Since the beginning mankind has created his own gods. Those gods were all the same, whether its Enki or Enlil in ancient Mesopotamia, Ba'al in Canaan, Marduk in Babylon or the different pantheons of gods in Egypt, Greece and Rome. They are all petty, vindictive, sensual, adulterous, violent and ever changing. In these gods, mankind has created permissive mirror images of themselves. Man are all these things, so their gods were all these things and because their gods were all these things, they had justification to continue living in the way that they pleased. When a god was no longer working the way, they would like they would just create a new god or assign an old god some new attributes.
In ancient Israel, YHWH, the God of Israel stood apart from the pantheons of gods in the surrounding cultures. Where they were many, He is One. Where they are petty and vindictive, He is faithful and loving. Where they are violent, He is just. Where they constantly change, He remains immutable. While they were distant, He was present. Where they create man to be their slaves and used according to the gods' insatiable needs, YHWH creates man in His own image, sons instead of slaves.
In our time mankind has not changed. As created beings we look for the Divine and want relationship with the One who created us. It is how we are wired. We are made for that relationship. Our sin bars us from having that relationship. This is why Jesus came, so that in his flesh he could do away with sin and death and restore us into right relationship with Him and each other. This is excellent news for all of mankind!
Yet in progressive Christianity, man does not want a Holy God. He does not want a God who is jealous for his people, one who stands alone and is unchanging. For if God is holy, he must expect and desire for his people to share in his holiness and to live lives worthy of Him. But no. In the progressive movement man wants a relationship with the Divine at the same time keep their sin and live the lifestyles they wish to live. It is the same old story. Natural man does what his ancestors did. Instead of being formed in God's image, we form God into our image. This progressive god is a have it your way kind of God, a real Burger King Jesus. We change God to fit our lifestyles, so we have gay Jesus, trans Jesus, progressive Jesus and any other Jesus we can think of. And yes, conservatives are guilty of this as well when they create white gun toting Jesus. Creating God in our image is not just a progressive issue, it is a very human one. We create gods according to our ideals and our flavor of sin. And we think in doing so we meet that need of having a relationship with the Divine, but we fool ourselves. There is no relationship to be had there because the God you have created is not real.
When I was at the height of my deconstruction, my prayer for truth was a prayer to know God as He truly is. I did not want to follow a false god. Why would any honest person want to?
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