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God’s Will
02.12.2008 by Chad McIntosh
Christians treat God’s will as though it were some giant mystery or puzzle. I think there are a number of problems with this view, theological and Biblical. Most confusion about the issue of God’s will I think is due to conflating the following two questions:
(1) What is God’s will?
(2) What is God’s will for my life?
Consider the latter. It is by framing the question of God’s will only in the context of (2) it becomes shrouded in mystery. One problem with seeing God’s will thusly, for all practical purposes, is that it aids us precious little in life. Even if we think we’ve ‘figured out’ a part of God’s will for us, such wouldn’t seem to get us any closer to answering the larger question “what is God’s will for my life.” This is because you have no way of knowing how and if this smaller part even fits into the larger picture—and if you say you do, then you no longer treat God’s will as puzzling or mysterious. Knowledge of God’s will becomes arbitrary at best, more than likely resembling your own will than His. The only difference between the two is a false pretense of prostration.
Moreover, ask yourself “why would God make his will for your life puzzling and mysterious?” If he is really serious about us living accordingly, do you really think he would give it to us in the form of an enigma? If so, could we really be blamed for falling short? That’d be like entering a game without being told the rules only to be disqualified and ejected for reasons unknown to you. In short, the problem with (2) is its narcissism. Once we put the emphasis where it belongs (God) the question of God’s will is pretty straightforward:
For this is God’s will, your sanctification…
1 Thes 4.3ffTherefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
Rom 12.1-2
God’s will is not some fated course of events. God’s will for your life is the same for everyone’s life: personal sanctification. Holiness. All the rest—what college you go to, who you marry, what pair of socks you wear—I am inclined to say God doesn’t give a crap. This presents the following paradox: The more in accord you are with God’s will, the freer you become in your own will. This is, I think, the gist of Colossians 3.23: “Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men.”
February 12th, 2008 at 5:41 am
did tim write this or Christian? it seems more like christian to me.
February 12th, 2008 at 5:42 am
nevermind, it’s chad… explains that whole marriage thing ;)
February 12th, 2008 at 10:18 am
So, If I came to you and told you that God tole me to move my family to Florida without and I was going to do that what would you say? If I further said that I believed if I didn’t do that, I would be violating God’s will for my life, how would you respond?
February 12th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Mandy, First of all, I sign my posts. I have no clue why Chad’s name isn’t on this. Secondly, I feel like somehow in those two comments, you took some cheap potshot at me. I just can’t quite place it. Third, you didn’t actually comment on the post. What do you think about it? Fourth, it sounds more like Tim than me. At least based on our previous discussions on the will of God.
At this point in my life, I am up in the air on this subject. I think there is a mystery to God’s will if for no other reason than we cannot see or know the future beyond a few truths from Scripture. Christ will return, but frankly there’s a lot of mystery surrounding it (I’d like to think I’ve got Revelation down, but let’s be honest, that is one crazy mysterious book). There is plenty enough for us to know both of the future and of the present to know how we should live. And Chad most certainly got sanctification right as a part of God’s will for man (this is of course assuming you are already reconciled to God). But there is still alot of mystery to it all. You can make your own choices, but sometimes your options are limited. Sometimes it seems as if God just puts you where he wants you (anecdotal evidence given by many different persons upon request.) I do understand where Chad is coming from. There are many Christians who obsess over God’s will for their lives and they miss the first parts about living for Him right where they are. I also think that Chad’s conclusions can bring peace and direction to a person’s life. At the same time, those conclusions are a little too simplistic.
Joe, I think you left out a word or added one in. Your first question makes no sense.
February 12th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Oh, that’s why Chad’s name didn’t show up, this stupid format *coughTimcough* only displays the name in fine print on the mane pages. I was wondering how a person could post without it giving them credit.
Tim, this has caused confusion more than once. Even your own wife got hung up by it.
February 12th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Christian-
i wasn’t taking a potshot at you- how did you get that from my comment? I just meant, if I was picking a writer- it didn’t sound like Tim to Me. (I guess I mean it didn’t feel like Tim’s writing style.)
And no, I didn’t comment on the article. I don’t think God picks out my socks but I sure hope that I pray for a reason. I think Chad’s post goes very close to Deism.
February 12th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Joe,
What would I say to you in that situation? I imagine I’d respond similarly to how I would respond to someone like Andrea Yates. I would first and foremost inquire as to what non-religious motives you may have for making that decision (which would more than likely tell me how involved God really is in your decision making process). Then, if necessary, proceed to ask what religious reasons (Biblical or revelatory) you have for thinking God wants this of you. I say “if necessary” in the case of the latter because of how far I think simple rational reflection would bring us to seeing which is wisest choice in the matter. I have a hard time thinking that the smartest thing to do in a given situation is that far from what God would condone. It’s funny how we use “spirituality” as an excuse to not think and act responsibly.
Christian,
What is “too simplistic” about the conclusions in the post?
Mandy,
I’m not saying God is absent from our decision making. I’m saying the more we are in tune with God’s will, i.e. sanctified, the more likely we are to think God’s thoughts and hence know what God would have us do in a given situation. Such a form of communication couldn’t be more intimate—in other words, a far cry from the God of deism.
February 12th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Mandy, I was trying (not very hard) to be funny. It seemed that you disagreed with the post in some sense and that by attributing it to me you were saying I was the idiot who wrote it (Chad, in no way am I saying you are an idiot or that Mandy thinks you are (she might, but I doubt it), I use that word in a hyperbolic sense).
Tim, I’d be interested in hearing your comments on this post.
Chad, Your conclusions are too simplistic in that they reduce the mystery of a relationship with God through prayer and His various tools of revelationtowards maturation in our lives (Not new Revelation but teaching and conviction that comes from our time spent with God in various ways including fellowship with other Christians) to “live right and everything you do will be fine with God.”
You have many good and correct conclusions in your post, they just don’t leave room for other things like faith and answered prayer. I have seen a number of elderships in churches make decisions that did not seem wise by worldy standards, are not necessary to “live holy lives,” and could not be accomplished without God. Would they have been obedient to God if they hadn’t made such decisions? In their personal lives, very probably. Would God have worked with them in those things if they made a different decision? Beats me. There seems to be a lot of mystery there. Should that prevent us from making decisions? Absolutely not.
I don’t have all the answers, just lots of questions. Like I said, you make some good and correct points, and what you say needs to be a starting place for everybody. I would agree that it doesn’t matter where you work or live, who you marry, etc, if you aren’t first of all living in Christ, and second of all being obedient in every way. Instead of praying for where to work when we don’t like our job, we should pray how we can live holy lives where we work treating everybody with respect and love and doing our jobs wholeheartedly as if for God. But just because we start in one place, doesn’t mean that is the end of the matter.
February 12th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
I think it is important for me to note that I do not believe that God’s will is “some fated course of events.” But I do believe God to be active in our world today through churches and individuals.
Anecdotally, I have a new friend I met in seminary last semester. He’s almost finished with his degree and works full time for ADM. Last summer he took a mission trip to Ghana, Africa. During the middle of the semester he was contemplating what to do as far as ministry is concerned and he really didn’t know. He started praying about it. He contacted the missionary in Ghana he stayed with and said he was considering going there to do missions work. The next day his human resources manager called him into his office and told him they were opening a new processing plant in Ghana and they wanted this guy to manage it. He moved there in the middle of January. He didn’t ask God to provide that. His heart was for the people of Ghana, God’s heart was for the people of Ghana. God set him up to live among that people to witness to them. (I would venture to comment that God was even developing in this gentleman a heart for the people of Ghana.) Did this situation need a person who was “in accord with God’s will?” Absolutely. And yet I see something that looks an awful lot like God’s will for this man’s life coming through in that story.
February 12th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Christian, I agree with everything you wrote, being confident in thinking you don’t believe this to be everything I could say on the issue of God’s will–simplistic conclusions being unavoidable in light of a length such that I can post in good conscience.
Regarding your friend going to Ghana: The more interesting question, I think, is whether he would be outside of God’s will were he not to go.
February 12th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
That might be a more interesting question (and most probably unanswerable until we all get to heaven), but no matter what the answer to that is, the point I was trying to make is that I think God does at times “give a crap” about some of those listed things (except the socks, although I could imagine some situations in which he might care about that as well).
February 12th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
christian- good points. I guess I just have a problem with saying God doesn’t give a crap where we go to college, or who we marry. Is that different then working outside his will? (or did you just phrase this badly?) The more I have thought about it for the past 8 years, I really do believe that God led Tim & I together. That’s not based on some romantic notion of us being soulmates, etc. I believe it was in his will. I think certain events occured to make this possible. That’s not to say I couldn’t make marriage to any person work (and that be in God’s will) I certainly do think God gives a crap about it though.. (More then that, maybe- Tim and I are together so I would go to Northern Hills and not be a crazy person or commit suicide.. I mean that in all seriousness. Northern Hills (Ken, Ben, & Todd) seriously and fully changed my life. I don’t know if Tim and I would still be married today if Ben & Lisa had not talked to us for hours on end in the earliest days of our marriage. Ken and Todd have played such important roles in my Christian walk as well- I’m talking a 360 change here. I think this was all in God’s will.)
Once again, I don’t know if I’m just not understanding you enough.. and we need to discuss this over Skyline next month when we’re in the ‘nati. Love you, Chad!
February 12th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
I only mean to say “God doesn’t give a crap” when said choice is properly qualified; that is, in God’s will. At times, there are a multitude of righteous decisions one could make in line with God’s will. In fact, the more in accord you are with God’s will, I’d say the more righteous decisions you are able to see as viable at a give time (hence the more free you become in your own will).
February 13th, 2008 at 1:44 am
I think John Sanders has a great quote on this topic: “God’s will for your life is that you be a lover of God.” Accomplish that, and all the rest is just window dressing. But to be fair, I do think that God “gives a crap.” He just doesn’t “plan the crap.”
February 13th, 2008 at 9:56 am
WOW, you just compared me to someone who has been diagnosed phsyco. I moved to Michigan because without a job because God told me to do so. He confirmed through my wife. He provided a job after we moved. I believe there are times when you just have to sit back and weigh your options and do what is wise but I also believe that God sometimes directly tells you what to do. It’s happened a couple of times in my life and others that I know. The problem is we try to make this too much one way or the other. But hey, I’m just like Andrea Yates. Does that make you like Fred Phelps?
February 13th, 2008 at 10:57 am
Joe,
Please forgive me if I came off as insensitive–I thought you were setting up a hypothetical situation! I was not comparing you to Yates; I was comparing how I would respond (even the comparison is incidental–I just read an article on Yates which got me thinking, “How would I respond to her?”), which is via a series of questions which I think would do a pretty good job of clearing our will from God’s.
Notice that in my response I do not eliminate the possibility of God communicating to you in the way you say he in fact has (I believe he has communicated to me similarly). The point is, the more seemingly irrational our behavior is, the more scrutiny we need to subject it to (Biblical or other: 1 Thessalonians 5:21; 1 John 4:1-2). Of course I am open to such behavior being eminently rational (however seemingly irrational to the natural eye), be it directed by God.
Again, please forgive my shortcomings as a communicator.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:17 am
Excellent, then in the broad strokes we agree. I just always want to be careful that we don’t go too far one way or the other. In college I was taught that all we need to do is “Love God and Do what we want to do” John MacArthur actually espouses that view, but it is a view that I have to reject based on my understanding of Scripture.
As for your communication skills, this is an imperfect medium for us all.
Peace
February 13th, 2008 at 11:23 am
I agree–there is a happy median between the two poles. The motivation behind the post, I should say, was my seeing people (myself included) habitually, almost obsessively, grieve themselves over what God would have them do in some situation. It’s always either the red wire or blue wire and we only have once chance to get it right. It is well intended, but sometimes I feel an air of absurdity about the whole issue. I imagine a modern-day Job scenario where, amidst us tormenting ourselves into impotence with self-righteous pontification, God quotes Lieutenant Dan and says “‘Sit down…and shut up.’ I can use you either way.”
February 14th, 2008 at 6:51 am
I was going to make a joke about God really wanting Joe in MI if he can find a job here.
But it’s not so much a joke… as God knowing what’s up.
Chad, thanks for trying to clarify again over IM. You’re a pal.