God’s Relationship with Human Beings
I thought I would take a break from the tenants of the Divine Spark and discuss the relationship between God and human beings. This relationship is a curiosity, largely in terms of power. If you believe in a deity, then that deity has power; that is, the power to create, to destroy, to nourish, and to weaken. Two functions give “organic life” or take it away. Two other functions strengthen or weaken this “organic life.” These functions are important in that they provide a rationale or relevance for God. God not possessing these capabilities renders God irrelevant.
The missing element in this relationship is the human being. Viewed solely in terms of power, the human being is subservient at best acquiescing to the God possessing the “organic life” capability. I question the validity of this view, largely in terms of the power assigned to human beings. This traditional view of power borrows largely from the Wisdom tradition outlined in Proverbs and applied theologically by the Deuteronomistic Historians and most of the Prophets. Yet, this formula is questioned in such books as Ecclesiastes and Job. What is wrong with the formula is the sole emphasis on the pursuit of human beings by God. The God-Human relationship is didactic; that is, God pursues humans and humans need to pursue God. This reciprocal pursuit resembles a cosmic dance or what has been described as a cosmic “game of tag.” It can be playful or extremely serious.
How do you pursue God? What is — or should be — accomplished in Seminary is the active pursuit of God by students and faculty. This involves the questioning of God’s actions and purposes as well as exploration of the multidimensional facets of God. That is, what comprises or characterizes God? What students start to discover — as I have — is that you start to realize that God is a series of tensions, of seemingly conflictual dimensions. This active pursuit eventuates in a journey through self discovery; students twist in the tension between external and internal discoveries. Often these discoveries are incongruous leading to additional investigations. For example, through Moses God delivers the commandment not to kill; yet, God commands Joshua to kill ALL foreign men, women, children, and animals through conquest. In the first year of Seminary, this tension slaps you in the face. How do you resolve the tension between God’s judgment and God’s mercy or grace?
Ironically, the pursuit of God initiates in pursuing one’s own spiritual journey, in discovering your own tensions that dominate your thinking and behavior. I have discovered, for example, that I wrestle with the tension between needing affirmation and rebellion. Discovering this tension involved taking the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test that indicated my need for affirmation. Typical for most students in graduate school, the need to please people is powerful and a drive that is difficult to defeat. When people are pleased, it is a powerful reinforcer. Conversely, the need to rebel fuels much of my behavior. This rebellion plays out in my preference for liberation theology and the actions of the prophets speaking out against social injustice.
Pursuing God is not done in the absolutes, in the definitive polarities such as “good” and “evil.” Pursuing God takes place in the tension between the two polarities, the “gray” area, often what seems to be an abyss because of its uncertainty. Unfortunately, those espousing “binary” Christianity feel threatened by this pursuit. Faith is important. Too often, however, faith becomes passive leading to Christians following such extremist and marginalizing leaders such as Pat Robertson. Following faith alone causes Christians to follow political leaders who espouse religious faith yet propose legislation that oppresses minorities by marginalizing their individuality as well as their rights. God is not a formula whose actions can be determined by plugging in proscribed values. God is mysterious; often acting in unexpected and unpopular ways. Being a Christian is not blending into what is politically safe, especially in the culture of the church. For a future post, the church’s relevance as a place for pursuing God. If the church is to be relevant, this pursuit needs to occur in a social environment that is conducive to open discussion of all social, political, interpersonal, sexual and cultural issues.
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