007 a | Painting God Mad
As I wrote in my recent entry 007 | Sin Angers God on my Essential Jesus journey we must view the account recorded in Exodus (Exodus 32:1-33:6) at Mount Sinai in the context of all God has done for his people. We must NOT view God's anger arbitrarily and out of context. One of the blogs I like to read is Stuff Christians Like. In his post from May 26, 2008, "#253 Painting God Mad", Jon describes how he once viewed God and how many today view God.
My vision of God was of an angry, old man with powers beyond my understanding and punishment beyond my creativity. His favorite activities, beside Frisbee, were smiting people and striking people down where they stood for their transgressions. The only reason He wanted me near was so that I was close enough to hit with a big, holy hammer. He was forceful and ominous.
Unfortunately, I'm not the only one that has thought this. The photo in this post is from a newspaper in France. The headline is "Think for yourself" and we can clearly see that a night-colored person representing God or religion is forcing the young woman to pray. There is condemnation and slavery and punishment captured in the faceless, dark shape that is controlling the scene. Looking at it, I can't help but wonder, "How did we get here?" ... read more
Yes God hates sin and it angers him, but that doesn't mean he hates us. If you are a loving parent you can understand this. Even when our children make choices that disappoint or anger us it does not change our love for them. It is impossible to conclude God is an angry God with our focus on Jesus. I like the way Jon put in his post.When we want to paint a picture of God as a brutal no holds barred cage fighter, we often have to downplay or ... completely edit out Jesus."