Is Your God to nice?

I have begun to be challenged by a new idea.  I recently read a book which asked  a question.  Is your God to nice?  I have to say it made me a little uncomfortable.  I have gone through many seasons in my walk with God where He revealed more of Himself to me and I came to know Him a little better.  Times where my understanding of who He is changed.  I feel myself at the brink of another change.

The main focus of most Christians today, at least the ones I have met, is that God loves.  In fact you don’t have to go into a church or talk to a Christian to hear that statement.  It has been a part of our culture in North America for many many years.  And while this is a true statement, because God does deeply incredibly love us, it I think has left us with an unbalanced view of God.  It has caused us view of God which is more like Santa Claus than the creator of everything and the one who came to save us, and who will come again to judge us.

I have heard many many Christians say in one way or another “God sees my heart and He know how hard I try..”  I wish that was all it took.  We live in a society that sees God as condoning our behaviors and patting us on the head saying “Its ok.  You’ll do better next time.”

Many years ago I came to personally experience the extravagant indescribable love that God has for me.  It was a powerful life changing experience.  One that I still have trouble describing because that kind of love defies description.  And my prayer for everyone is like Paul “I pray that you will know the love of Christ. His love goes beyond anything we can understand.” Ephesians 3:19 NLV

Our problem comes if we only focus on God’s love.  Because the God who says “I am the Lord, and I do not change.” Malachi 3:6 NLT is the same God who destroyed whole cities and nations because of their sin.

We have shifted away from a God whose justice demanded a high price for our wrong.  A God who knowing we could never pay that price, and loving us to much to leave us there paid for our choices and decisions on the cross.  We have lost the cost of sin in our lives today.  We have an attitude that God forgives and we can just carry on.  Everyone of us does wrong every day.  And every wrong we do is the reason Jesus suffered and died the way He did.

We serve a God who still punishes sin.  Many times in the new testament God struck people dead in churches.  People lost their sight, or voice.  People who took communion with the wrong attitude even became sick and died (1 Corinthians 11:27-30).  I think God is asking His church today to change our heart and put aside our impressions of who He is and to begin to seek Him as He is, for who He is like never before.  It is time we asked ourselves “Is your God to nice?”