Broken Gods

Religion has been around since, what seems like, the beginning of humankind.  For millennia, people have have constructed beliefs around ethereal and eternal deities, ones that control the Earth, form land and sea, have dominion over sky and rain, love and fertility and other manner of subject.  Our people have created myth upon myth telling everything from the story of creation and how we came to be to how we should live our lives and serve the gods in daily life.  Myth upon myth and idea upon idea; there is an endless list of deities, and doctrines, poems, stories, and religious texts all trying to put words to the invisible God (or gods) that control the universe and somehow take part in the influence over human lives as well.  Humanities hunt for the heavenly is not new; it is ancient.  We have long desired, for some inextricable reason, to believe in something greater than ourselves, something more beautiful than the Earth and more precious than the material realm.  The divine has always been on our minds as an object of hope and a reason for existence.  Much more, it frees us from the pains and tribulations from which we so desperately seek deliverance.  Indeed, it has given many cultures and peoples “answers,” in some form, to deep existential questioning and longing for meaning.  Unfortunately, our search for meaning tied with our selfish pursuit of personal gain and power (which we in many ways define as meaning) has led us to create our own gods.  Yes, ones of myth and ancient tale, but also ones that mimic desires in us that I personally would deem, unprofitable. 

For centuries we have believed in Gods of great strength and valor that take what they want by force, do as they please and listen to no one but the counsel of their own illustriousness.  Ancient Babylonian tales narrate creation as coming through a great war, where gods were torn in half to create the sky and bodies were laid down low to form the Earth.  Certain greek gods were known for their sexual appeal, their brute violence, their merciless exploits, and their gain of power.  Don’t these gods sound a little too much like the humans that created them?  It seems to me that many of the gods found in ancient history are only reflections of humanity.  Though some good, many of the gods were seen through limited broken minds, and therefore, were related to through broken systems of religion and cultish practices such as the sacrifice of children found in ancient civilizations.  You see, much of human history has roots in religion and devotion to gods with values not far off from our own.  We have done our best surely to find meaning and clarity in the mystery, and to believe in something greater than ourselves that simply provides for our desires: the gods of the crops for our provision, of the waters for our safety, of war for our victory and of judgment for retribution.  Sadly, however, this has led us to create gods of truths but not discover the truth, and to mold together gods of our own choosing and liking in our own image, rather than be shaped by the power of a god who made us in his.  

We still do this today.  While not far off from ancient civilizations predating us, we consider it necessary to create our god through our own perspective rather than jumping into the divine to encounter wisdom for ourselves.  We come with bias and preconceptions (of which I of course am not invulnerable to) that limit our ability to relate with and experience the god of creation.  This is where my own belief ironically comes in to say, that this God is Jesus Christ, the word at the beginning who switched the ancient narrative on its head.  The Hebrew Bible begins with creation coming through, not violence, but peace over violence, a forming of land in the midst of chaos.  It also triumphantly proclaims that humanity was not created to search and create gods according to their own image, but that humanity is indeed a manifest representation of the image of God.  In preparing this blog, I felt my god speak to me inwardly, and in his calming voice he said, “If you do not encounter me as I am, you will create for yourself a god only as great as your own brokenness.”  This means simply that if I put God in a box and assume that I know who he is and who he will be in my life, if I believe that my perspective is the only perspective and that my thoughts are as great as divinity itself, then I will create in my own mind a relationship with God that is built on a shaky foundation, the ever fluctuating current of my emotions, ideas, hurts, pains, and insecurities.  I can only really see through my own bias.  I can only really create a god that suits me if I do not succumb to the reality that I am probably wrong and the desperation that I need God to reveal to me the truth of his nature.  

For me, I now live my life with open hands and spread fingers, holding my preconceptions and ideas as grains of sand, ready to be molded and taken by my creator.  He knows the wisdom from the beginning, and therefore I can trust that I will be led by his right hand into proper thinking, profound wisdom, and a beautiful relationship.  I can no longer trust in a broken god, one who is judgmental because I judge myself, unconcerned because I feel alone, and angry because I feel like I am not good enough.  I can no longer see my god through my own fear and insecurity, creating him for others like cultures of old to be full of violence and intimidation, judgment and fear.  I instead choose to encounter the God of the Bible revealed to me.  This one is full of love and compassion, tenderheartedness and mercy; he is one who never leaves or forsakes, who sees the best, and who always reminds me of my destiny and calling.  This God does not need to assert his power and show himself off, but only come as a servant and find strength in humility.  He is not distant caught up in the clouds, but close as a brother, comforting humanity in its anguish.  As I drop my broken lenses to the floor I begin to see a God that does not look like I had once known;  he is far more beautiful and far more gracious.  He is not broken but whole; I just had the wrong prescription glasses.  I invite you to let go of, as best you can, your preconceptions and biases and lay them at the feet of the Lord, so that he can take off your broken lenses and free you from your broken gods.