Sunday, October 7, 2012

Healthy Image of God

In his book, Signposts of Spirituality, Trevor Hudson quotes William Temple, "... if people live with the wrong view of God, the more religious they become the worse the consequences will become."  There is a young woman who suffers from anxiety surely made worse by a mother who demands perfection and, therefore, is always critical of her daughter. She lives with the fear that she isn't good enough for God. A woman who believes God "took her son" by suicide because she was too emotionally involved with a male co-worker. A man who believes he can never be forgiven by God because he struggles with pornography. I believe our image of God is to be found in Jesus, i.e., "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father" (John 14:9). Whatever else church may involve, it seems to me that the foundation is to help others have a healthy view of God. By healthy, I mean the image of God revealed in Jesus. It has been interesting for me that all of the above examples relate to very religious people, if by religious we mean individuals who are very active in their church, even in leadership positions. I've a friend whose favorite saying is, "Just because you park your car in a chicken house, doesn't make it a chicken."  Whatever else church may involve, the foundation is to help others have a healthy view of God.  

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