God is Good

November 1; Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary

“As much as possible, youth workers should do their best to teach the whole message of the Word of God so that young people in both subcultures [the upwardly-mobile strivers and the 'punk-rock' groups] will know what they're called to become instead of believing in gods that only affirm what they already are.” (Campolo, Tony: The Church and the American Teenager, 1989 – p.49)

I'm sure much of what Campolo wrote in his analysis of teen subcultures and the church would be different if he were to rewrite the book today. Teen subcultures shift and change so rapidly in this technological age that it's hard to pin them down into identifiable groups as he did in 1989. But the question his book raises is no less pertinent to youth ministry today than it was then: how does the church faithfully raise its children in a multicultural, multilingual, everything-and-everybody-is-technologically-connected kind of a world?

The point he makes that subcultures recreate God as one who affirms what they already are has much broader application than just to teen subcultures, seems to me. In fact, I don't see how anyone, anywhere could visualize God, His/Her nature, His/Her vision for humanity other than through the lens of his own experience. There's an old saying that Man created God in his own image; in the image of Man created he Him. To those who see God as static and immutable, as an anthropomorphic, grandfatherly figure, the possibility that we have assigned attributes to Him that reflect our own worldview, our own biases, may seem heretical. Sociologically, anthropologically, however, the observation that the gods reflect the environment and culture of their believers is undeniable.

To the Hebrew people of the Old Testament, God was often warlike, retributive. Christians, particularly of the Anabaptist tradition, see God reflected in Christ, who was neither of those. Pastors and teachers have expended a great deal of effort toward marrying the conflicting visions. 

The concept of a God reflecting circumstances, the worldview of the times, eases that tension. I think it's called, "reading in context."

One could lament the observation that people simply need a static, immutable, anthropomorphic God in order to hold onto faith, but that might in fact be true for many. Far be it from me to undermine the foundation that gives many lives their meaning. On the other hand, my view that “God” and “Good” are not only etymologically derived from the same idea, but that they are in fact, the same thing can arguably be seen as creating God “in my own image.” In other words—Campolo's words—“believing in gods that only affirm what they already are.”

The sermon this morning at Prairie Street Mennonite Church wrestled with the idea in Matthew that Christ's followers should strive to be perfect as God is perfect. Given this sure recipe for failure, the speaker summarized those passages in the Old Testament that list attributes of God—compassionate, forgiving, slow to anger, etc—with the contention that it is these characteristics, not discrete actions, that are meant to define perfection. A good point and a wonderful sermon, but, obviously, leaning on the vision of a god created at least to some degree in the consciousness of the writers of a given time.

The sermon and the concepts it presented resonated well with the congregation; Anabaptists in the 21^st Century in the vicinity of Prairie Street Mennonite are affirmed by the image of God as described by some Old Testament prophets and sages—at least where God is described as compassionate, forgiving and slow to anger. The warrior God, not so much.

Good is indivisible. It exists only in consciousness and consciousness exists only in humans, at least in the sense in which we define it. Good is summarized in a central tenet of nearly all religions: we think about and act toward other people and other institutions and groups in obedience to the principles that contribute to our own happiness and well being. I see no way of reaching so desperately-needed Christian unity before we allow the principles of the Sermon on the Mount and the Golden Rule to define our “Good.” Along with this radical consciousness, we simply can't any longer cling to the Gods we've created in our own images; surely the incessant divisions among Christians is proof enough that we have found it more important to defend our individual Gods than to strive to perfection, embrace the common GOOD. 

We are smack in the middle of another episode in which Christians are speculating on their own particular God's opinion regarding covenanted gay relationships. I think our youth will respond best to an acknowledgement and application of the principles of GOOD to this conundrum. "Do unto others as you would be done by," and read the Sermon on the Mount every Sunday morning, and strive toward perfection by applying it during the week.