KCU/04/Smarties
Topic 5: View of God matters? Question: What difference does our view of God make? (Be sure to do more research into the issue. If the group cannot come to a consensus, feel free to each express your own opinions.)
“Who is God?” “What is he like?” “How does he relate to people?” “How does my view of him affect my everyday life?” “Is God even real?” These are some questions which many people wrestle with daily. Although there are not any single, simple answers to these questions, there are a few major views of God which have been adopted by people. For each of these different views there are some major effects which these ideas have on people’s relationships with God.
First, let us look at what the bible says about God. In Psalm 3, God is described as our shepherd. What does that mean exactly? Well, a shepherd does many things for his sheep. He provides the sheep with everything they need, he leads them towards good things and away from bad, he protects and comforts them, and he provides goodness and love to his sheep. As God is described as a shepherd, he also does all of these things for his creation. He provides all the necessities, leads, protects, comforts, and provides goodness and love to his people.
Another way the bible describes God as being is love. This is stated in 1 John 4:8, however to have a full understanding of what this means, it needs to be compared to 1 Corinthians 13. If you replace the word “love” with the name “God” in this chapter, it gives you a full understanding of all the characteristics of God. According to 1 Corinthians 13, God is patient and kind. He does not envy, does not boast, is not proud, is not self-seeking, and is not easily angered. God keeps no record of wrongs and does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. He always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. God never fails.
Revelation 4:8 says that God “…was, and is, and is to come.” This means God is everlasting and that he will always be there. He can always be counted on. Also, God is unchanging. Not only can he be counted on to be there, but He will never change; his love and mercy will always be perfect. People who realize this are able to talk to God frequently because they realize he will always be a part of their life. Even when everything else is changing in somebody’s life, God remains constant and can be counted on to be stable.
God is the only savior there is. This makes him unique and “one-of-a-kind.” He is the one true God who controls everything. He is also righteous, which means he is to be worshipped. When people realize this, they respect and are fearful of God, as all people should be. Those who see these qualities of the Lord know that he is to be looked up to as one with the ultimate authority, and are more likely to follow Him and His word.
In a survey performed by The Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion it was concluded that, excluding atheism, there are four major diverse views of God expressed by people in the United States. These include people viewing God as Authoritarian, Benevolent, Critical, and Distant. Each one of these different outlooks has their own set of diverse beliefs about God.
According to the survey, people who see God as an authoritarian believe he is involved in world affairs. This group of people includes about 31.4% of the people surveyed. They suggest that God always assists in decision making and therefore influences global events. However, this group of people also sees God as being very angry all of the time. They see God as someone who is just waiting for humans to sin or be unfaithful so he can punish them. People who believe in this type of God are more likely to be afraid of Him and are hesitant when it comes to talking to Him and asking for comfort and help when they need it. When these people actually decide to talk to God, they are probably just asking Him to influence some sort of decision they have no control over.
Another popular view of God is of him being a distant God. People who fall into this category consider God as simply our creator. They believe he created human beings, put them here on the earth, and then just left us here with absolutely no help. This group of people does not believe God is angry with us, but that he just does not want to be actively involved in our lives. They also do not think God really has any opinion of the world or of humans, but that he is just sitting back and watching his creation. This group of people consists of about 24.4% of the surveyed group. These people do not likely talk to God very much at all because they do not think he cares for us or wants to talk to us at all.
When surveyed, about 23% of the public recorded their view of God as benevolent. These people believe God is actively involved in human’s lives and that he has a positive influence on all of them. This group also believes that God is not angry with us and that he does not like to punish us. Overall, people that fall under this category believe that God is kind and compassionate and wants what is best for his people.
The fourth view of God that was stated by about 16% of the people surveyed was a God who is critical. This is exactly what it sounds like. This outlook basically says God is distantly watching with displeasure. It also states that He does not like to be involved in the lives of his creation and that the sinful people of this world with be punished in another life.
Some of the other information found in this study showed that women are more likely to believe in an authoritative or a benevolent God, whereas men are more likely to see God as being distant. Also, authoritarian and benevolent believers are more likely to attend church on a regular basis and also to pray frequently.
The Baylor Institute also found that what a person believes about God affects how they feel about certain political and moral issues. On the subject of abortion, authoritarians were found to be two times more likely to believe that abortion is wrong than any other group. In the gay marriage debate, 80% of authoritarians believe gay marriage is never acceptable, whereas only 30% of people who believe in a distant God do not believe in gay marriage. But overall, the study found that 20% of Americans believe God does not favor any particular political party.
“For most people, it would seem that belief in God has little to do with organized religion or with the ‘official’ chrisitian faith. We are also familiar with small groups of commited believers who are prepared to press their version of belief in God as if it were the only possible option.” (Bray, 13) With so many small groups of believers, it is hard to know what is right and wrong because they all have different ideas. They can’t all be right, so how do we distinguish fact and fiction!? This is why we should also press our version or view of God.
(Spoken) People aren't confused by the gospel, They're confused by us. Jesus is the only way to God, But we are not the only way to Jesus. This world doesn't need My tie, my hoodie, My denomination, or my translation of the Bible, They just need Jesus. We can be passionate about what we believe, But we can't strap ourselves to the gospels. Because we're slowing it down Jesus is going to save the world, But maybe the best thing we can do Is just get out of the way. Casting Crowns “What This World Needs” No matter how we dress, what our denomination, or translation of the Bible we use, as ong as we know that Jesus is the only way to God. Then our view of God does not really matter.