When I was growing up, there was a very distinct image of God painted by those around me. God was the most powerful being ever and God knows everything. Consequently, God was watching every minute of my life and was especially disappointed when I failed, when I sinned, when I let Jesus down.
I'm not sure that it was intentional by the people around me, but this image was reinforced all the time - by Sunday School teachers, by pastors, by my parents, by everyone. The only God I knew was the all-knowing God with the eagle eye for sin.
And I have to confess that I have always felt the tension between that image of God and the loving Jesus that I was always taught about. Jesus wanted to be my friend, God just demanded my obedience. For most of my life I was unable to put words to the dilemma, but I felt it nonetheless. Jesus was kind but God was oppressive. Jesus I wanted, God I didn't.
Over the course of the last several years, though, I have come to understand where that tension comes from. When we are tied to a view of God who knows absolutely every detail about everything, we cannot escape the oppressive God. A God who knows every detail of the future cannot be loved, only obeyed and feared.
Yet this was all I knew...until I encountered theologian Clark Pinnock and a radically different image of God. Pinnock writes that, instead of viewing God as an oppressive, all-knowing dictator,
God is like the partner in a dance. As we act out our steps God is always there, leaping at just the right moments, steadying at others, and keeping perfect balance with the living reality that we are.
God as dance partner? What a beautiful image! God is not a judge dispassionately watching us dance through life, looking for our missteps and criticizing us for our falls. God is not the sole choreographer, either; God is not demanding that we slavishly follow the steps that have been laid out since the beginning of time. No, God allows us to play a part in choreographing the dance of our lives - indeed, the dance of creation itself.
God dances with us. God responds to us. God is always there to join us in a dance. The invitation never expires.
What a contrast to the domineering God I heard about for so many years!
In a way, God as the dance partner is a fitting image, since the dominant theological image for the Trinity is one of dance (the technical word used by many theologians is perichoresis) - the Father, the Son and the Spirit are all engaged in an eternal dance in which all lead and none lead. It is the ultimate expression of love and joy.
And that is what God invites us to be a part of. Where do I sign up?
I can't help but think that if we who are already learning to dance with God spent more time inviting others to join the dance and less time trying to get them to say a particular prayer or start following a certain list of rules, we would have much greater success with that thing we call "evangelism."
Because God is not waiting for people to say a prayer or obey a list of rules.
God is waiting with hand extended, asking quite simply,
"May I have this dance?"
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