What Do We Actually Know About God?

I was wondering.  If God is impossible to define, talk about or explain.  How do we answer the call to “witness” to God in our world today?  How can we actually, with any truth or integrity, speak about God?

It is an honest challenge!

Because all words fall short of accurate definition.

The Old Testament writers were eloquent in their own descriptions of the Great and Mighty Creator God.  They seem to have some inside details about God’s will and God’s character.  

The Palmist — or Palmists — give extravagant descriptions of God.  The other writers use words like, wrathful; a God who causes suffering and rules with punishment.

Others define God as: wonderful, counselor, mighty, all-knowing, light, salvation, strength, provider and sustainer,  love.

Isaiah tells of a God who want war no more.  Who desires our swords be made into plowshare. (Isiah 2:4)

Micah(6:6-8) talks of a God who does not want our sacrifices and blood.  But wants us to be just, kind and humble.  

All of those writers give extremely impressive images of God.

I like to believe — and do — that Jesus is the only true clue to who God is and how God acts.  Because Jesus is God incarnate.  Jesus is the embodiment of God to the world.

At least that is what we are told in the New Testament. 

 So Believing that, then with Jesus’ life, we are enabled to get a very real glimpse at God’s nature, will and character.  It is only through the person, teachings, and life-modeling of Jesus that we can to dare to speak.

And even with Jesus as our example.  We still will always need the answers to “why?” and “how?”  and “When.”

Having said all of that, those of us who desire to live our lives by sharing, what we believe; with those who we live among. Find ourselves challenged by the difficulties of language exegesis — proper interpretation.

The reason this is on my mind today, has to do with the institutional church’s need to reassess its ways of witnessing what we believe about God’s truth.

I suggest this reassessment because there are people that have left the church because they feel that we — the church — have mislead them about God.  There are even some folks who actually think that the church has lied about God; to scare them into believing.

All of this complicated information give we who are Called, to Preach the word, pause.  

And even if you are not among the “ordained;”and you believe in God/Jesus you are responsible to speak and act “in God’s name.”

So, how do we know how to do that?  

We are all responsible to live our faith with integrity.  Honoring the fact that we can, only carefully and with gentleness, speak what we will never actually know.