Making an Impersonal God

Today I am on the personhood of God; the unique individual characteristics which is God.  He is so other than us and is so distinctly Himself.  He has a personality that is so large, every interaction and exchange is remarkably singular.  This is our God.

At GetAlongWithGod.com, we speak of interacting with a God who is involved. Though He won’t be manipulated to move as we wish, He is here now and engaged. Every post is a celebration of His personal involvement. Personal!

Now I am not making Him common by being too familiar.  Though I was created like Him, He is not like me.  I am simply a reflection.  But as a reflection, I reflect the Source of Him who also has a personality. The Person of God!

I have met so many people who see God as a distant entity rather than a Person. He is seen as and impersonal God uninvolved and aloof.  He becomes an image or icon to affix upon our wishes and desires.  But this position eradicates His emotion, desires and passions from our seeing, and reduces Him to a simple two-dimensional object.

Maybe this is safer for our psyche.  Maybe we feel if He is let out of the box, then things will be out of control?  I can tell you that none of us are able to box Him in; our container will only constrain us.  God is a Person looking for our interaction and invitation of His involvement.

Today, I think I see a little part of how this might make God feel.  I watched a friend be called on to help another in a crisis.  My friend hadn’t heard from this person in months, if not longer.  Actually, the only time my friend ever hears from them is when there’s something that needs fixing.  You know, like the kind of friend that only calls when they need you and your truck to help in a move?

Well, I discussed it with my friend and we realized the most hurtful thing about this kind of interaction is that it dehumanizes us.   It turns us into an object or icon, just like we do to God.  This is not a relationship; this is a restriction, a confinement to the walls of need.  This is simply not a relationship!  In order to be in a relationship, you must have actual individuals with personalities.

My friend was made into a two-dimensional shell.  Neither they nor God like abiding in this place.  Being used as a get-out-of-jail-free card is disheartening to the soul.  My hope is that GetAlongWithGod.com will always be a source of exalting our Creator.  A Father Who is intimately involved and engaged with His creation and with us, His children.