IS GOD A SANTA CLAUS?

Francis Tan * , who read my article, The Divine Makeover, responded by sending this feedback:

Dr Lim, I would like to commend you on your article, The Divine Makeover:
http://limpohann.blogspot.com/2012/04/divine-makeover.html

I strongly agree with you that most Christians are in error in the three areas you mentioned: blessings, salvation, and discipleship.

A few weeks ago I was sort of lamenting to someone that most of us have inaccurate ideas of who God is and what He is like. We create in our minds and hearts an image of God who is all loving, all gracious, never gets angry, like a soft and gentle Santa Claus.
And a Jesus who is buddy buddy and only buddy buddy with us. We have created in our minds false images of God, and that is tantamount to idolatry.  

My "lamenting" probably stemmed from something I heard from the pulpit one prayer night, when a pastor in my church quoted John 15:14 "You are my friends if you do what I command."  Then he called us "friends of God" and asked us to sing the song that begins, "I am a friend of God".  Wasn't that presumptuous? Jesus says we are his friends "if you do what I command", yet in the face of Scripture stating the condition, we are duped into thinking we are by default friends of God.

It's so sad that most Christians don't read their Bibles and even those who do, pick and choose what they like and disregard the rest.  Even a casual reading of the New Testament shows us that Jesus can be a hard Master and Lord. Show them Matthew 7:13-14, 21-23 or Philippians 2:12 and so many other verses, and you get varying degrees of indifferent responses.

Now we have prominent leaders making it so easy to enter the kingdom of God.  Many Christians are hoodwinked into thinking that they are godsend.  When I tell them what these leaders believe, they think I am alarmist.

It is also good that you use Cat and Dog Theology to illustrate our poor spiritual condition, and quote A W Tozer.  We need more voices like yours to set us straight.  I am also encouraged knowing that I do not stand alone among so many "cats".

*   Francis Tan, a private tutor, attends Calvary Church, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

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Related posts:

WINNING THE BATTLE, LOSING THE WAR

 http://limpohann.blogspot.com/2012/07/winning-battle-losing-war.html

HUNG UP ON BEAUTY

http://limpohann.blogspot.com/2012/04/hung-up-on-beauty-christians-response.html