It's a trend in the Christian world that is not given enough thought. Reading the book, Narnia, one comes away with the idea that God is wild. Aslan represents Christ in the Narnian stories. And this theme is built upon a lot these days by contemporary Christian authors and speakers.

I do read John Eldredge's books from time to time. He themes about masculinity and femininity are very good, but in a real sense they can also inhibit one in their relationship with God.

John Eldredge talks of God as being wild and dangerous. Unpredictable. And on one hand I agree with him, in that God is not something we can imprison to our own whims and tastes.

On the other hand, I have to disagree with the heavy emphasis being laid on God being wild and dangerous. The Aslan view of God can get in the way of people wanting to be near Him. Instinct tends to overwhelm wisdom in all of us at times. Being instinctual, we don't want to be around someone that is dangerous and unsettling. We are constantly in defense mode, even without realizing it... when we think of God as a lion.

Jesus talked of God in very different ways though. In fact, Christ's emphasis when He talked of God was on His Fatherhood. In other words, Jesus worked to drop people's guard against God.

Religion speaks of God as a judge. Which is why people naturally recoiled away from God. Jesus did make it clear that God is not someone to be trifled with, but at the same time, His major emphasis was relational. He made people feel comfortable just being with Him. He worked to help people feel safe with God.

The lion view of God is not the whole picture. He's also called the Lamb. There is a balance to God's nature. He is not one without the other. As a lion, He is uncompromising and powerful. As a lamb, He is gentle and never abrasive. One aspect of His nature is wild and free, the other part is tame and peaceful.

So, I do agree in part with John Eldredge when he describes a wild and dangerous God. But, I do not agree with placing most of the emphasis on that one characteristic. Because God is not just wild and dangerous. According to the Bible, God is far from being unpredictable.

Part of what makes a relationship beautiful and enriching is predictability. It's not a bad word after all. Sure, too much of it will ruin a relationship, but too little of it will do the same.

Predictability in a good sense fosters trust and comfort. Husbands are told in the Bible to dwell with their wives according to knowledge. In other words... get to know what she needs, and give her what she needs. The same works vise versa. In an unpredictable relationship, there is no knowledge of the necessities of the other person. In fact, the two words can't even be brought together, because relationship means to "Relate" to one another.

Unpredictability in a relationship is never good. Spontaneity however is good. There is a difference between the two. Spontaneity is not unpredictability. It is also based on the principle of Familiarity. You don't act spontaneous with a perfect stranger, because what you do to with that stranger may land you in a lot of trouble.

You can take and hug someone you know because they know you enough to realize that when you hug them it's a genuine sign of affection. But, to a perfect stranger, it may be interpreted in a negative way for someone they don't even know to just walk up to them and hug them.

Even in the Bible this principle is laid down... "Lay hands suddenly upon no one..." We are told to be gentle to all people.

Jesus Himself referred to Himself as meek and lowly in heart in Matthew 11. And then He told people... "When you see Me, you see God..." In other words, Jesus revealed that God is a gentle God. Definitely all powerful and uncompromising, but also as meek and humble as a lamb.

What gets in our way is that we constantly view God only in the sense of His power. He is the Highest of all, and we instinctively relate to Him in that manner. Making ourselves feel like tiny things in His presence.

But, Jesus said something that most people seem to miss. The lowest in the Kingdom of Heaven is also the greatest. We have a tendency to think that He was talking about us, but He wasn't. He was referring to Himself.

What makes the God of the Bible unique is that He is not only most High, but He is also the most low. The Bible says that God became a servant. A servant to fallen humanity. This concept is hard to take, because most Christians don't like to think of God in that way. They have the Simon Peter complex, who at first refused that God should be so low as to strip to a servant's towel and wash his feet.

This kind of a God does not get preached a lot in Churches. A servant God.

Most modern believers have a lion fetish. We worship a God of all power and authority, while at the same time completely missing the point. True power is not status or ability. But humility.

The all-powerful One became the least servant of all. Philippians tells us that Christ knew He was equal to God, but He still embraced servant hood. So much so that when even one of the least among us is blessed or hurt, He Himself is blessed or hurt. He identifies with the lowest among humans, because He has been lower than any of us.

I will go so far as to say that most Christians view God... without even realizing it... with luciferian vision. Lucifer worshipped power. And we also instinctively relegate worship in that direction. In a real sense, we think that is what God wants us to do. And, to a degree it is not at all wrong.

When you see a work of art that is profound, it speaks of the profoundness of the artist. But the work of art in itself is not sufficient to reveal the artist in his/her entirety. But, when all we do is worship God because of His power, we show ourselves to be closer to Lucifer than to Christ.

Jesus rebuked Simon Peter at one time by calling him satan. Saying... "You savor the things that be of men, and not the things that be of God." Power and prestige in other words. And, when Peter showed his nearness to satan's nature again when he refused to have his feet washed by a servant God, Jesus said... "Either let Me be your servant, or you have no part of Me..."

Jesus made it abundantly clear to Peter that if all he wanted was a God-King,... he wouldn't have God at all.

Humans worship power. But, God Himself comes along and tells us that the truly powerful are the servants, not the rulers. Demonstrating for all time that the god of power we mostly worship is an insult to Him. It goes way too far when we don't keep in mind that the most High God who we worship was also the lowest servant of all.

We tend to worship with luciferian worship.

Jesus taught that God is not weak and timid. But He also revealed that God is not above servanthood. In fact, His most High-ness is inseparable from His most low-ness. Jesus made that clear. The Greatest of all is the lowest of all,... the lowest of all is the Greatest of all. In other words... God.

By Joel

aka ThunderAngel

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