English: Christian Bible, rosary, and crucifix. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Does anyone else think it’s funny that many Christians claim to have been created in the image of God, yet their God seems more to have been created in their image? Not funny ha-ha, more funny strange, that is?
What I mean is: there seem to be a lot of people who end up making decisions which seem to contradict God’s instruction under the guise of ‘I prayed about it, and God said it was fine.’
I was a university student when I became a Christian, and if I knew one thing about Christianity it was that Christians don’t believe in sex before marriage! Whatever that means. So when a very, very Christian fellow-student told me that she started sleeping with her boyfriend when he proposed to her, I was confused. But she said that she’d prayed about it and that ‘God had given her peace that what he was really talking about was a lifelong commitment.’
Hmm…I’m still confused about that today. And Ed Welch has written a pretty useful article about people who have ‘prayed about’ stuff and coincidentally found that God has made them an exception. Here’s a sneak peek:
“I prayed about it”…is invoked when Scripture clearly teaches one thing and the person wants to do another. For example, a Christian woman is (somehow!) granted that coveted spiritual exception to marry an unbeliever. When challenged by her friends, she says: “I prayed about it.” Or another follower of Christ is startled to hear the Spirit say a resounding “YES, you can move in with your girlfriend,” or “YES, you can leave your spouse, because, after all, I want you to be happy.”
What “God” are these people praying to? This perverse, self-deceived foolishness is apparent to everyone except the person involved. How can we respond? We have a few possibilities.
The obvious place to start is to wonder if we are looking in the mirror. Where do I justify my own desires? Yikes, I don’t have to look hard. Lord have mercy on me.
Amen. Have a read of the entire article to get the full picture.
