The blog The Sign of Jonah has written a thought-provoking post entitled The Sovereignty of God that discusses about how much modern theology is from a mindset that God can not be God unless we do certain things to make things ‘right’ in God’s eyes….
These certain things are such concepts as man has to speak words of faith onto the earth, the breaker anointing, strategic-level spiritual warfare, voting in certain politicians, give $66 dollars a month for 12 months to release Psalms 66:12
, break open a portal, repentance of the day, assign a gatekeeper, place bible verse stakes at the city limits, identification repentance, read the bible longer, put more money in the plate, pray harder, etc.
What these types of teachings do is to place handcuffs on God and ultimately drive us into a legalism of getting the ducks in a row before we feel that God can even come down upon us when the sovereignty of God is permanent. It really smacks of a mindset that God can not be God in earth because he needs my help in order to remain God. My failure to do something somehow places the sovereignty, omnipotence, and omnipresence of God in dire jeopardy of being eternally lost. In fact, I am perplexed as how a theological belief prevalent within pentecostal/charismatic circles loved to state that your complaining about your life was a ‘pity-party’ is theologically wrapped around a mindset of “Poor God, have pity on him. He needs our help, NOW! We must do something and do it quick or doom is on the horizon.”
The logic is like tag-team professional wrestling. God somehow gets into a bind and tires out to become weak and must ‘tag’ me into the match in order for him to rest and recuperate. However, at the end of the ‘match’ of movements, who gets credit for the three count victory? In most of this theology, it appears man does because it comes down to man doing some act that is turned into a signature “move” patented and marketed into seminars, books, tapes, and conventions calling it a new thing when it is the old stuff renamed and/or revised to blend in with our ever-changing beliefs.
“Here is your winner…..(insert name here)”
However, in God’s eyes. God is the one that better be receiving the glory because in reality, we can not do anything without him. He doesn’t need my help. He doesn’t need to ‘use’ people. The sovereignty of God was here before I was born, here today while I am alive, and will still be around a century after I became the dust of the earth. God can do anything he wants, at what time he wants to do something, and with a people he so chooses.
It is not “poor God” but Powerful God……
Keith’s insight is great. So many times those who are involved in stuff like this are blind to what they are actually saying. God does not need my help. He is God. To recognize him as anything less than completely in control is to diminish his sovereignty and raise myself up. We are simply privileged that he chooses us to be involved in his purposes.