The divine "Mr Potato Head"?

I often wonder whether people are really interested in the truth about God. It seems we would rather create our own God with a form and nature that WE find suitable.

It makes me think about Mr Potato Head, a plastic toy with interchangeable parts that can be used to create a “person” with facial characteristics of our own choosing.

Instead of selecting from a choice of different facial features, we can choose from a selection of scripture verses to build our own preferred image of God. But just like the toys, we don’t need to stick with the basic package of original parts. We are also offered supplementary features through countless extra-biblical texts and teachings. There are accessories we can add to “improve” our chosen Divine image – until all authenticity has been either replaced or obscured.

Maybe we would benefit significantly from time spent reassessing our motives and desires. Do we genuinely want GOD’s Truth; do we want GOD as HE really is? – Or do we want to follow a "plastic" God we have created for ourselves?

The LORD is One !

In the quote below, Jesus prays for unity in the church – just as there is unity between Him and the Father.

John 17:10-12 (English Standard Version)

10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

Is Jesus praying to Himself asking for His followers to lose their individual identity and existence – to become one being with many names?

Certainly not!

This prayer reveals God in unity, not God in singularity.

It reveals a God in relationship (here between Father and Son), not a God in isolation, not a single God with multiple identities.

If you seek him, he will be found by you.

Many people seek God but do so on their own terms and make their search conditional upon what they want God to be like.

Many want God to be an all-loving, all singing and dancing being who is so desperate for a following that he will do anything to please those who accept him.
Others seek a God who is like an impersonal fashion accessory that makes no personal demands. Such a God can be brought out in public occasionally and be thanked for helping in our achievements - making a show of our "humility" in thanking him, no matter how puerile our achievement may have been (think of Grammy award acceptance speeches here).
Others seek a God who will promote their own self esteem and make them feel good about themselves, one who will commend them for being such good people compared to the rest of the world.

I could go on...

How many genuinely attempt to seek God according to HIS terms?

I saw the following question and statement on another blog: "Do Jews or Muslims or Baha'is search for God? Obviously the answer is yes."

The implication here is that they have sought God and found one who is different to the Christian God, so who was to say which “god” was the right one, if any?
But how many of those people are actually searching for something other than God, something more selfish? How many are really interested in a genuine encounter with the creator of the universe? Are they genuinely looking for the one who has the ultimate authority over what He created whether we like it or not?

"the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever."

Returning to the blogger’s question :

“Do Jews or Muslims or Baha'is search for God?

I said that many seek God but on their own terms. This can be seen in the case of the Muslim and Baha'i. Both of these accept the reality of Jesus and recognise Him as a prophet and/or teacher – as do MOST other religions. But they only pay lip-service to those parts of His teaching that appeal to what they want to believe. They ignore His claim that HE exclusively is the way to God. They ignore His teaching on hell. They ignore the reason for and the significance of His crucifixion and resurrection. In other words they seek His teaching ONLY when it conforms to their own desires.

The Jews are a little different. They recognise the one true God, the very same God worshipped by the Christian. The significant difference is their failure to recognise that Jesus is the Messiah they have been waiting for. They do not recognise that Jesus’ life death and resurrection were the fulfilment of the word of their prophets because Jesus did not bring about the deliverance of Israel from the oppression of Rome. They fail to see that the prophesied glorious future for Israel that their Messiah will bring will come about when Jesus returns as foretold in the New Testament.
While the Jews currently reject Jesus, the bible predicts a time when they WILL recognise Him as the King they have been waiting for.

Looking at the matter openly, the very fact that the Jews are still around today, and that Israel is once again on the map, is a very convincing reason to recognise the reality of the God of Israel who is also the God of Jesus Christ.

What other ethnic group has remained recognisably intact after 2000 years of exile from their land - and has returned to that same land as a powerful and influential nation.
Of course it must be coincidence (not!) that the long exile and the return from nations around the world was predicted by their prophets hundreds of years before that exile took place.

GOD'S REVELATION: in case someone missed it previously.

God has given us a revelation of Himself throughout the WHOLE of scripture. It is a revelation given NOT in the form of a systematic theology, but through life situations and through examples of personal interaction between God and mankind.

Any interpretation of parts of scripture that contradict the revelation of God given throughout the whole of scripture is a wrong interpretation. False interpretations are guaranteed when we start with individual texts. When we take those false interpretations and project them onto the rest of scripture we can not fail to produce a false view of God and His purposes.

That is the inevitable result of the traditions and theologies of man: teachings that focus on texts rather than on God’s character. It is far easier to intellectually debate the meanings of individual verses of scripture than it is to receive and share the revelation God has given of Himself.
The first we can pick up from books and teachers. The latter comes through relationship with God through His Son, by His Spirit aided by the scriptures He inspired.

WHO IS THE GOD YOU WERE TAUGHT TO FOLLOW?

Forget the hyped up superstar preachers.
Forget the overbearing, authority-claiming “anointed” celebrities.
Even forget the local “pastor”.

Take the time to know God for yourself. Get to know God FIRST through the scriptures, allowing the Holy Spirit to be your teacher.
The MAJORITY of what we have learned about God from others is wrong. They are not bringing us to the God revealed in scripture, but to a God created in man’s imagination.Be HONEST and don’t try to twist, change or ignore those “difficult” verses that portray a God that makes our theology uncomfortable.

The God of the bible is NOT the God of comfortable, westernized Christianity. And He definitely is NOT the God of the superstar celebrity preacher.Unfortunately most of us are too lazy and too disinterested to seek Him for ourselves and we find the entertainment we get from the celebrities preferable to any thought of Holiness.