful for any time he can get.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Photo by\u00a0Peter Mason<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Unsplash<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is an excerpt from Greg Gilbert\u2019s book\u00a0What Is the Gospel?\u00a0It\u2019s also cited by Ray Ortlund in his book called\u00a0The Gospel: How the Church Portrays the Beauty of Christ. I highly recommend both books. Gilbert uses satire to portray the type of god that many people seem to believe in these days. He\u2019s basically toothless […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2661,"featured_media":1999,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[185],"tags":[703,709,724,44,700,721,110,712,718,715,706],"class_list":["post-1996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christ","tag-caricature","tag-diminished","tag-forgiving","tag-god","tag-greg-gilbert","tag-judge","tag-love","tag-powerless","tag-respect","tag-reverence","tag-satire"],"yoast_head":"\nAn Introduction to god, with a Lowercase g<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This is an excerpt from Greg Gilbert\u2019s book What Is the Gospel? ... Gilbert uses satire to portray the type of god that many people seem to believe in these days. 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