Is God a pessimist or an optimist?

So, is God a pessimist or an optimist?
How’s that for a Monday morning staff discussion!
Somehow as Deborah, our church’s Media Arts Director, walked into my office to tell me of some changes to our lighting for our new Christmas 07 stage design we ended up with this question in the air. I guess when you take a Berkeley educated engineer turned ‘post Sunday services philosopher’ trying to be marathon runner and sit her across the desk from a ‘thinks he’s a theologian’ who can’t figure out how to wire a plug let alone be bothered listening to how the new lighting might better show off his bald head ….but is a proven marathon runner – sparks might fly.
And they did …..but it was theological sparks - is God a pessimist or an optimist?

The question arose as we talked about Carolyn (my amazing wife) who always sees the positive and the good in all people. For Carolyn, its right at her core. Carolyn has a hugely optimistic outlook with regards to her fellow humanity. Deborah seemed to share this optimism. I’m not saying I don’t try to always see the good in people – but I guess I’m more pessimistic – I don’t always expect people to follow through on what they say, or deliver on their promises.

Here’s the weird thing – whether you are like Carolyn or like me – the issue isn’t whether or not people always deliver. Carolyn knows they don’t. The issue is – what’s our default position regarding our fellow humans?
What’s God’s default when he thinks about us?

Martin Lloyd Jones (a 20th century English preacher) once wrote “God only expects us to fail”. How’s that for pessimism. His premise revolved around the sinful nature we all have and either that theory or his own experiences told him that even our best placed intentions more often than not fail to match our actions ….and one out of one of us end up falling short of what we really want to be or do.

But is Dr Jones right? Does God only expect us to fail ….or is this a transferal of our own negative view of humanity, (or our highly Calvinistic understanding of human nature) onto God?
If we are made in God’s image – is God therefore not fully aware of what we truly could be …and every day he wakes up rooting for us to become it.

For this blog a theological answer is needed on this question. The theology revolves around the questions of ‘what has sin done to our souls?’ What is sometimes termed 'original sin' or 'inherited corruption' the blunt bible truth is that we all have inherited sinful natures because of Adams sin. Both Catholics and Protestants hold to this truth [Check out our Google It, Part 3 podcast 'What's the difference between Catholics and Protestants'.] Have our natures that were created in God’s image been completed marred by sin? Some theologians call this ‘total depravity’. Due to The Fall and our sin everything within us is biased to head south ...and God knows it and remains the pessimist.
But there is another way to look at this. Does part of God’s image that we were created in remain unmarred. Could God be an optimist. Our human natures are sinful - the Fall has corrupted us all ....but has the image of God gone or has it been vandalised, graffiti'd over ...but underneath it still remains and God, the optimist, is waiting, hoping that people will rise to be what they could be through his redemption and salvation.

There's more we could write on this .....but you might tell that I'm edging towards the optimist rather then pessimist.

But there's one more theology worth considering - the very nature of God. In essence God is love. This is not an aspect of his character - this IS his very essence. So here's the new question- "Can love ever be pessimistic?" "Are lovers always optimists?"
I think the latter. That's both the thrill and the danger of loving. You give your heart away risking it might be hurt - but you still give it away - the action of an eternal optimist. Is that not what the cross is all about? Would a pessimistic God die for us? Now you might argue - well that's why he died for us because he is a pessimist and he knows all we do is botch up. But go too far down that road and you make the cross an act of burdened good will - not an act of selfless love.

If you go further down this path the theology again points you towards seeing God as an optimist not a pessimist.

So is Carolyn more like Jesus than her pastor husband?
Is the wannabe marathoner more revealing the image of God than the marathoner?
Is it more godly to be an optimist than a pessimist?

You could argue, from what we've written - on both counts - yes.
Or the pessimist might suggest ....... maybe God remains optimistically pessimistic (or is that pessimistically optimistic?)
Either way .....he remains a 'lover of the fallen' - which hits both the optimist and the pessimist.

"DO" versus "DONE".

So this week at our Alpha course we talked about the difference between the "DO" plan of most religions and the "DONE" plan of the Christian faith - check out the talk online by clicking on the Exploring Faith and Jesus Christ link on our website front page www.reedleyfbc.com. It's based around the defining, crucial moment of the death of Jesus Christ on a Roman cross. It's radically different. Yet it can become a stumbling block. I'm not the first to spot this - I think a guy by the name of Paul talks about this somewhere in the Bible. There's something in this message of the cross or the "DONE" plan that offends. Does it offend because it requires us to be willing to accept that its our bad stuff, our junk and mess that put Jesus on the cross? Or, does it offend because it makes salvation seem too easy? I think its both - but in our western sophisticated culture - its probably the latter that makes it a bigger offense.
It seems too easy to accept that its all been "DONE". Let me "DO" something. I'm not referring to doing something as big as say George Bernard Shaw suggested when he declared "I'll pay for my sins myself" - that will end you up in a whole heap of trouble - but many people want to do small things to make it feel a more reasonable offer from God. Hand-outs aren't that welcome in our sophisticated society.
It weird when you think about it. We are this capitalistic culture where the game being played is getting the best deals and making the biggest gains ...and yet ......a gain, the biggest gain and the best deal - eternal life because of what Jesus has DONE rather than what we can DO - doesn't count and is rejected! It's like some self righteous morality or some weird consciousness kicks in and we say "I can't accept the DONE plan - I'll do the DO plan".
But that same righteous morality - is going to bring people so near but yet so far.

Isn't human nature so weird. Every day most of our culture get up to kick butt and win - and win at all cost ...but then when the biggest win is within simple grasp - we refuse it because its too easy.

But here's what's so important - this offer comes from God. This offer does not come from someone who is wired the way we are. It comes from a different source a different type. Yes it was delivered through God becoming incarnate - God becoming fully human - but the nature of the salvation is of another type. It's divine. Every thing about salvation shouts "different than what we are" - guilty but pronounced not guilty; owe a huge debt but the debt is cancelled; unworthy but made worthy; should be punished but made an heir of God. Most of us know the whole salvation thing is of a different type - due death get eternal life.

But come back to this weird reality - here's this offer but because of how we're wired we refuse it because we need to "DO". How can you "DO" anything for something that is of a different type?? Can you see it??? When we say I've got to "DO" something to get it ...we shrink salvation down to human terms and yet its beyond human terms. How weak would a salvation be that operated at the human level. Don't you want your salvation to be something bigger, more, greater than you??

So this "DO" versus "DONE" plan comes full circle. It's really a human versus God battle. That's the age old trouble. That's what got us into needing salvation in the first place - we've always wanted to be God. Our desire to "DO" only reaffirms why we need the "DONE" plan.

Think about it.

A freakily BIG God - thankfully.

So we have just started this new teaching series called Google It. People submitting regular questions that they have about faith, life and God. [Click on www.reedleyfbc.com and check out the opening message in the series.]
But as I shared as we started to preach - after we suggested doing this series and everything was rolling we began to get a little freaked out. Here is this series inviting questions - with everyone therefore assuming that we will answer them. And that's the freaky thing. At one level the freaky thing is how much my brain is going to hurt trying to research the questions - but the even freakier thing is even hinting that we would have all the answers.
For the past many years this is the kind of thing we've really tried to steer people away from. There is something so off-putting in a Christianity that claims to have all the answers. Have you ever been around 'know it all' Christians - their Christianity is so formulaic, so simplistic (it also often is so exclusive ...they have the secret codes all figured out and know the answers)- and it is also so reductionist. The minute you encounter a Christian that suggests they have all the answers - you've encountered a Christian who has shrunk God. And that's the freakiest thing of all. I need God to be bigger than me - so much bigger. I want God to hold mystery and the unknowable. I want to be awed by this God. I want to fall down and worship this God. I even want to be scared by this God. The reality is, that if I claim to know all about God - I'm God! Yikes. So ....back to our Google It series. How do we genuinely engage with the questions people are struggling with about God while not shrinking God down to our answers?
To every question the only answer we can suggest is - GOD. Truly. God responds to seekers. But how he does that is seen in how Jesus did it while here. To questions asked him - either trick or genuine - he so often never gave an answer - he simply was. God very seldom gives explanations (that's sometimes so frustrating about Him). But I'm more and more coming to see that an explanation may satisfy my head but it doesn't satisfy my soul. What satisfies my soul and breathes life into me is is not an explanation but a big, awesome, even scary God. One takes faith one doesn't. And I'm learning that faith satisfies while being able to always give an explanation leaves me proud, slightly puffed up - but cold. Here's what to do - in daily situations, daily decisions and when questions arise in your head, key in these words "freakily BIG God" and see what happens. Hey, let me know ... could be a bunch of stories that make us even more see how dissatisfying our answers are and how much bigger God is.

So I'm reading this very interesting book. Its called How to Become a Saint: A Beginner's Guide. I just happened on this book - new writer, never heard of him before - but boom ...maybe that's a sign from God .... "think about becoming Saint Gilbert".... got quite a ring to it hasn't it. Wouldn't it make for a neat business card or introduction "what is it you do?"... "I'm a saint!" I mean its bad enough now telling people what I do - they immediately confess some sins to me or apologise for missing church - or they stop telling the dirty jokes - but imagine if you had to say to people "I'm a saint". I think people would look at me and truly think that I was some sort of third gender. But before you tune out and wonder what this Scotsman has been smoking - maybe what the author of the book is trying to get us to see is that mere Christianity, what faith in Jesus Christ is truly about, is not some insurance policy against hell, nor some crutch to help us get by, nor is it some synthetic bumper sticker 'Jesus makes my life complete' nonsense - maybe authentic faith is about becoming something deeper, something more mystical, more sacred than we've imagined - it is about doing life with God, but a new kind of life, a new kind of way of living. Maybe its about an invitation to a deep and meaningful union with God. Maybe in our consumer, somewhat hollow culture, we are missing the core of what faith in Jesus Christ is - it is becoming a new kind of person. Maybe becoming a Christian is something deeper, something greater, something more mysterious than most people today imagine. But that's maybe why so many don't.
When you look around - does synthetic faith appeal? When you look at the formula's and the seeming results - anyone want that kind of Christianity?
But when you look at the Saints ...the one thing they all have is depth, character and their lives involved something bigger than themselves. The process of canonization may not be perfect but the one thing everyone can see when they look at who the Catholic Church decides to canonize is that they lived bigger than most.
And then I turn to the Bible and discover that the writers viewed all Christ followers as saints - and I get it. Faith in Christ should make my life bigger than it is. My life should be more. My life can be more. But that more is not sourced in ourselves or in stuff - that more is sourced in God and it produces a new kind of life - a holy life.
Maybe becoming a saint is not such a self-inflated ambition after all - maybe becoming a saint is saying ...I can live a better life but not on my own - but by faith in Jesus Christ. Maybe becoming a saint is a humble, self-denying life.
As the new book I'm reading says "this is what God wants - and what God wants from you - he makes possible."

So welcome to a blog that explores more how God has made possible a new kind of living - a new kind of life - something deeper, bigger, more than you've ever imagined. Minus the formula's, the rules and the rest of the junk out there.