Walking with the Wise #225: The Imaginary god

“The LORD is far from the wicked,

but He hears the prayer of the righteous.”

—Proverbs 15:29

Our generation is guilty of idolatry, for we have created our own gods. Not that they are gods of wood, stone, or metal, but gods of our imagination who are removed from our daily lives but are there when we need them to appeal to or assuage our consciences whenever tragedy strikes. I have seen this god referred to after tragic events, at civic rallies, and funerals as the godless cite him on their Facebook pages and Twitter feeds so that their cause or loved one is given a manifest destiny and ushered into a kingdom that requires no faith, no sacrifice, no obedience, and definitely no suffering.

I have seen this god in the collective imagination of a nation, whereby he becomes what is best in all of us, but does not call any of us to account for our moral behavior. He is always positive, never negative and doesn’t call us to follow him—he would never do such a thing as impose on our busy lives nor would he call us to sacrifice or to obedience, for that would interfere with our sins. He is the god who tolerates all, and who hates anyone who dares to speak intolerantly. Those who oppose this god are labeled as backwards, foolish, intolerant, uneducated, unenlightened, or bigoted.

Dare to speak against him and you will be hated, for he is the god of the people, the people’s creation, the collective conscience of a nation and people who have severed the ties of absolute truth and of the Creator God who calls us to repentance, replaced by the imaginary utopian idealism that gives nothing but comfort in our time of need. But his comfort, just like the rest of him, is illusory. He is nothing. He cannot save, nor can he comfort, for he is not real. Sure, the idea of him may serve as a crutch of comfort to the crowds, but reality will trump imagination every time. One may believe that they don’t have cancer and go on their merry way choosing to believe that all is well, but the pains will persist, the symptoms will intensify, and death will overcome despite the best wishes and intentions of the imagination.

But that is not God. That is an illusion, a figment of our imagination and an abomination in the sight of God. There is only one God and He is who He is in all of His love, mercy, justice, wrath, and longsuffering. He is holy, so holy that He dwells in unapproachable light (cf. 1 Timothy 6:16), too holy as to look upon sin (cf. Habakkuk 1:13), and is considered to be a consuming fire (cf. Hebrews 12:9) as His holiness burns us up in all of our impurities—therefore, we are lost, tossed back and forth on the seas of sin, and this is because we have voluntarily cut the anchor of security that came through the knowledge of His Son, Jesus Christ.

God does not hear the prayer of the wicked, but only the prayer of the righteous. We know in our heart of hearts that there is no good that dwells within us. The only righteousness we have comes through embracing the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of life. It is through Him that we have the righteousness that comes by faith, the righteousness that comes from God, and the kind of righteousness required of God for us. Those who have that righteousness will find God listening to their requests. It’s not that we will never sin, but rather we live in the knowledge that we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous (cf. 1 John 2:1). Jesus enables us to be pure in the sight of God, to have cleansed consciences as we confess our sins to Him, to live a righteous life.

Don’t believe the lies of this world that there is a god who requires nothing of you. Turn to the one true God who has declared that He will not hear the prayers of the wicked, but will hear the prayers of the righteous, who cry out to Him day and night for justice and intervention. It is in Him we trust. Amen.