I
ntransigent. What a word. Apparently it means refusal to budge or as the wordnet.princeton dudes put it adamant: impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, reason;
I was thinking about that word and its relation to God. I live in a society that wants things its own way. We want to watch our own kind of programmes whenever we want them; we want to consume whatever we want, whenever we want; it may not be possible all the time but we’re moving in that direction with every passing day.
Unsurprisingly we want to worship a god in that kind of way as well. I’ve heard on a number of occasions recently people saying ‘I don’t want to worship a god like that’ in
relation to different aspects of His character. The response to that in some areas has been to appeal to a god who fits our comfortable views of ‘loving and good’ god. I had the thought that it was almost like after we’ve crafted god in our favourable image like John Travolta to Olivia Newton-John we sing you’re the god that I want. (Ooh, ooh, ooooooh, honey.)
Yet there is something about the nature of God that is intransigent – as in that’s just the way He is. You can plea, persuade, cajole, reason all you want and it does absolutely nothing – He’s God and that’s just the way it is. That’s not to say I know everything about Him – hey that’s part of the point of the journey in getting to know Him. That’s not even to say that I necessarily like every aspect of that which I learn about Him. At the end of the day, that’s just the way He is. He is not subject to my whims and ideals. He is not pandering to my
views and thoughts on what He would and would not do. The whole point is for me to change my ideals, thoughts, views and whims to be conformed into who He actually is – whether I like it or not. Then the deal will be that when I realise just who He is not only will I get to like it, I’ll get to love Him for it.
Either way though – He being the absolute ideal of perfection and me not I think it’s fair that I don’t make any demands on how He must be. That’s just a thought.
For His Name Sake
Shalom
da man cd
ps. Apparently this is blog entry number … 180 – so I dedicate this one to the one and only Tony Green – undoubtedly one of the most influential personalities ever … o
n Bullseye. And I loved Bullseye. I may not like the updated version that much, but at least Tony Green’s still on it. As well as that Bullseye is undoubtedly (sloppy writing I know to repeat an adjective in the same paragraph with no sense of emphasis or irony, but I’m allowed a sloppy paragraph every now and then) one of the most effective quiz shows with which to define the whole concept of sin. So thanks Jim Bowen, thanks Bully, but most of all thank you Tony ‘And Bully’s Special Prize’ Green. For those unfamiliar with the gospel according to Bully check this website to read all about it.
ntransigent. What a word. Apparently it means refusal to budge or as the wordnet.princeton dudes put it adamant: impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, reason;I was thinking about that word and its relation to God. I live in a society that wants things its own way. We want to watch our own kind of programmes whenever we want them; we want to consume whatever we want, whenever we want; it may not be possible all the time but we’re moving in that direction with every passing day.
Unsurprisingly we want to worship a god in that kind of way as well. I’ve heard on a number of occasions recently people saying ‘I don’t want to worship a god like that’ in
relation to different aspects of His character. The response to that in some areas has been to appeal to a god who fits our comfortable views of ‘loving and good’ god. I had the thought that it was almost like after we’ve crafted god in our favourable image like John Travolta to Olivia Newton-John we sing you’re the god that I want. (Ooh, ooh, ooooooh, honey.)Yet there is something about the nature of God that is intransigent – as in that’s just the way He is. You can plea, persuade, cajole, reason all you want and it does absolutely nothing – He’s God and that’s just the way it is. That’s not to say I know everything about Him – hey that’s part of the point of the journey in getting to know Him. That’s not even to say that I necessarily like every aspect of that which I learn about Him. At the end of the day, that’s just the way He is. He is not subject to my whims and ideals. He is not pandering to my
views and thoughts on what He would and would not do. The whole point is for me to change my ideals, thoughts, views and whims to be conformed into who He actually is – whether I like it or not. Then the deal will be that when I realise just who He is not only will I get to like it, I’ll get to love Him for it.Either way though – He being the absolute ideal of perfection and me not I think it’s fair that I don’t make any demands on how He must be. That’s just a thought.
For His Name Sake
Shalom
da man cd
ps. Apparently this is blog entry number … 180 – so I dedicate this one to the one and only Tony Green – undoubtedly one of the most influential personalities ever … o
n Bullseye. And I loved Bullseye. I may not like the updated version that much, but at least Tony Green’s still on it. As well as that Bullseye is undoubtedly (sloppy writing I know to repeat an adjective in the same paragraph with no sense of emphasis or irony, but I’m allowed a sloppy paragraph every now and then) one of the most effective quiz shows with which to define the whole concept of sin. So thanks Jim Bowen, thanks Bully, but most of all thank you Tony ‘And Bully’s Special Prize’ Green. For those unfamiliar with the gospel according to Bully check this website to read all about it.
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