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Where God-questions are put to the test  This month’s question… Can’t I just figure out God for myself? Sounds pretty easy doesn’t it? To use a bit of brain power and a smattering of commonsense to work out who or what God is, what he’s up to and what he wants from us. But if that was possible we wouldn’t need Christmas. OK, I know that sounds strange but hang in with me for a moment. First, let me give you a few reasons why figuring out God ourselves is always going to be like trying to push a cloud of smoke up hill. First, have you ever been to the dentist for a check-up hoping they would find nothing wrong – even if potential disaster was lurking somewhere beneath the enamel? I know I have – being more interested in my own self interest than finding what was true. In the same way there’s a bias when we start asking ourselves God-questions. We try to limit our discoveries to things which fit our comfort zones, mesh with our timetables and accommodate our priorities. And God may well not be like that at all. And what about the limit to our knowledge? Human kind has yet to even find a cure for the common cold. So how can we possibly believe we know enough to discover what the creator of everything is like? More than that, there’s also a limit to our reasoning power. A child asks ‘Why?’ and ‘How?’ and ‘Why?’ again – and again. The parent has the answers and would love to be able to give them. But the child’s intellectual ability does not stretch far enough – to say the least. That’s how it is when exploring the God agenda. Our brain power does not match the task. So are we stranded in this vast universe with no way of knowing its maker? That’s how it would be – but for the event we celebrate at Christmas. Because the often sentimental ‘baby in a manger’ stuff is actually the story of God opening up the conversation with us. Coming down to our level to give us the answers we need. It’s a bit like what would have to happen if my goldfish were ever to come to know what I think of him. I’d have to become like him and enter his fishy little world. And at the event we call Christmas that is what God did himself – came to our world as Jesus to let us have the answers to our questions about him. Which is why he is worth listening to! |
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