More on Miller's book

This morning I'm reading chapter 3 of Donald Miller's book Searching for God Knows What.

P. 38 - "One of the reasons I came to trust the God of the Bible was because He was big enough to explain the imposters. In Scripture, God never gets confused about who is who isn't representing Him. Imposters represent a small god, a vapor in the imagination of a child, a god we would all do well to renounce."

Miller says this after he mentions Shirley McClain swirling around on some beach somewhere saying, "I'm god, I'm god, I'm god." But he also rips Jerry Falwell for his remarks after 9/11. Since Falwell was a great guy in many ways, that was hard to swallow. But Miller's right. Sometimes we preachers get on our high horses and act like we represent God when we don't.

We're as guilty as Shirley McClaine sometimes. Ouch.

Oh I know Shirley doesn't know God (bless her heart... that's what they say here in the south, "bless her heart," and I say that because I feel sorry for anyone who doesn't know God) and Jerry knew Him well, but it is good to evaluate ourselves sometimes on how we represent God to a world that doesn't know Him. Our hope is that we will be salt and light. (See what Jesus said in Matthew 5:13-16) Yes, sometimes salt burns and light surprises, but being salt and light should be that about us Christ followers that attract others to know God as we know Him.

Sometimes it's difficult to not speak for God from my own humanity. But I find more peace and joy when I leave the pronouncements of judgment to God. I find more balance when I point people to Him and not to my opinions.

I don't think this means that we shortchange God's truth. Much of it is very hard for people to swallow until they get to know where God is coming from.

I interpret that to be the point Miller makes in this chapter.

Pp. 46-47 - "When I saw myself in heaven...I imagined myself off behind some mountain range doing some fishing and writing a good detective novel. But if the gospel of Jesus is relational; that is, if our brokenness will be fixed, not by our understanding of theology, but by God telling us who we are, then this would require a kind of intimacy of which only heaven knows. Imagine, a Being with a mind as great as God's, with feet like trees and a voice like rushing wind, telling you that you are His cherished creation. It's kind of exciting if you think about it. Earthly love, I mean the stuff I was trying to get by sounding smart, is temporal and slight so that it has to be given again and again in order for us to feel any sense of security; but God's love, God voice and presence, would instill our souls with such affirmation we would need nothing more and would cause us to love other people so much we would be willing to die for them."