Three Deep And One Shallow

A Blog About the Most Important Thing by Katie Hawkins

This quote by A.W. Tozer, set me to thinking:

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

I pondered that. It sounded good. It was deep! 

Plus, I knew the reputation of the writer who said it. He was known as a modern-day prophet because he spent huge parts of his day praying and studying scripture. He was also known for spouting great wisdom. He must be right.

But then I wondered, why is that the most important thing? What if we are confused or ignorant or just plain wrong when we think about God? Or what if we never think about Him? Does that make us lesser people?  

So, I did what any shallow thinker would do and asked SIRI to clarify for me. Up popped an article that quoted another deep thinker who somewhat disagreed with Tozer’s statement. C.S. Lewis, whom many of you know as a brilliant writer, theologian and professor at both Oxford and Cambridge University, said this:

 “I read in a periodical the other day that the fundamental thing is how we think of God. By God himself, it is not! How God thinks of us is not only more important, but infinitely more important!  Indeed, how we think of him is of no importance except insofar as it is related to how he thinks of us.” 

So, one guy says the most important thing about me is what comes into my mind when I think about God and the other guy says the most important thing about me is what comes into God’s mind when He thinks about me. Who is right?

God started it all by thinking about us before we had any concept of who He was. He created each of us in our mother’s womb. He made us into His image with a plan and a purpose to call us to Himself before we had a thought of wanting to know Him. He sent His Son to die for us before we cared a whit about Him.  

His thoughts about each of us, specifically, individually, are filled with love. 

So, to C.S. Lewis, I say this shallow thinker agrees with you! What God thinks of me is infinitely important!

Now, A.W. Tozer, I’m not dismissing your statement. (I’m sure they are both thanking me from Heaven, relieved that I approve of their profound thoughts!) Because what I think of God IS crucial to the kind of person I am becoming and how I handle what life throws at me. But are my thoughts of God correct in that they are formulated from the truth of how He thinks of me?  

I believe that God woos all mankind through various ways and means to convey His love to His created beings. I think what Tozer is saying is that the most important thing about how each of us lives our lives is what we conclude about the nature of God and how He wants to relate to us. The belief that there is a God who knows us, thinks about us, loves us, and wants to be involved with us changes everything in how we deal with life.  

Let me illustrate what I’ve come to believe about this as my own mind was opened by one more deep thinker, Skye Jethani, author of the book With: Reimagining the Way you Relate to God.

Because we live in a hard world, Skye says that all human beings throughout all time have struggled with fear and suffering. He proposes that all religions are our attempts at control to mitigate that fear. He uses five prepositions to describe different ways we might be thinking about how we relate to God or whatever you want to call the “supernatural forces” around us. 

The first preposition: OVER.

When we don’t believe there is a God or think He is real but uninvolved with us, then our faith is in ourselves and our own abilities. We live life OVER God. We can’t expect any divine assistance so naturally when troubles come our way, we figure it out on our own. We decide right and wrong, we save ourselves and our loved ones from harm, we fight the injustices we see in our own strength with whatever weapons we think we possess.

The second preposition: UNDER.

This is when we believe that God might get involved with us, but because He is a tyrant, needs to be appeased before He will help us. We activate whatever superstitions we have been taught and perform the needed rituals, hoping all along it will be right, hoping we will do enough. We might even be Christians and believe in Jesus but still have the belief that if we pray just right or fast enough, or spend enough time in the Bible, at church, etc., God will then be satisfied and help us. If we don’t get it right, He won’t give us what we’re asking. This is living life UNDER God.

The third preposition: FROM.

This is when we believe God exists completely for us, not the other way around. Then because we call the shots, God basically needs to deliver what we want, when we want it. This is living life just trying to get FROM God

The fourth preposition: FOR.

This is when we believe that working FOR God is the secret to pulling the right strings to ensure safety and a meaningful existence. We pour all our energies into working hard for God.  The mission itself becomes most important, in one sense, it becomes our savior. 

These are different approaches but all attempts at control, and every one of them falls short. In some cases, they increase our fears because our attempts at control are never enough! So rather than producing peace and tranquility in our souls, many forms of religion function like a treadmill with the speed being gradually increased. We run faster and faster to gain more and more control, but we never arrive at our destination. 

The final preposition Sky uses in his book With is… you guessed it… WITH!

In the author’s words (emphasis mine):

In the gospel of John it says, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” Jesus being the Word came in the flesh and dwelt among us. Immanuel, God with us. The posture of life with God is predicated on the view that relationship is at the core of the cosmos, not self, not laws, not mission, not some capricious will, but a real intimate genuine relationship with God.

Putting the thoughts of these three deep thinkers into my own mind to ponder has given me such joy and freedom! 

C.S., thank you for reminding me that God is a relational being and that He loves me.  

A.W., thank you for reminding me that what I think about God is the most important thing about me because it will govern how I relate to Him and in turn how I live out my life.  

And Skye (no initials for you?), thank you for showing me that a real and intimate relationship with God doesn’t involve me trying to placate and appease Him with rituals or hard work, nor does it involve Him indulging me in my every plea because He loves me.

 All three of you deep thinkers have helped this shallow one truly understand the simple gospel. The good news that there is a God who loves us and came to Earth to be with us, is now what comes to my mind when I think about God. Instead of fear and the need for control, I feel an overwhelming sense of peace. And that’s important!