A generation ago, C.S. Lewis wrote this in his book, The Problem of Pain:
“What would really satisfy us would be a God who said of anything we happened to like doing, ‘What does it matter so long as they are contented?’ We want, in fact, not so much a father in heaven as a grandfather in heaven — a senile benevolence who, as they say, ‘liked to see young people enjoying themselves,’ and whose plan for the universe was simply that it might be truly said at the end of each day, ‘a good time was had by all.”
I’m not sure how many people in the 1940’s imagined that God is like that, but I would bet there are a good deal more people who think of God like that now, compared to then. In fact, here are some theologies that are assumed nowadays:
“What would really satisfy us would be a God who said of anything we happened to like doing, ‘What does it matter so long as they are contented?’ We want, in fact, not so much a father in heaven as a grandfather in heaven — a senile benevolence who, as they say, ‘liked to see young people enjoying themselves,’ and whose plan for the universe was simply that it might be truly said at the end of each day, ‘a good time was had by all.”
I’m not sure how many people in the 1940’s imagined that God is like that, but I would bet there are a good deal more people who think of God like that now, compared to then. In fact, here are some theologies that are assumed nowadays:
- God wants me to be happy.
- God wants me to be happy, and therefore wouldn’t require me to do things I don’t want to do.
- God doesn’t expect me (or anybody) to fight against fulfilling my natural desires that make me happy.
- What does God expect [insert kind of sinner here] to do? Just not do the things that make them happy? That doesn’t sound like a loving God!
- God made people the way they are. Therefore, they must be true to whatever that is. They must embrace whatever makes them happy. That authenticity is the holiness that God wants. Therefore, there are some things that the Bible calls sin, that are actually holy for some people.
You can see that it is somewhat of a progression. It starts with a statement that is partially true, “God wants me to be happy” and then moves to something very far from the truth. Eventually it becomes: “It is good to sin.” So, why bring this up?
I have argued in the past that the commands that are in the Bible assume that God does, in fact, want us to do things that we don’t want to do. My assumption has been that “do not covet your neighbor’s wife” and “the thief must no longer steal” were placed in the Bible specifically because some people want to do those things. A while back, as I was reading through Exodus in the HCSB translation of the Bible, I came across a command that intrigued me. Check out Exodus 23:5:
“If you see the donkey of someone who hates you lying helpless under its load, and you want to refrain from helping it, you must help with it.”
Isn’t that interesting? When an Israelite came across someone who needed help, he was required to help them, even if the person was someone who hated him. Wow.
I thought it was a good reminder. Yes, there is a kind of happiness that God wants us to have (Psalm 1:1). But there are obviously also times when God wants us to do things that we do not want to do.
I have argued in the past that the commands that are in the Bible assume that God does, in fact, want us to do things that we don’t want to do. My assumption has been that “do not covet your neighbor’s wife” and “the thief must no longer steal” were placed in the Bible specifically because some people want to do those things. A while back, as I was reading through Exodus in the HCSB translation of the Bible, I came across a command that intrigued me. Check out Exodus 23:5:
“If you see the donkey of someone who hates you lying helpless under its load, and you want to refrain from helping it, you must help with it.”
Isn’t that interesting? When an Israelite came across someone who needed help, he was required to help them, even if the person was someone who hated him. Wow.
I thought it was a good reminder. Yes, there is a kind of happiness that God wants us to have (Psalm 1:1). But there are obviously also times when God wants us to do things that we do not want to do.
