Reverse God-ologyI remember in my junior high years I began noticing something strange about God. He seemed to do things different from most people I knew . . . even Christians. What’s more, he seemed to expect us to do things the way he did them. For example, I would read something in the Bible like, “To learn, you must love discipline; it is stupid to hate correction.” (Proverbs 12:1) OK. That sounds crazy. Who in their right mind loves to be corrected? Some of the nicest Christians I know become as mean as savage dogs when they’re corrected—even when they are obviously wrong! Nobody likes to be corrected, and yet the Bible is saying we should not only LIKE IT but LOVE IT! WOW.
Then I’d read something Jesus said like, “If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life.” (Luke 9:24) Hold on! That sounds all neat and poetically religious, but it sure seems backwards from the way most people are taught to think and live! I mean, how can you keep your life if you give it away? That is borderline stupid! And how would holding onto your life cause you to lose it? Wacko!
And what about this popular one; “Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy.” (James 1:2) What? How can anyone buy into that? Nobody likes difficult times. In fact, we spend most of our lives doing whatever we can to avoid trouble and difficulty all together! Who wants to be sad, depressed or hurt; poor, lost or alone? We want nothing to do with those types of troubles! And surely there’s no way God can expect us to rejoice in our lowest, most vulnerable moments!
How about when Jesus boldly says, “On judgment day, many people will tell me, ‘Lord. Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Go away; the things you did were unauthorized.’” (Matthew 7:22-23) Unbelievable! You mean to tell me that some people will literally perform miracles in the name of Jesus but will NOT go to heaven? And some people will cast out demons and prophesy in Jesus’ name and still spend eternity in hell? Dude. That seems ridiculous!
So, what’s up? What is this wild and wacky way of thinking? Could it be that God is just twisting things around on us to make life hard? Maybe he’s like some warped science professor doing whatever he can to make sure we fail.
As I studied more and more about this God of mine, I couldn’t help but question all this stuff. Had God just missed it in a few areas, or was he simply into making life as hard as possible? Maybe some of the disciples had written down the exact opposite of what Jesus had said by mistake. But of course we know that everything God says is good and right and true, and that everything in the Bible is from and by God for us, and that he is fully capable of watching over each writer and translator to make sure that the meaning of each word, from the most important to the least, is kept in tact.
So, why all the “crazy” teaching? Well, maybe it isn’t so crazy after all, because CRAZY is all a matter of perspective. If you saw a person with four ears, one on each side with one on the top of his head and on his chin, you’d think that person was a freak! But, what if when God created us in the beginning he decided we needed four ears and designed each of us that way? If we all had four ears, you wouldn’t think anything of it. It wouldn’t be crazy. It would be normal. Well, what if from the very beginning of time God and all the beings in heaven have always thought and acted the way God asks us to in the Bible. Then along comes the Devil, the Father of Lies (John 8:44), and he begins switching things up on us. He literally begins telling all of humanity EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE of what God has said all along. Then, over time, if enough people begin thinking like the Devil (fueled by their flesh), they could start to believe that the Devil’s way of reasoning is normal and that God’s way is “crazy!”
The Devil has been reversing things from the beginning, too. Isn’t that what he did to Adam and Eve? God told them they had the freedom to eat from every tree in the garden except from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and that if they ate from that tree, they would die. Then the Devil told them the exact opposite. He said that they would NOT die and that they would become like God. And he has been spreading his deception ever since.
So, I realized that most of the ways I tend to think and react naturally are the reverse of the way God intended me to think and react. Not only that, but they are exactly opposite from the way things actually work. You can tell someone that gravity is a force that pulls you up into outer space all day long, and even if they believe it and act upon that “truth,” it still won’t make it so. The same goes for God’s principles. If someone decides to stop spanking their children because they think it damages their kids’ personality, it won’t change the fact that in reality they are communicating a lack of love toward their children. For God says in Proverbs 13:24, “If you refuse to discipline your children, it proves you don’t love them.” It also tells us in Proverbs 20:30 that “Physical punishment cleanses away evil; such discipline purifies the heart.” So it doesn’t matter what you believe, God is the only one who establishes truth, and doing something opposite from the way God set it up will simply give you the opposite result you desire.
It’s funny, because we tend think God’s type of reasoning is strange, when actually it is our thinking that is strange. Someone might come up to you and say something like, “Ooo, you’re a virgin?” And suddenly you might feel like you’ve been put in your place. But God would say back to them, “Ooo, you’re not??” The world finds it strange that someone might be a virgin. But God finds it strange that everyone wouldn’t save themselves for the one he made them for so they could experience the greatest physical, emotional, spiritual pleasure possible between two people. Just because someone decides that sexual immorality is “right” for them doesn’t mean they get to steer clear of the consequences. 1 Corinthians 6:18 says that people should run away from sexual sin and that no other sin so clearly affects our bodies. If they live in an opposite manner to what God says, they will receive the EXACT OPPOSITE of what they are hoping for.
The world says lying sets you free. God says the truth sets you free.
The world says hold on to your money if you want to be wealthy. God says give your money away if you want to have great wealth.
The world says condoms are the best protection from sexually transmitted diseases. God says you won’t ever have to worry about contracting an STD if you keep sex within the context of marriage.
The world says respect is agreeing with a person’s right to choose for himself. God says respect is caring enough to approach a person in love when they are wrong.
The world says watching movies and TV is relaxing and refreshing. God says you will find wonderful times of refreshment in the presence of the Lord when you turn from your sins and turn to God.
The world says you are a slave if you always have to do what God wants. God says you are a slave if you always do what your sinful nature wants.
The world says we don’t have enough money to give some away. God says we don’t have enough money NOT to give it away.
The world says there are too many things to do in life to take the time to pray or be religious. God says there are too many things to do in life for us to NOT take the time to pray and seek his help.
The world says a good God wouldn’t send people to hell. God says, not unlike a just judge, that he must punish those who deserve to be punished in order to be considered a good God.
The world says leadership is position. God says leadership is service.
The world says love is sex. God says love is giving away your life for someone else.
So how do you know the difference between worldly thinking and Godly thinking? The best way, of course, is to hide the word of God in your heart, by studying it, so that you won’t sin. (Psalm 119:11) From there, your best bet is to do the ‘ol reverse God-ology trick and do exactly the opposite of whatever popular philosophy the world is peddling. Then, when all else fails, you can be guaranteed to keep the fear of God stirred up in your life by remembering this verse from Isaiah 5:20. “Destruction is certain for those who say that evil is good and good is evil; that dark is light and light is dark; that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter.”
Bron:
http://www.cmcentral.com/devo/16.html