The World of Barbie

When my girls were little, Barbie held a position of prominence in our home. Every birthday or Christmas, a new Barbie graced the "must-have" list. This gal was a 12-inch plastic Wonder Woman. She was Doctor Barbie, Pilot Barbie, Nurse Barbie, Vet Barbie, Teacher Barbie, You-Name-Her Barbie. Depending upon the current passion of any little girl at the moment, there was a Barbie doll to fit her dreams. Barbie could be anything any girl wanted her to be.

That's okay when you're 8 years old---and even better if you happen to own stock in the Mattel Corporation. But what about when you grow up?

Unfortunately, people tend to apply that same mentality to God. Look at the best-seller lists. Flip through religious television (if you can stand it). Listen to talk radio or scan through the editorial pages. Everybody has an opinion on God. From Oprah to Chopra, human opinion reigns supreme in defining the Deity.

According to your personal preference, you can choose from a brightly decorated assortment of designer gods. There is Cheerleader god, Nature god, Meditation god, Dream-weaver god, Rescuer god, etc. There are more choices for a god then there are for Barbie.

Some descriptions even claim to be loosely based on the Bible. But it's a picked-over Bible. It's a carefully selected collection of verse scraps that fit the particular god they are defining. They are often like the 3 blind men defining an elephant. Each one defined the whole by the small part he could feel. 

The suggestion that a God of love could also be a God of wrath does not set well. The idea that the God who creates might also be the God who destroys doesn't fit the shrink-wrapped packaging. No one wants to explain that the God who is FOR US, is also the God who AGAINST the evildoer. It's much prettier to stress the nice things about God and neutralize the rest.But that ends up not being God at all.

So what pink box does your god come in? Have you defined him the way you want him to be? If you think about it, none of those Barbies was any different from the rest. Naked, they were all the same tan plastic with white tangled hair. Only the packaging and outfits were different. It was a crock, another way to get our money.

And the world of designer gods is also a crock. A way to get your money and your life. Be sure you don't fall for the fancy packaging. The real God is found only in the pages between Genesis and Revelation. Don't let American Popular Religion define him for you. 

You need Savior God. He's the only one who is real. 

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Build-A-What?

Ever been to Build-A-Bear?

I used to enjoy it as much as my kids when they got birthday money and off we went to create the plushy pal of their dreams. Choosing cute little outfits, deciding whether it should be a monkey, a kitty, a turtle... A best friend of your own making...now that's the way to do it.

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The problem comes when we treat God the same way. We have a Build-A-God society. Ever heard someone announce with great pomp and authority, "Well, MY god would never send anyone to Hell?"

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"MY god is big enough to incorporate all religions..."

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"My god is la-la-la..." As though they, by imagining it, can create God any way they'd like Him to be. Where did we get the idea that we could design our own god?

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I guess the Israelites had the same problem way back there in the desert. God wasn't doing things the way they thought things should be done, so: "Hey, Aaron! Build us a god. Maybe a golden calf...on a nice big pedestal..."

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If you've read the Old Testament, God was not impressed. "I AM Who I AM" was His self-description. He can't be defined, designed, or aligned with our ideas of what a god should be like. He has no intention of being created in our image and we are fools if we think for a moment we can do that.

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He has given us a lifetime of information about Himself in the Bible, the most historically reliable manuscript the world possesses. To leave out parts we don't like or understand is to begin our trip to Build-a-god.

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And what eventually happens to most of those delightful child-built creations? Tossed under beds, stuffed in boxes in the attic, worn out, used up. The same thing happens to self-created gods. They don't last. There's no substance. They change with the times and who wants a god like that?

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Be sure YOUR God is the real one--not one you designed yourself.

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