God Is Optional
I was recently in the San Francisco Bay
area, when I stumbled upon the website of a local Unitarian Universalist
church. As I perused their website,
looking for a belief statement, I came to a page titled “What We Believe.” Immediately apparent was a video with the
title “God is Optional, but You Are Not…”
Now I was intrigued. I clicked on
the video. Following is a transcript of
the first portion:
“I’d
like to welcome you to the First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco. And yes, we’re a church. We’re a church where God is optional, but you
are not. We really emphasize the
relational aspect of community. We like
to be together. We like to have fun
together. We like to make meaning for
our lives. We truly believe that we are
the meaning-makers, not a sacred text, not an outside source, but our community
gathered together in worship and celebration on Sunday mornings at 11:00 on the
corner of…”
I then read the bio of Greg Stewart, their Senior
Minister. He says:
“The
longer I minister, the more ambiguous my 'dominant theology' becomes. This is
not due to a lack of clarity; rather, it stems from valuing the process to
belief more than the product of belief. This is the place where questions
really do take on more meaning and significance than do answers.”
Are we so different?
Many Christians today would be shocked to hear such words
plainly spoken, but I quite appreciate the candor of this man. I was pleased to hear someone so clearly
articulate what even some Christians believe, even if unconsciously. Now why would I say that some “Christians”
believe that God is optional? Let’s zoom
in and take a look at a typical evangelical church today. Do our sermons largely consist of
Theology? Are we consistently learning
biblical doctrine? When we gather in
small groups, mid-week Bible studies, men’s and women’s groups, etc., do we primarily study about God, or is it
about something else? I find that it is
typically not just something else, it is anything
else! We study about effective
prayer, fasting, heaven, parenting, witnessing, marriage, sex, faith, manhood,
womanhood, Armageddon, etc. Just go to
your local Christian book store and see what is on the displays. They are rarely books that guide us into the depths
of Scripture to learn of the character and nature of the Almighty. So often we shy away from the texts that
refer to God’s Sovereignty, his purpose in election, his eternal punishment of
the wicked, the qualifications of church leadership, church discipline, the
hardening of hearts, etc. Why are we
timid of these subjects? Many will argue
that the answers are often unclear, and therefore study of these subjects will
only lead to controversy and disunity.
Though controversy and disunity may result at times, I don’t believe
that is why these subjects are avoided. How
much detail does the Bible give on subjects like Heaven, or the end times? How many opinions will you get on parenting,
or what type of prayer is more effective than another? The problem with the subjects regarding the
character of God is not that the passages are ambiguous—the problem is that so
many of them are clear! When we are
forced to study them we find ourselves gazing upon the face of God, and we are
laid bare. When we truly gaze upon the
face of God, we respond as Isaiah did, “Woe
to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live
among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD
Almighty.” (Isaiah 6:5, NIV) Recall how Peter reacted when Jesus had
demonstrated his power with a miraculous catch of fish. When
Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me Lord;
I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:8) When
we choose to focus on the “needs of society” instead of theology (the study of
God), we are effectively saying what Mr. Stewart is saying, that “God is
optional, but you are not.”
What a shameful testimony of the Redeemed. We are guilty of breaking the first
commandment, for we have placed other gods before Him. We are guilty of breaking the seventh
commandment as well, for we have become an adulterous church…who forsakes her
husband to run after her lovers. Recall
Jesus’ answer to the lawyer who asked which commandment was the greatest. Jesus
replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your mind.’ This is the
first and greatest commandment. And the
second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these
two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40, NIV)
Are we loving the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind? I pray that we would be awakened from our
slumber. May God forgive our adulterous
hearts. May we once again—or maybe for
the first time—gaze upon the face of God, and be changed.
Questions More Significant Than Answers?
Regarding Mr. Stewart’s bio above, does his statement have a
ring of familiarity to you? How many
times have you heard someone say “The more I study, the less I know?” That statement has always bothered me. Most of them of course don’t mean what they
are saying, but rather the more they study the more they realize how much they don’t know.
They were more ignorant before they studied, but didn’t realize the
extent of their ignorance until afterward. I agree with that, and can certainly identify
with the sentiment. Even so, what I hear
people say is basically what this pastor said.
Mr. Stewart is not saying what many people mean; rather he says that the
process is more valuable than the product (of belief). He even says that questions have more meaning
and significance than do answers. Please
notice how incoherent this statement is.
It has the sound of a very thoughtful and deep philosophy, but upon
inspection it turns out to be complete nonsense. I believe there is something for the
Christian to learn here…something basic.
Words are important. We
Christians need to be conscientious of how we represent ourselves. We need to be able to recognize and refute
this type of nonsense. The only time that
questions are more important than answers is if the answers are wrong! If you are truly a Christian then you have
both questions and answers. If you don’t
have many answers…study! If you have a
lot of answers…keep studying…and share them!
As a member of God’s household, we have been shown unimaginable mercy
through Jesus Christ. Christ himself has
commanded us to make disciples. To multiply.
If we are to make “true” disciples of Jesus, we must first become “true”
disciples ourselves. That means we must
know what He taught. We must know the
Bible from cover to cover. This takes
diligent study. This takes time. Jesus said “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service
in the kingdom of
God.” (Luke 9:62,
NIV) Let the words of the apostle Paul
speak to you today, “Do your best to
present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be
ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15, NIV)
November 2010
Click here to download as a pdf.