“The most important question we can ask ourselves is, ‘Is God compassionate?’” Oprah in conversation with Eckhart Tolle
So often I have felt like God and Christianity are not always painted like the character of Jesus. The essence of the God I know in my gut, in my rest, in the trees, mystery and miracle of a baby being born, blade of grass, a moth landing on a window, connection of being seen or seeing a loved one. The holiness I felt in my studies, small group sharing, and listening to mentors’ and friends’ revelations about God, the connectedness of the Bible and ease of quiet time. The beautiful authenticity in our marriage group. The compassion and essence of the cross, at times, felt better matched by what I was seeing and hearing in those moments than it was from some mainstream Christian language as well as God in some interpretations of Bible stories.
I felt this juxtaposition in the portrayal between God and Jesus in Christian culture. God so often made out to be the all controlling tyrant and Jesus as the redeeming savior.
When in fact, Hebrews 1:1-3 says, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.”
The phrase, “exact representation” carries with it the connotation of a wax seal that has been impressed with a stamp (think the sign of a royal signature sealing a document in ancient times). The imprint in the wax is the exact representation of the stamp. Similarly, every nook and cranny of Jesus’s character perfectly reflects who our Father in heaven is. If we want to know what God is like, we can look to Jesus and know exactly who God is. Jesus’ inner life is the exact representation of God.
If Jesus is the exact representation of our Father in heaven, why does there often seem to be such a contrast? (For example, from Genesis 7, God only saving two of each animal and one family from a flood as well as numerous times throughout the Old Testament that God made to be on the side of destruction) My goodness, maybe I was being cynical, but something felt off.
A wise person, author unknown, said “God made man in His image, and man, being the gentleman that he is, returned the favor.” Throughout history, man has displayed this tendency to create God in his own image. Making God to be on their side of war, to satiate one’s own desire for power, or politics, or made God out to look a certain way.
There is often an unspoken tendency to make God in our own image. I bring this up because, perhaps all too often God is reflected as a projection of ourselves, our personal aspirations or political ties, when the truth is that God’s complete and full reflection is shown in the life of Jesus. In the sacrifice. And resurrection. Who or what is our culture today, Christian culture included, telling us God is, that is not in line with the character of Jesus? Where in my life am I allowing my own preconceived ideas, culture, religion, or upbringing to dull the image and purity of God's compassion, and the ultimate sacrificial picture, and demonstration of resurrection power that he played out for us in his life and on the cross?
For example, from a Bible story I have for so long had trouble seeing the character of Jesus in; the story of God asking Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac. As I have mentioned to you before, I always wanted to whisper over that part when teaching this story to preschoolers so as not to dim their image of God.
Growing up, I remember learning about this story through the idea of Abraham and his character. Look at how loyal Abraham is, be like Abe. I don’t mean to say there is anything bad about this, but asking further, what else might be going on here has helped me to see Christ’s redeeming reflection. What if this story is less about the revealing of Abraham’s character and much more about the revealing of the true identity of God? During the time of this story, it was common for Ancient Near Eastern pagan gods to require sacrifice, and even child sacrifice. In fact, sacrifice of one’s first born was the ultimate display of loyalty. What if in this story, God is momentarily taking on the likeness of the pagan gods of the time? What if God and friend was doing this for Abraham out of a desire to see him set free of his lingering pagan perceptions of him? What if God is momentarily taking on these fearful projections of who Abraham feared God might be in order to peel away those fears and reveal a more clear depiction of His true character? To bring him to a place of more intimacy and love. (Cross Vision p.240-244)
This was faith changing for me. It may seem small, but this story deeply reflected the importance of asking, “What else could be going on here?” when Christianity or the Bible look different than the love of Jesus. It showed me another way to look at the Bible, God and the world. I wanted to shout this story from the rooftops, and often did just about that; awkwardly sharing at soccer games, couples dinner, and even went as far as a kid’s birthday party.
This story helps me to think about how I might be projecting my fears onto my preconceived image of God. How am I making God in the image of gods of my time, my culture, or religion? How am I making God out to be anything other than the loving, sacrificial, compassionate, out of the box, healing, and full of life nature of Jesus? God wants to save us from- free us from making God in our own image. Free us from that burden, and free us from constructing him, only seeing Him with our limiting view or as a projection of ourselves. Free us even from preconceived fears of who He might be. Perhaps my need for God to be in control, in the way that I like to control, might be more about my own projections than it is about the true nature of God. My God, and friend, wants to free me from making God in my own image, and allow me, allow us to bask in the light our of creator, letting the truth of that light reflect off of us and onto others, and their light off of them and onto us.
One of my favorite pastors to listen to, Greg Boyd, frequently talks about how we can only know beauty insofar as we know beauty. We can only know compassion insofar as we know compassion. Insofar as we have given or received compassion within ourselves. We can only know grace as far as we have experienced it, given it or been shown it.
1 Corinthians 13:12 “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known.”
Given the tendency to see God as a mirror reflection and to paint God in our own image, out of honor and love for God, may we examine the color palette with which we are creating. If we are only able to share and reflect as deep as we can see the compassion, the grace, and the love within ourselves, Lord, let us see and cultivate the beauty and grace within you and me.
God loves us so much that She will not manipulate our interpretations of her. She will take on our projections, even when they are made from fear, in order to get close to us. I believe it is part of our calling as individuals after the heart of our Creator, to examine the fear we project onto God. If God or Christianity or our religion looks like anything other than the reflection of the life lived through Jesus, Lord unveil my eyes today. Let me see you for the truth of who you are.
How can we make our insides look more compassionate in order to know the truth of God better? How can I offer myself grace and compassion today in order to experience the truth of Jesus in my life? In order to get in touch with our God with us, let us dust off the mirrors over our hearts in order to more clearly see the beauty reflected upon us, and then in turn see the beauty that shines outward. We see what we reflect, and reflect what we see. May we see more beauty today, in order to reflect it. May I reflect more compassion in order to see more compassion. Beauty beckons beauty and compassion beckons compassion. And this redeemably goes on and on.
While it is imperative to fill our minds with memorizing scripture and knowing what we believe, it is equally vital to explore our awareness of the mental images we hold of God. “It is entirely possible and common to have sound beliefs about God while all the while having horrendous mental representations about God.” (Cross Vision p. 18)
Inspiration
“There is mounting neurological evidence that a person’s mental representation of God significantly affects their quality of life for better or for worse. For example, it's a neurological fact that people who have a loving mental representation of God tend to have a greater capacity to think objectively about controversial matters and to make rational decisions than do people who have a threatening mental representation about God.” See T.R. Jennings, The God Shaped Brain: How Changing Your View of God Transforms Your Life
Boyd, Greg. Cross Vision: How the Crucifixion of Jesus makes sense of Old Testament Violence
https://www.amazon.com/Cross-Vision-Crucifixion-Testament-Violence/dp/1506420737