God in 3 words or less

This weekend, we had a Confirmation retreat here at the church with 58 8th graders and 10 leaders (and as I am writing this early Sunday morning, I can vouch for the fact that there are lots of scrubby, tired kids wandering around!). Everyone should sleep at their church at least once in their life though! And they are a great group.

Our topic this weekend was almost impossible to cover in one day and that is "Who is God?" In some ways, that is the topic for the ENTIRE YEAR of Confirmation, but that was the focus for the retreat.

What does one say to 8th graders to try and explain to them who the God we worship as Christians is? Do you introduce them to words like Omnipotent and Omniscient? Do you talk about immutability and creating everything ex nehilo (out of nothing)? Do you talk about the unmoved mover? As I was scanning through my theological training, these were the words and phrases that came to mind.

And all of them are absolutely true.

But I can just hear the 8th graders as I was explaining all of these grand theological truths...

"WHO CARES? Why do we care about all those big words and the God at the center of them?"

That is the great thing about kids -- they don't care about big words and eternal pronouncements. They want to know who this God is and why they should care about him at all.

So I decided to take a different angle. I decided I would try to describe God in 3 words or less using the word pictures of the Bible. Obviously, there are tons I could have chosen, but here's what I came up with...

First, God is LOVE. "Beloved let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.” -- I John 4:7-9

For my money, that is the best reason to believe in the Christian God. We do not worship a God who is aloof, angry all the time, indifferent, or waiting for us to screw up so he can throw lightening bolts at us. God's very nature is LOVE. As Brennan Manning says, God loves us as we are and not as we should be -- because no one is as they should be.

And all of Scripture attests to that fact. Jesus is love incarnate, God's ultimate expression of love. God is love.

Second, God is LIGHT. “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. -- I John 1:5-7

What a compelling reason to believe in the God of our Christian faith. God shows things to be as they really are, he does not want us to walk in darkness to trip over ourselves and those potholes in our paths. God has plans for us and desires nothing more than for us to live life at its very best with him.

But the fact that God is light is also a reminder that God is pure and does not accept the darkness. God is holy, and calls us to live in holiness as well. His light shines and we are called to find ourselves in it. Jesus is the ultimate example of this light (he too is called "light" in Scripture -- John 9:5). He is the beacon that shines the way to God and calls us to holiness. God is light.

Finally God is YES. "For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not ‘Yes and No’; but in him it is always ‘Yes.’ For in him every one of God’s promises is a ‘Yes.’ For this reason it is through him that we say the ‘Amen,’ to the glory of God. – II Corinthians 1:19,20

Throughout Scripture this is the story of the God that we worship. He says YES to us, we respond with a no on a regular basis, but he keeps coming back and saying YES. It is a beautiful love relationship between God and humanity, that no matter how far we stray, his response is the same because of his love for us. Certainly, he has given us the choice to say no if we want (even into eternity it seems). But that doesn't change God's posture towards us.

In fact, it is Jesus that is God's big YES to the world, as II Corinthians recognizes. What a beautiful way to encapsulate Jesus' ministry. He is God's YES.

What really separates our view of God as Christians then is Jesus himself. He is God's LOVE, He is God's LIGHT, He is God's YES. I can believe in a God like that!!!

Now, I am sure I left out some important piece of doctrine in my 15 minutes of fame with the 8th graders -- but I gave it my best shot! That is the brillance and fun of Christian proclamation -- figuring out how to proclaim the Good News in each unique culture and context.

So what about you? If you had to describe the God we worship as Christians in 3 words or less, what would they be? What passages of Scripture would you look to? What stories would you tell? My encouragement is to give it a shot! It will be a great exercise for your faith life and it would be a great thing to place in your back pocket as you share with people the hope that you have.

We live in a world that is very open to talking about things pertaining to God, it seems. What would you say? Feel free to post your responses on the comment board. I'd love to see them!

Blessings,
jeff