As we have grown, so has our image of God

Editor’s note: This is one in a series of letters by columnist Paul Graves to his grandchildren.

Dear Katie, Claire and Andy,

Have you ever wondered what God wants to be when God grows up?

My question may sound really silly, but I’m serious about it. Just know what I’m really asking you is this: “What do you want your image of God to be when you grow up?”

Since ancient times (a few years before you were born), people have thought of their gods in human terms.

Even Jesus did this. When he spoke of God as “father,” he used an Aramaic word, “abba,” which means “daddy.” Jesus’ relationship with God was as loving to him as your relationship to your own daddy.

But some people are not fortunate to have a close, loving relationship with their fathers. So “abba” is a tough word to call God. They may use other images for the God they choose to believe in. And some of those images are far from kind ones.

One common image of God is as an old man with a long beard and robe, sitting on a throne with a list of “naughty and nice” people in his hand. That’s not an image I have now, but I used to.

A lot of people still hold this picture in their minds. God is a judge of who we are, and sometimes a very harsh judge.

In the Bible, there are hundreds of word-pictures about God. For the first group of Hebrews, one image of God was as a warrior ready to avenge his people. God was seen as jealous and cruel.

Like other tribes around them, those first Hebrews actually had many small gods. Eventually they “grew up” a little. And their images of God grew with them.

They came to understand that God wanted to be the “head god.” No other gods were good enough for those Hebrews. So the story of Moses and the Ten Commandments was a most important story for them.

The Hebrews’ God was also the Creator of the world. They saw many of the loving sides of God. They even began to use feminine words, motherly words, to describe God.

God was seen as the source of “wisdom,” for instance. The words in ancient languages for “wisdom” are feminine. So to speak of God as a woman, a mother, as “she,” is very biblical. Many Christians don’t agree with me about this, but it is true.

Earlier I mentioned that Jesus spoke of God in tender, loving language. That is because he experienced God in tender and loving ways.

So one of the most common words Jesus used to describe God is “compassionate.” Another word he used to describe God is “just.”

With these images, he echoed the Old Testament prophets who had grown up enough to see God as passionately concerned about people. This God wanted people, especially vulnerable people, to be treated with justice and compassion.

God’s negative judgment was aimed at people who mistreated others, who were unjust and cruel to other people.

As I study the Bible, kids, I see a God who sort of “grew up” as the people grew up. I believe the God who created them – and still creates people and everything found in our world – was, and still is, extra patient.

God waits for those people – us – to learn through trial and error how God really wants us to treat each other.

Jesus got it right. Compassionate and just are how God wants us to treat each other.

Those are the kinds of images of God I think are most God-like. What do you think?