God Did What?!

I have an Ethiopian pastor friend who talks to me about a “made-in-America” brand of Christianity and how little it resembles the lives of Christians in the rest of the world.

I heard a famous young celebrity preacher make two comments in two different settings recently that just about tipped me over as they are prime examples of a “made-in-America” Christianity.

Preaching to a standing room only crowd in Australia, he said, “You didn’t do anything to get in (to the faith) and you can’t do anything to get out!” And the crowd gave him a standing ovation.

Then, more recently on social media, he said, “God is proud of you! He is proud of you when you hurt your neighbor last night…”

What?

Popular American Christianity has created a god who is more like a doddering old permissive grandfather who has lost His will to convict, correct or discipline His children…a god who overlooks and excuses our sin…a god who is lavishly tolerant of our unwillingness to be changed.

So, sermons and songs are written to assuage the conscience of anyone being convicted by the Holy Spirit of their willful, unrepentant sin.

And now an entire Christianity is formed and flourishing in America where grace, love and living your best life is the Gospel with no expectations, except that we are saved to escape hell and get a ticket for heaven. Period.

No conviction or call for repentance. That would be “legalism.”

No expectations of transformation from glory to glory. Nothing is sin anymore.

We have made ourselves a god who cannot be found in the Bible.

We may not like to admit it. It may be embarrassing to celebrity preachers to consider…but we serve the God, of the Bible, who was so protective of His holiness that when Uzzah ill-advisedly moved the Ark of God’s presence on a mechanical ox cart, instead of on his shoulders…and reached out to steady it…God killed him on the spot for his irreverence!

Whoa!

Or when Ananias and Sapphira brazenly lied to the Holy Spirit re: the proceeds from the sale of some property…God killed them both on the spot.

Thankfully, He doesn’t do that to all Uzzahs and Ananias, who are irreverent in His presence or lie to Him or none of us would be alive today.

But my point is…those two stories, with other instances like Jesus’ threat to Jezebel’s children, in the church at Thyatira in the book of Revelation, reveal an undeniable aspect of who God is, while, at the same time, He is also loving, gracious and kind.

We need to know and love ALL of who God is and not make Him into the image of Mr. Rogers, just to increase our audience or social media following.

We are not helping anyone with a Mr. Rogers kind of god.

When you discover who God really is, you can expect three different kinds of reactions. You will find them in David’s reaction to Uzzah’s death.

First, there was anger. “David was angry because the Lord’s anger had burst out against Uzzah” (2 Samuel 6:8). The anger comes from self-protection. How dare God do this when I am doing my best to serve Him? But anger is going to get you nowhere if the person you are basically angry with is God.

David’s second reaction was fear. “David was now afraid of the Lord, and he asked, “How can I ever bring the Ark of the Lord back into my care?” (2 Samuel 6:9). The fear of the Lord produces a heart-felt sense of personal unworthiness…and maybe even some short-term distance from God…so David left the Ark at Obed-edom’s house.

That was actually awesome progress!!

Now God was getting somewhere with David… and with us!!

Then, thirdly, came David’s reaction of holy jealousy…if there is such a thing. “The Lord has blessed Obed-edom’s household and everything he has is because of the Ark of God…so David went there and brought the Ark of God to the City of David” (2 Samuel 6:12).

Only this time, God was honored by how the Ark was transported, according to His original instructions…with acacia poles on the shoulders of the priests, sacrifices and worship being offered with every step of the way.

All because the God of all creation refused to be treated like a common piece of household furniture…someone died in God’s sermon illustration.

I’m not being cavalier about Uzzah or Ananias’ deaths at the hands of God.

I am serious that, if we create a god who is loving and compassionate, slow to anger and forgiving (Exodus 34:6) but isn’t holy or just…we have Mr. Rogers…not the God of the Bible, even if it upsets our sensibilities and human estimation of fairness.

And we dare not forget that!