This is the second part of a series I’m starting entitled “The God I Wish You Knew”. If you’d like a refresher on what it’s all about, I made a post previously introducing the series here.

The second misconception I’ll address in this series is that God is like a Grandfather who is nice but old and out of touch with reality nowadays. I understand the logic behind this reasoning. The fact that the Bible was written like 2,000 years ago. Society has evolved so it makes sense to people that Jesus’ teachings are no longer relevant to today’s culture.

I think the better way to frame the question is not to ask if God is out of touch with today’s society, but if today’s society is out of touch with God? To that question, I would answer yes. However, that doesn’t mean God is out of touch with our reality.

Hebrews 4:15 says this:

“For we do not have a high priest (referring to Jesus) who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet he did not sin.” NIV (brackets mine)

The Message version actually flat out says He is not out of touch with our reality:

“Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let’s not let it slip through our fingers. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin.” Hebrew 4:14-16 MSG.

For many people just seeing a scripture like this, even as clear as it’s stated, is not enough for them. No problem. Let’s break it down further then. Why exactly is it that people have this perception that God cannot relate to them?

This is a tough one because many people will say the right things on the surface because they don’t want to deal with the real problems. You have to get past the smokescreen to get to the real objections. In my experience, I think many people feel He can’t relate because of the “rules” they think He imposes. It seems unreasonable that He would ask us to keep all those commandments. Surely anybody who understands what it’s like to be a human being would understand that keeping all those rules is impossible right? Exactly. Wait what? I thought you were a Christian? Don’t you believe in the 10 commandments?

Here is what the Bible says about the law (10 commandments):

“For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.” Romans 3:20 NLT.

So we see here that the purpose of the law was not to give us a list of do’s and don’ts to perform in order to be made right with God. It was to show us our need for a savior. The reason these laws were given was because we were getting prideful and started to think we didn’t need God. So God basically said, ok then, let’s see what you can do. The exact response that most people have to the law (throwing your hands up in the air and saying it’s impossible), is the exact response it was intended to have. It’s meant to bring you to the end of trusting in yourself. Unfortunately, religion has misinterpreted the reason for these commandments and makes people think it’s all about obeying these rules and what we can do for God when it’s really all about what He has done for us.

So when you understand the purpose behind the law, it will help you understand the character of God more. It’s not that He’s so demanding and unreasonable. He’s just trying to get you to see that you can’t do life in your own power and that you need Him. Contrary to what many believe, Christianity isn’t about behavior modification. It’s about a personal relationship with a living God.

To piggy back on this point about the law, another thing I think contributes to people thinking God can’t relate to them is that they have this mentality that they are just a sinner or that is the way God view’s them so He doesn’t want to be around them. Well, look at what happened when Adam & Eve sinned in the garden. In Genesis 3:9 we see God calling out to Adam and seeking Him out and this was AFTER they had sinned. Romans 3:23 says that Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. God doesn’t see you as some worthless sinner who He doesn’t want to be around.

How do you determine the value of something? How much somebody is willing to pay for it. God was willing to pay His only son for you. To help put some context to this, imagine if somehow somebody still had a drop of Jesus’ blood and imagine if they put it up for sale on Amazon. How much do you think it would go for? Priceless right? Guys like Donald Trump and all his millions couldn’t even afford one drop of Jesus’ blood. That’s how much God values you.

So, I hope this helps you see that God hasn’t turned his back on society despite our sin and He isn’t trying to impose some unreasonable law system on us. God isn’t the problem. Once we get past this, I think the next logical question is how is a society that is so loved by God so out of touch with Him? Quite simply…pride.

I’m in sales, so I’m trained to try to solve problems. The first step in helping solve problems is getting the other party to see that there is a problem. If they can’t see a problem, then they won’t seek out a solution. The main problem in context of Christianity is pride. People think they are good enough, strong enough and wise enough on their own and that they don’t need God. They don’t see a problem. So if that is the case, a solution won’t be relevant to them.

I will definitely talk more about how to overcome these problems and objections in the future but the main thing I wanted to point out in this post is that God is not out of touch with today’s society. As a matter of fact, here is a quote from Graham Cooke that I thought would be a good way to end:

“God is a genius in every aspect of life. At least have the decency to be intrigued.”

If anybody has any questions or comments feel free to post them below or on Facebook. Thanks for stopping by. Blessings on ya.