Thursday, April 3, 2008

Do we need God?

It is a funny thing, but lately we are being told that we don't really need God. Even voices within the faith are saying that this whole Christian thing is outdated and we need to start fresh.

To start fresh means reading the Bible with skeptic's eyes, it means hesitating to swallow the myth of a person named Jesus who came to do and say things that were going to get him killed, it means recognizing that the Resurrection, while a powerful story is only a story.

The problem with starting fresh is that we are left with nothing but ourselves. If we cannot access any revelation of God outside of ourselves, what is to prevent us from worshiping the face in the mirror?

The advantage of the Bible is not that it is the "Inerrant Word of God", but that it challenges us to start somewhere else than ourselves for our spiritual quest. We may search far and wide from that starting point. We may change the way we see God and ourselves. We may change what it is that gives us purpose in life.

We need a God who is outside of ourselves to give us perspective. We need a God who will not let us get away with just being comfortable, but will make us grow stronger, braver, and even, more faithful.