"One of my favorite things to tell a child is if it’s raining that God is crying. And if they ask why I tell them it’s probably something you did. " ~ Deep Thoughts with Jack Handy.
Statements based on misconceptions about God can be amusing, especially on Saturday Night Live. But when adults hold the same distorted views, there can be trouble.
It's very disheartening to know that whenever a major "act of God" happens, an adult follower of Christ will show up on some news show and say the equivalent of what Jack Handy said. But it's not funny anymore, because the speakers are not cute kids or comedy sketch professionals. They are people who see natural disasters and genuinely think the best thing to say to the victims is, “It’s probably something you did.”
What we think about God has in impact on what we think about the world. If our view of God is flawed, our understanding of the world will be flawed.
Baylor University did an extensive study on the connection between a person’s view of God and how they live their life. The conclusion: "You learn more about people's moral and political behavior if you know their image of God than almost any other measure. It turns out to be more powerful a predictor of social and political views than the usual markers of church attendance or belief in the Bible." The primary reason for a person’s position on "hot button" issues was not socio-economic status, or level of education or church attendance of belief in the Bible. It was a person’s view of God.
We spend a LOT of time lobbying, and writing letters, and facebooking, and emailing, and calling, and spending money to influence how people think about cultural issues. If Baylor's study is correct, we are completely missing the point.
If we, the people of God, could understand and represent God accurately, perhaps all these other issues would fall into place.
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