Creating God in Our Own Image: Part 2

Leniency

If you were to randomly attend any given church service, you’d probably hear much about God’s love, grace, and mercy. However, it is likely that very little (if anything) would be said about God’s wrath, anger, or judgment. The “hellfire and brimstone” approach to preaching today seems archaic, ineffective, and even barbaric. Many churchgoers have been turned off by aggressive, strict preaching; therefore, preachers who focus on the positives rather than on woe, punishment, and destruction tend to attract larger crowds. This trend in recent decades makes it seem as though Christians have suddenly been “enlightened” with God’s grace. God’s not angry, jealous, or wrathful, we conclude. Instead, he’s loving, merciful, and kind. But although most modern preachers continually stress words like “grace” and “mercy,” what they’re really promoting is leniency on God’s behalf.

Without Wrath, There is No Grace

Allow me to explain myself. Preachers love to preach on God’s grace, but at the same time shy away from talking about God’s wrath. However, any understanding of “grace” apart from a good understanding of “wrath” is flawed.

The Gospel teaches us that God is just, and therefore, evil must be punished. All of us, who are utterly sinful human beings, deserve God’s punishment. All people are “by nature children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3). However, God sent Jesus to take that wrath upon Himself, dying on behalf of our sins. The cross satisfies God’s wrath, as Jesus served our punishment, allowing God’s justice to be carried out. It was in this act of justice that God’s mercy is most beautifully demonstrated.

Without understanding God’s wrath and justice, we cannot thoroughly understand God’s grace. A gospel preached that over-emphasizes God’s love and acceptance without making note of God’s wrath only makes God out to be a pushover, a failure of a Father who has no control over His children. Don’t get me wrong; God is absolutely forgiving, gracious, and merciful. The problem is, however, that “God has only grace” preachers don’t actually teach about grace, but instead preach leniency and tolerance of evil. The god preached in thousands of churches across America is not a just god; he’s a lax god. True grace simply cannot exist without God’s wrath.

An Extreme Reaction

The idea of a lenient god is primarily reactionary. All it takes to turn people off is a few fundamentalists who behave very unlovingly while preaching about judgment. Thus, the hypocrisy of some has led others to react to the opposite extreme. “Hellfire and brimstone” has come to be seen as a negative, anti-Biblical concept. Because we reject authority in our culture, God’s authority is also diminished. So we paint a picture of Jesus with a humble, warm smile on His face, but never with a sword in His hand. Our image of God no longer depicts Him as wrathful and mighty, but rather, quiet and comforting. Thus, if we earnestly read our Bibles, many of us will find that we only believe in half of the attributes of God. And because our culture is so bent on “tolerance,” the false gospel of a merely lenient god is readily accepted.

As a result, God has become nothing more than a guidance counselor to us. He’s there to encourage us and forgive us of our sins, but he has no wrath. We may call him “gracious” and “forgiving,” but what we really mean is that He lets us get away with things. Sin’s no biggie to the lenient god. Like so many fathers in America, our Father in Heaven has become, to us, a pushover who has no authority or control over his children. Now, the God who mercifully spares His people from eternal punishment has come to be portrayed as a god who casually condones sin; this is the kind of Jesus who pops his collar and parties with evildoers, but not the kind of Jesus who willingly dies on a cross for wicked men.

The Bottom Line

While Jesus bore our sins and took the wrath of God upon Himself, we must not have the attitude that because we are Christians, God doesn’t take our sin seriously. Yes, we have been reconciled to God, and we are no longer His enemies. But this does not mean God turns a blind eye to our sin.
It seems to be a disease in churches, that mere self-help and feel-good messages are preached. It’s not that God isn’t merciful or loving. It’s simply that an such an unbalanced view of God cannot bring about repentance. We must stop patting Jesus on the back as our “buddy” and begin exalting Him in word and deed.

The problem with the only-gracious god is that it is not really God. A view of God that overlooks his anger and hatred toward sin is a rebellion against His authority. No, hearing that we deserve hell is not enjoyable. Embracing the idea of a God who sends people into eternal damnation is not easy. But isn’t this the only way God’s justice can be fulfilled? And would we really want to serve an unjust god? Should we, out of mere convenience, deny or ignore any challenging or unsettling truth about God? May it never be!

Quite frankly, worshiping a god who is unjust and lenient is an offense to the One True God. We have tried to take the all-powerful God of Heaven and bring him to earth. We have forcefully attempted to drag Him to America and bombard Him with our culture. We’ve created a tiny little box of passivity and tolerance—a box acceptable to us—and tried to shove God into it. We are determined to make Him fit our image of what a god should be. But unfortunately, we don’t quite have it right.So often do I disrespect God with my actions, as if my sin will be overlooked. I don’t always consider evil to be “a big deal,” and for that, I must repent. I have been inundated with the false idea that God is merciful, but not wrathful. I must realize that without wrath, there can be no mercy, and seek to take God more seriously.

Forgive me, Lord, for worshiping myself, as if you’d “understand” and let it slide. Grant me repentance, that I may come to fully honor and fear your Name. Allow me to fall in love with the truth of your Word, and correct my wicked heart. To you, God, be glory. Amen.