A God Who Is Worthy of Our Worship

Bart Campolo recently wrote an article under the title, “The Limits of God’s Grace,” which appeared in Youth Specialties’, The Journal of Student Ministries. Please read the following excerpt from his article:

“Some might say I would be wise to swallow my misgivings about such stuff [like God's sovereignty, wrath, hell, etc.], remain orthodox, and thereby secure my place with God in eternity. But that is precisely my point: If those things are true, then God might as well send me to Hell. For better or worse, I simply am not interested in any God but a completely good, entirely loving, and perfectly forgiving One who is powerful enough to utterly triumph over evil. Such a God may not exist, but I will die seeking such a God, and I will pledge my allegiance to no other possibility because, quite frankly, anything less is not worthy of my worship. Please, don’t get me wrong. I am well aware that I don’t get to decide who God is. What I do get to decide, however, is to whom I pledge my allegiance. I am a free agent, after all, and I have standards for my God, the first of which is this: I will not worship any God who is not at least as compassionate as I am.”

My initial thought is how remarkable that any publication that claims to present “Christian” literature would publish such a blasphemous piece of writing. It is even more unconscionable when I think about the fact that thousands of youth leaders around the country read this publication each week. It is disheartening to know that many youth leaders in churches of Christ make this a part of their monthly diet.

In the above quote, we get a glimpse into why so many Christians walk away from God and His Church. Through the centuries, mankind has tried to create a God to his liking. Sigmund Freud said that man created God because he was afraid. The Word of God says that God created man in His image, after His likeness (Genesis 1:26). Whenever we try to recreate God, as the author of the above quote has attempted to do, we will always turn away from the God of the Bible.

When he says he will pledge his allegiance to no other God than the one who is like him, he is in reality saying he pledges his allegiance only to himself. This is no new thought. Humanism has been around since the creation of man. There have always been narcissistic naval-gazers who are only interested in what they want.

For one to say, “I have standards for my God, the first of which is this: I will not worship any God who is not at least as compassionate as I am,” shows a gross misunderstanding of the God we serve. Our most well known passage of scripture affirms the all consuming compassion of God for man. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) When you add these words from Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” what you have is the greatest show of compassion ever known to man. This God is most certainly worthy of our worship. When we understand the true meaning of compassion, and we come to realize all that God has done for us, we will want to worship Him. Our worship to this God is characterized by joy, reverence, love, and great gratitude.

By the way, there is one other small detail that Mr. Campolo has wrong. He is wrong when he says he will not worship any God who is not as least as compassionate as he is. He needs to reconsider his misunderstanding of the God of comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3), because someday he, like all of us will bow before the God of the entire universe (Romans 14:11).