Blurry Survey Sees God

Spirituality Column #209
November 9, 2010
Current in Carmel - Current in Westfield - Current in Noblesville
(Indianapolis north suburban home newspapers)

Blurry Survey Sees God
By Bob Walters

A much-ballyhooed news story recently reported that 95 percent of Americans, according to the new book “America’s Four Gods,” have an opinion what God is like.

In a (presumably random) survey of 1,648 adults, God was broken into four pieces – Authoritative, Benevolent, Critical, Distant. “Which of these is how you view God?” was the question. The results came back evenly divided among the four. Five percent of respondents said they are atheists or agnostics.

And that, the authors claim, is how Americans see God. I would guess, too, that the secular news media was happy to see that mystery solved: “Here’s what people think of God. Next question.”

Oh dear. We do like to put God in a box, don’t we?

Here’s some news: We can’t divide God.

Presumably the comforting aspect of the survey for non-believers is that God can be a “settled thing.” Here’s what God is, here’s what people think, here’s how people behave who think about God in certain ways. If we can just define God, I took the story to say, we can get on with the truly important affairs of our lives. You know, our needs.

While I am thankful and joyful to have God to think about, to praise, to worship, man’s opinion of God does not define God; God defines God.

Better to ask, “What is God’s opinion of man?”

Psalm 8:4 eloquently pleads of God, “… what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” The all-time best answer for that one came in the person of Jesus Christ, when God arrived on earth. Talk about huge news.

A survey of who believes that will sort out more about the current state of man’s relationship with God than any survey assessing man’s opinion of a divided God. God sent Jesus into a fallen world amid broken humanity, because the Truth is … God loved us, and wanted us back.

The totality of God is unknowable, but the part of God that is in our hearts is to be treasured. We should pay Him back by loving and trusting his Son, and by rejoicing in the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Surveys and knowledge don’t really do that. God reveals Himself only to faith.

Walters (www.believerbob.blogspot.com, email rlwcom@aol.com), beginning his fifth year writing this column, thanks and congratulates Current publications for four years of being a light in this community.