Let's play a game of “What ifs.” Ever played it? Sure you have, we all have. What if we won a million dollars? What if we had control over the world for one day? What if....... So let's start our little game with something that popped into mind this morning while sitting in my favorite front porch swing with my favorite girl. What if God were made in our image instead of the other way around?
What if somehow this whole notion of evolution was right on. That old Mr. Darwin hit the nail on the head with his ape like theory. That somehow we grew from a single-cell swamp thingy to become the most complex exhibit of nature's grand and glorious, yet randomly-structured expansion process. What if?
What if, after we pulled ourselves up from the marsh pits and began making things like wheels, fire pits, swords, and banana pudding all of a sudden this great and mighty God appeared on the scene? What if He took one look at us, and said; “You know, I kinda like how this bunch of human-like creatures function, so I'm going to make myself like them.” What if?
What if He said, “I can be a great ruler over this planet by becoming more like them. That way they won't be too intimidated, threatened, or awe-struck by me?” Sure enough, he takes up our roles, our ways, our life styles, our desires, and yes our flawed ways of thinking. What if this really was the way it all came about?
How limited the beauty of a early morning sunrise would be if it were painted with our imagination. How many different colors would there be in a rainbow? How frantic would world events become when the news of our future looked bleak? How much unending resentment and grudge would boil over throughout the world if He, (the one in control of all things) thought, acted, reacted, judged, and ruled over this land just like we would? How would a flower garden look if we conjured it up from our imaginations especially if we'd never seen one before? Would there be hummingbirds, and comets, or how about turnip greens and cats?
Oh sure, he (thinking like us) would probably make child birthing a lot easier, and I'm sure he'd keep that new idea about of a fourth meal intact, but not for Tacos, yet for ice cream and cookies and root beer floats. He'd make replacing a timing belt a thing of the past and wouldn't make us wait all year long for one stinkin' Thursday in the Fall to roll around before eating turkey and dressing and punkin' pie. Zero interest car loans would really be zero interest, and a universal healthcare plan as well as the definition of a “work week” would take on completely new meanings. No more small print, he would simply say it, thus it would be so.
After all that's what WE'RE so good at. We can let it fly from the tips of our tongues as if we we're creating the world as we go. We can easily tell the President how to act and think, and the doctors what's wrong with us. We can settle the Middle East issues over a cup of coffee, so why the heck can't the folks over there simply think like we do? We have all the answers, and thus would He. It would be easy as pie, if he were like us, now wouldn't it. Simple problems, simple solutions would be his new moto.
For those that don't like capitol punishment or the concept of freedom to choose, can you imagine if God were truly made in our image, just how far reaching these social and moral issues would be? He'd be just as likely to take any number of viewpoints into consideration, just like so many of us do. After all we take the scriptures and apply a little common sense to it, update it to modern times, and mix all that with what effect it has on our personal lives, and wa-la there you have, our way of thinking on a subject. Can you imagine even if God thought like we do about something as simple as gossiping? No, I don't mean when we do it, but when others do it to us? You know, when it's the “bad” kind of gossip!
What if he showed our anger and frustration when someone totally disrespected him by having a different opinion about religion, politics, or sexual preference. I reckon there would be a whole lot of folks getting struck down all around us everyday now wouldn't there? He'd have to put on more sanitation workers I guess. At least that's what I'd do!
What if God didn't plan out his day until he got to the office because he stayed up late last night watching the “big game”? What would our Today look like if that level of God was in control of things? What if he actually put you in charge of all the things you've said to yourself; I could do a better job than they're doing? We'd have a whole bunch of Presidents running this country now wouldn't we? We'd have folks with a roll of duct tape and radiator clamps trying to close up a leaking oil line in the Gulf right now if some of us good ole boys in the south were in charge of things.
Aren't you glad God isn't like us? Can you imagine the chaos, the calamity, the roller coaster of a ride we'd be on simply based on the emotions, and feelings and all that other stuff that goes through our minds everyday?
What if - or rather - What a mess!
I run into people all the time that gives me the impression that in their own mind they actually believe they could somehow run the world better than God does. They offer up suggestions as if they had been chiseled into stone and carried down from a mountain top conference. They're quick as a blink to tell anyone in ear shot how they'd run the country, or how they'd end the war, or how they'd solve the world hunger problem. The offer up God's direction at ever turn as if they had a direct phone line to the throne. God told me that, or God gave me this word for you, etc, etc, etc.... Have you ever wondered why God doesn't seem to give THEM “a Word” for their own lives nearly as often as He does for someone else? It seems like they can go on and on with “inspired” answers to the world's problems as if anyone actually asked them to begin with. In my way of reckonin' me thinkest, the world's full of know-it-alls, yet way too empty of do-it-alls.
But, what if God were really like us? What if His answers to crime and mistreatment of others equaled our way of thinking? That would be great wouldn't it! That is, until we mistreated someone, or until we commit a sin. Then what? Would there need to be more than one standard? You betcha! After all he'd be thinking like we think.... How big of a mess this world would truly be in if God were made in our image!
Just for a moment, let's try and imagine what the world would look like if we truly lived out our lives striving to be like Him, to be like His son, to be like His Holy Spirit. What would today be like for us? Where would our priorities be? What matters would capture our focus? Would we continue to ignore those in need? Would we never give a thought to the orphans and widows of our own community as most of us do today? Would we be so caught up in our own little worlds that we would never give a thought to helping out a family member, more less a complete stranger? We may have been made in God's image, but how many of us actually reflect God's image?
Sure we're religious - sure we're righteous - sure we're holy people, set apart just like the Good Book says we are.
We're set apart from the world alright. Set apart by our drawn curtains and finely fitted masks. By the closely guarded entrance ways of our churches, and our dirtless hands. We're separated by the tinted glass and locked doors of our slick looking SUVs as we drive through an unavoidable and unseeded neighborhood. The truth is, we've separated ourselves from the world in a way I don't think His word intended. We love to use “the wisdom God gave us” as the reason why we must steer clear of the influences of the world, but are we really in the image of Christ when we become so guarded that we never interact with the world? The gospels sure seems to be full of stories where he interacted with the diseased, the dirty, the poor, the outcast.
Shouldn't we?
Let me ask you, what do you suppose the Plan of Salvation would look like if God's thoughts were our thoughts? How much grace would be involved with such a humanistic approach? Would there really even be a plan? Would he, (with thoughts like ours) even give someone a second, a third, a seventy-seventh chance? Would he offer up his own son or daughter if he we're really like us, to be the only sacrifice sufficient to wash away our sins?
The sad truth is, we see versions of man's Plan of Salvation all across this land. It's what puts the “R” in religion. “R” way of thinking is; you gotta have faith, but you gotta have lots of works also. We gotta do good to get to go to heaven, to see mom and grand-dad once again. God's good, so he'll simply look the other way when we falter, after all He knows I mean well! God's just like our earthly Father so we better work even harder tomorrow to earn his good grace. God is love, thus we all get to go to heaven regardless what some old preacher says. Boy, don't you agree, if God thought the way we think what a mess we'd be in as a people, as a society, as a planet!
Climbing back down from my soapbox, what if, today unlike yesterday's failed attempt, I strive to be more in His image. What if, I try and see the world through His eyes, try and love others with just a smidgen of His love. Try and give of myself in just a small measure like He gives to me? What if, today unlike most of the days in my rear-view mirror I try and see a tomato plant, a lonely person, a birds nest, a hungry child, and most certainly a lost and dying world as He sees them. What if.....I mean really, What if? Doug
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