Elohim/Imago Dei

Recently, I had a seminar for the Partnership program I am in. The presenter had much to say about stewardship, but the element of his presentation that stood out the most was the concept of how we view Jesus. 'earmenow!

He questioned us about how we saw God. Do we see God as this "angry powerful tyrant waiting to punish us when we mess up" or do we see Him as this "weak insignificant, powerless and distant God" that is "uninvolved with the nitty gritty of life?" In many cases, these are the views we have of God, but I think clearly these are not accurate portrayals of who God is. He went on to talk about how these images we hold will add additional bumps in the road to being effective pastors. If we do not recover healthy images of God in our minds, we will seriously impede our ability to reach the people we are to serve. Once we have done that, we can then help our congregations recover proper images of God too.

This struck me because I don't think we reflect about how we see God often. In our minds and with our mouths we can say, "God is generous" or "God is faithful," but in our hearts we might think otherwise. When hard times come and when logic fails us, do we think God will provide or that God is in control? I think for many of us, we don't. I think that this means we as Christians must really think and develop a healthy view of God. So, what's that look like? Well, I can't speak on all the elements, but there was one main attribute that he felt was most important. He said our images of God should view Him as a generous God. We have a God who gives generously. "It is intrinsic to His nature. He enjoys [giving]!"

Perhaps you're asking, "But if God is so generous, why do I have to suffer or why do I need to struggle?" I have actually had a number conversations recently that talked about this and I didn't even realize (oops.), but in retrospect I have gone back to this idea of how do we see God? Can we trust His plan for our lives? I think the answer is yes, it is safe to say that God wants us to feel the love, joy and peace of knowing Him better. This does not mean that we won't face hard times and won't bear great burdens, but to overcome them, we must look to God and remember that He will do what is best for us and His glory. At the risk of sounding pretentious I am going to quote Augustine's Confessions to display what I am trying to say because I like the sentiment.

"Our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee"- Augustine

I think this concept is solidified in Matt 11:28-30 which says,

²⁸"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Maybe I'm oversimplifying it. I don't know, but I think this is what I need to hear when the chips are down in my life. I hope that we will all grow in our reliance and trust in God. If we don't we will not know peace. If He has already saved us from the GIANT problem of our sin, how much more will he save us from the comparatively small problems we face?