Is God always Gentle with Us? Calling for a Retrieval of the Balanced Biblical View of God
Sometimes I think I should stop going to church; the cognitive dissonance I often experience is painful. As a veteran theologian I can’t help noticing theological faux pas in the worship services. One example is the common pulpit phrase “Let us build the Kingdom of God.” Nowhere does Scripture talk about us “building” the Kingdom of God and the phrase implies postmillennialism or an amillennialism that equates the church with the Kingdom of God. Most of the time the theological context of the church is neither of those.
Some years ago I sat in a church service and heard a preacher proclaim the “imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ” including that, since all “Bible prophecy”—about what would happen just before the parousia—had been fulfilled, Jesus “might return tomorrow.” The point was, of course, to be ready for “that judgment day.” Immediately after the sermon the worship leader asked the congregation to stand and sing the final hymn “We’ve a Story to Tell to the Nations.” The sermon was clearly premillennial but the song was clearly postmillennial. I can say with confidence there were no postmillennialists in that church. When I pointed out the dissonance between the sermon and the closing hymn the worship leader looked at me with scorn and said “Only you would think of that.” Sadly, I had to agree.
Vance Havner, a very influential Southern Baptist evangelist of the mid-20th century, once said “Happy is the Christian who has never met a theologian.” French Renaissance essayist Francois Rabelais said (paraphrasing) that he was wandering around lost in a dark forest with only one little candle to light his way when a theologian came along and blew out his candle.
We theologians find ourselves unappreciated—especially in our own religious communities. That is, unless we can keep our mouths firmly shut—even when we hear egregious biblical and doctrinal faux pas from the pulpit, from the lectern, from the choir, in the hymns, etc.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting that theologians ought to go around correcting everyone all the time—even when they say really ridiculous things. One has to be sensitive. A few years ago, in my home church, a very nice but grieving young woman gave a testimony from the pulpit (invited by the pastor) about how God was with her through her mother’s dying from cancer. At the end of her testimony she said “I still don’t know why God chose to give my mother cancer.” Of course, I wanted to stand up and say “I doubt that God ‘gave’ your mother cancer; please don’t put that on God.” But, of course, I didn’t. Nor did I correct her afterwards. That would have been a faux pas on my part!
However, it is my opinion that a Christian congregation should at least consult biblical scholars and theologians about sermons and lessons, hymns and responsive readings, etc., from time to time. That’s especially true if there are such in the congregation. Rarely, however, does that happen. In no church I have attended have I ever been consulted by, let alone included in, the worship committee. Very rarely have I ever been asked to consult with the pastor or worship leader about the sermons or hymns. I have occasionally taken the liberty that any congregant has to communicate a “suggestion” about such to the appropriate person—pastor, worship leader, Sunday School teacher, etc. Never have I noticed that my “suggestions” have made any difference.
So, what can I do to express my frustration when I hear something said from the pulpit or sung by the congregation or choir but use it as a prompt for a blog essay?
I long ago left behind the “fire and brimstone” preaching of my childhood and youth. But now, in the non-fundamentalist churches I have attended for the past many years, I rarely hear any mention of God’s wrath or even judgment. Sin is only criticized because it “hurts the heart of God.” Recently I heard in the “children’s sermon” that “God is always gentle with us.” And I saw and heard, but did not sing, the lyrics of a “modern hymn” describing God as “old and aching”—the point being that all our language about God is metaphorical anyway, so it’s appropriate to describe God therapeutically. (I happen to know a lot about the hymn writer and I am convinced that is his theology.)
I do not want to return to “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” sermons, nor do I object to using a wide variety of biblical images of God in worship. I have no problem with preaching and teaching that God is a gentle God, a God of tremendous patience and forgiveness. Nor do I object to saying that God identifies with and even feels the pain of the “old and aching.”
I do question, however, any implication that all our “God talk” is metaphorical only and that any metaphor that is therapeutic is alright to use of God. And I question any statement that “God is always gentle with us” even said to children. How would I correct that if asked? Only this way: “God is always gentle with us when we are sorry for our sins.” Even children need to know that God is not their indulgent grandfather in the sky whose “business it is to forgive” as poet Heinrich Heine said when asked on his deathbed if he was afraid to face God.
Years ago I heard a popular Christian song sung in church and immediately thought it communicated a dangerous message. And yet it also seemed to fit with the overall ethos of American non-fundamentalist Christianity. The song was “He” composed in 1954 and made popular by crooner Andy Williams. Among the lyrics are these: “Although it makes Him [God] sad to see the way we live, He’ll always say ‘I forgive’.” There is no mention of repentance, only unconditional and seemingly automatic forgiveness.
This therapeutic image of God has largely replaced the biblical one of God as both loving and forgiving heavenly Father and judge who punishes wickedness that is not accompanied by repentance. So pervasive has this “gentle God” image become that it has thoroughly corrupted American Christianity. There are, of course, pockets of theological correctness, but overall and in general, I fear (and believe), the holistic, balanced biblical idea of God has been lost or is in the process of being lost.
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