Pastor's Corner: 'What kind of god would you be?'
Quite a few years ago, one of the top selling video game applications created for Apple’s iPhone was called Pocket God.
This is the description given on iTunes: “What kind of god would you be? Benevolent or vengeful? Play Pocket God and discover the answer within yourself. On a remote island, you are the all-powerful god that rules over the primitive islanders. You can bring new life, and then take it away just as quickly.”
Some of the things a vengeful god could do? Throw islanders into volcanoes, use islanders as shark bait, create earthquakes to destroy islanders, etc. One of the benevolent acts? Give the islanders a fishing pole.
Isn’t it interesting that there is a game where you can be your own god? Actually, that is how many people live anyway, isn’t it? People can create God in their own image and live as they please. If Jonah were here today, he might be the first to play this game Pocket God, and he would most likely have chosen a vengeful god as his character. In Jonah 4: 1 – 11, we see that the heavenly Father has lavished grace and love on a whole city of people who are undeserving of his love. Jonah not so humbly, and certainly reluctantly, preaches to the city about their sin, and they turn from their evil ways and repent of their sin.
But Jonah? He is angry. He has created his vengeful God, put Him in a box, and expects that God will stay in that box. But, God comes out of that box, and Jonah responds badly, foolishly. How many of us, when things don’t go the way we want them to, behave poorly? Jonah thinks God should destroy the evil Ninevites. God’s grace and mercy has a limit according to Jonah. He is upset with a God who “throws away” grace to anybody who asks.
There are some questions God asks Jonah in the above Scripture passage: Jonah, do you have a right to be angry? Do you have a right to be angry about this vine (that you have not invested anything in?) And, should I not be concerned about Ninevah? You see, even though Jonah does not display holy behavior, God does not let Jonah off the hook. God wants to take Jonah to a deeper place in his faith. God wants to teach Jonah that his own image of The Father is much more than Jonah has accepted.
God is concerned about the salvation of mankind. And, his love and mercy are unfailing. He is just, but compassionate. We can never fully unravel His greatness, and yet we continually seem surprised when God jumps out of the box and acts in a way we never imagined. Let’s stop doing that. Let’s get out of His way, and just trust that He knows what is best for our lives. Let’s not sell Him short and think that our way is better than His ways. Because they are not. And never will be.
Pastor Wynne Schott is co-pastor of the Cheboygan Church of the Nazarene.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Pastor's Corner: 'What kind of god would you be?'
