It’s a God thing!!…or is it?

Last night, while working through an assessment and exam on Microsoft Access (Not a hard program, but it’s main flaw it that it’s designed by MS) I needed something to keep my mind working. Often times when using PC programs I tend to get frustrated with it not responding the way a mac would, and it really irritates me. So to keep my mind fresh, I will listen to music or a podcast to allow a balance to occur. Which is what I did last night.

I was listening to a new podcast from Rob Bell @ Mars Hill and he starting ranting on a thought he had while speaking. Have you ever heard someone say, “Oh it was such a God thing!” or “I know, we were so blessed, such a God thing.” I’ve always found it to be an interesting statement, and one that seemed to be so simple and yet just thrown around.

Why is it that only times of “American styled blessing” do we say it’s a ‘God Thing’? I know that the Bible says “every good and perfect thing” comes from God, and I would agree with that statement. But what about the suffering? What about the sacrifices we often have to give and live through? Couldn’t those also be ‘God Things’? We don’t like to say that because we can never imagine a God who asks us to sacrifice, but isn’t that just what Jesus asked us to do if we truly want to follow him? Without sacrificing our own desires and way of life preferences, we can’t truly pick up our cross and follow him.

Therefore, I propose that we stop labeling everything that has a material benefit for us and things that go as we had expected or desired them to as “God Things” and begin to think of life as a God Thing.

Often confusing.

Sacrifices often more Sacred than Blessings.

Money is not God.

Love those who Hate.

Hope for Humanity.

God’s Blessings are Rarely Financial.

Always worth it.

I appreciate Bell. He thinks the way I want to. What is the truth behind the truth? This life isn’t about you, it’s not about me. It’s about a powerful, all present and knowing God who created the earth, and everything on it. It’s about knowing Him, learning to live in unity with His spirit and love. It’s not about fighting to be right, but rather to live a life of sacrifice.

I love America and I love being an American. But, I am a Christian.

“I love America and I love being an American. The energy of Americans, the ability to hew out lives often in unforgiving land, the natural generosity of Americans, I cherish. But I am a Christian. I cannot avoid the reality that American Christianity has been less than it should have been just to the extent that the church has failed to make clear that America’s god is not the God we worship as Christians. If I am right that we are now facing the end of Protestantism, hopefully that will leave the church in America in a position with nothing to lose. When you have nothing to lose all you have left is the truth. So I am hopeful that God may yet make the Church faithful even in America.”  *Excerpt from Stanley Hauerwas’ Essay on America’s God

CLICK HERE FOR ENTIRE ESSAY

Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke Divinity School, delivered this lecture at Church of the Incarnation, Dallas, Texas, on March 7 as part of a weekend of events cosponsored by the congregation and The Living Church.

Thought provoking essay. I am not posting this to say I believe 100% with the author, but rather to engage in the thought. Long read, big words, not recommended for everyone! -Jason