Goosebumps God

Hello fellow nerds. I am back again, with the third installment of I Want to Believe, But. This time, we are going to investigate another interesting subject about an aspect of God that does not exist. This is the Goosebump God. I want to apologize first, as this is going to be a long message, because it is this aspect of God that does not exist, but is misinterpreted today, and we really need to dissect it.

To understand the Goosebump God scenario is to think like you are watching your favorite anime. The MC is beaten down and almost defeated, but suddenly, their theme music fades in, the MC gives a great speech, then proceeds to win the fight. In watching this scenario, it gives you the proverbial goosebumps, depending on how good the director made the scene. So, why, when pastors, have given the perception that God, with his presence, you should feel something great? And it must be constant in order to be faithful to God?

As a pastor myself, I have often felt abandoned by God, even though I know He is with me. The problem with many pastors today is they give the perception that God is a constant with them, always in their lives. In return, this “piety” really affects the perception by you, the believe or non-believe. You might think,” Well, God does not want me around,” or “The pastor always sees God, and I don’t. Guess the pastor is a better person than I am.” And this is a product of our current society norm: if you cannot feel it, touch it, hear it, or even taste it, then it does not exist, or is present.

As I mentioned before, God is always there. Here is the kicker. God is there but is not in your face 24/7. And the weird part is, this is normal. Seriously. I mean, how many of you out there have felt the presence of God 24/7? What about today? And what constitutes God being present in this exact moment? Here is the litmus test.

God’s presence gives you a tingly feeling – like being close to your girlfriend or, for some of you, staying up, ready for the Day 1 release of an anticipated game.

God’s presence can make you cry – like at the end of the anime Angel Beats. That anime’s ending is so emotional that I cannot help but cry.

God’s presence is peaceful, even in a chaotic situation

Ok, so, you did not feel his presence now or today. We normally find a source to blame for this failure. Is it God’s fault? Your fault? My fault as a pastor? No. As I said, this is normal, and you are not the only one to be in this situation. If you read Psalm 88:13-14, the psalmist states, then asks quite clearly:

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language Psalm 88

I’m standing my ground, GOD, shouting for help,

at my prayers every morning, on my knees each daybreak.

Why, GOD, do you turn a deaf ear?

Why do you make yourself scarce?

Can’t get more direct than that. And when I mean you are not alone; you really are not alone. C.S. Lewis, you know, the guy who wrote that small series, The Chronicles of Narnia, who wrote The Screwtape Letters, and was a Christian apologetic. On that last description, Google it. But even Mr. Lewis, in his book, A Grief Observed, stated:

There are no lights in the windows. It might be an empty house. Was it ever inhabited? It seemed so once… Why is God so present a commander in our time of prosperity and so absent in time of trouble?

Even he questioned the existence of God because he did not feel God’s presence during his time of grief. So, why do we not always feel God? Here are three possibilities:

Maybe You are Over Sensationalizing It

And I do mean you. But it is not 100% your fault in this observation. For those of us who have lived in the Christian community, we are told almost constantly that there are signs to God’s presence. Visual signs that appear out of nowhere. Even Hollywood shows this in movies like, Bruce Almighty, Evan Almighty, etc. Even in John chapter 6 verses 30 and 31, the disciples ask Jesus, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” And this question comes the day after the feeding of the 5,000 in Capernaeum. Think about it. Jesus provides a miracle like God feeding Moses’ flock in the wilderness, and it is still not enough.

So, here, if we always felt God’s presence, then we would not have faith in Him, or as in the disciples’ example, did not have faith until Jesus’ death. And this is the true definition of faith, according to Merriam-Webster: a firm belief in something for which there is no proof. This leads to the next possibility,

Maybe Your Heart is Hardened

And not just as you are an indifferent individual. Sin, when made comfortable to you, hardens your heart against God. Sin separates us from his presence, his love, compassion. God and sin cannot coexist, unlike what some bumper stickers might say. I am talking about those stickers with the Satanic-style pentagram next to the cross, crescent moon, star of David and the correct pentagram. Does not work when God cast Satan from heaven, ok? How do we know when our heart is hardened? We can test this by looking at Matthew chapter 13, verses 14 and 15:

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language Chapter 13

Your ears are open but you don’t hear a thing.

Your eyes are awake but you don’t see a thing.

The people are blockheads!

They stick their fingers in their ears

so they won’t have to listen;

They screw their eyes shut

so they won’t have to look,

so they won’t have to deal with me face-to-face

and let me heal them.

I have had several discussions with some people in Portugal regarding the existence of God when I posted a video on Facebook two years ago. These folks exemplify this passage and the previous ideas on why they do not feel God. All they did was “talk,” but not “listen.” And since this is Facebook, they had to read my response. During these discussions, they wanted visual signs. They had lost faith in the Father, and Jesus, that they hardened their hearts. The comfort of sin is probably better, in their minds, than to experience the power God has. Also, they had been inundated with rules from the church in their youth, so that, in turn, makes sin look more comforting, like a parka in Antarctica. And finally,

Maybe God Wants to Draw YOU Closer

As I said before, during this series, God is not at your disposal. But God is like the stereotypical parent after the kids leave home. With sayings like: “You don’t visit us that often,” and, “I haven’t seen/talked to you lately,” God wants to continue the relationship and connection. He wants you to seek Him. We see this illustrated in Acts 17:26-27

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language Chapter 17

Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near.

What God did was make all nations, with their histories and boundaries. This is so that, when all is said and done, we are wishing to be connected to God, the one who will unify us all in the end. We can look at the 400-year silence of God with the Israelites and the occupation of their land by various states. God sent Jesus after this time. God heard the people's desire to seek Him. It was this silence that helped reinforce the desire to pursue God. As the old adage states: Absence makes the heart grow fonder while familiarity breeds contempt.

Again, we see this in Jesus’ life. The disciples become very contemptuous as they travel with Jesus, bringing earthly attitudes and questions within Jesus’ ministry. At the Last Supper, when Jesus states that Peter will deny him three times before the cock crows the dawn, it is not until Peter fulfills this prophesy that Peter understands. Peter’s familiarity with Jesus denied him the ability to pursue what Peter needed. And once Peter made his denials, he became aware of the worldly pursuit during his walk with Jesus and changed to pursuing God for the rest of his life, as illustrated from the writings and letters found in the Bible.

So, before I wrap up this message in prayer, I want to leave you with a few thoughts. First, just because God is silent does not mean He is absent. Second, don’t believe everything you feel. Feelings are not facts and are tied more to emotions. Finally, the goosebumps God does not exist because it is the norm. It is God’s frequent silence that is the norm, for how are we to grow and pursue Him in the future, when He is always there.

[CLOSING PRAYER]

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On behalf of myself and everyone at The Greater Guild, have fun, be yourself and be real.