… Despotic theology.. leads directly to despotic
theocracy. Tyrannical Gods breed
tyrannical humans, and vice versa.
Richard
Kearney quoted by Brian McLaren
_____________________________
Our God
Is
But what is God like?
It’s confusing, really
We say God is great
We say God is good
We say God is love (and loving)
But we also say God is demanding
At times angry
Wrathful
We say God is over all
And then we claim God as our own
We claim that God tells us how to live
And we have our lists
Of what is good, and what is bad
What is righteous and what is sin
Which soon becomes a list of who is righteous
And who is sin
But is our God, God?
The cynical suggest God is simply
A figment of our imaginations
An extension of our egos
They suggest that we do not reflect who God is
But that our God reflects who we are
And that God is merely our excuse
Our justification
For our desire, our need
To control
To dominate
To punish
Which comes first?
A cruel God, or cruel people?
Is God a jerk?
Or have we created a God in our own flawed image?
Does God transform who we are
Or reflect who we are?
God is
But if Jesus is an indication
Then God is
Inconvenient
Disruptive
Challenging
If Jesus is any indication
Then God is
Forgiving
Kind
Loving
Restorative
Healing
God is
But we do not allow God to be
God
And so we hate
And judge, and oppress
And minimize and marginalize
And go to war
We crucify God with our fear and hate
We bury God in our constructs
In our ideologies and creeds, our rituals and rules
We need a resurrection
We need to have God show up in our lives
Incarnate
Present
We need to have God show up
And disrupt our lives
And change our priorities
And transform us
Into people
Who forgive and restore
Who give, generously
Who welcome unreservedly
Who fight for justice and equity
Who love radically
For that is who God is
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