Friday, February 7, 2014

It's About God

I was reading the 2006 book by Oxford University professor Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion. I was curious how a person of his stature could profess atheism and the book enlightened me: he makes people insensitive to issues like responsibility and accountability; in his writings it becomes apparent that “good works” is meaningless, as is “final judgment.” He contends that people who believe in these ideas are delusional. “When one person is delusional, we call it ‘insanity’; when thousands of people are delusional, we call it ‘religion.’ I choose to disagree. I will hang on to the ideas of responsible behavior, accountability, good works and final judgment. These ideas, based upon the Bible’s teachings, give me definition for life. Unlike Dawkins, I do believe there is that which is always and for all places bad and that which for all times and all places is good. Some day we will stand accountable for these deeds before God. This is God’s world, not mine. “The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1). If I find definition for my life in this world, it will be from a desire to know the Creator-God and His purpose in creation. “It’s not about you.” These powerful words begin the best-selling book by Pastor Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life.” No, it’s not about me. It’s about the Creator and His purpose in creation – and then me finding my role in His world and His plan for it. Dawkins, and others like him, patronize the idea that it is all about me. It may be subtly put, but the idea is there: I will choose how to spend my time and money. I will choose who and what to love and discard; I will choose how to spend my energy. Furthermore, I will answer to no one, especially a God who is greater than time and space, for these decisions. That God is beyond time and space places Him in a realm beyond our senses. We see Him, touch Him and hear Him, at His discretion, not ours. Many of us, probably far too many of us, have long ago learned how to rationalize our sin, justify our wantonness, and argue that the Bible has no relevance for today. It was written for a different people in a different culture and time. We want to be served, rather than serve. We demand our rights and ignore our responsibilities. We continually push God or any thought of God out of our lives. But all along, there is something deep inside that says, “God is – and someday you will meet Him.” And so furiously, we argue against the existence of God and rationalize guilty conscience. It is futile. We need to get over ourselves and realize, “it’s not about me.” It’s about God. “Look to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:22). Want to know something? In the final analysis, it will never be about you. It never has been. The earth is the LORD’s. It’s about God.