GOD OF EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE

There’s an obvious danger in imagining that the God you worship is the only god there is. It can lead to arrogance and intolerance, and it’s hardly a way to win friends. And these have indeed been serious problems for those who’ve embraced this belief. In fact, the arrogant intolerance of God’s people is one of the most enduring themes of the biblical story. So one might well suggest that we’d all be better off to simply agree that everyone’s gods are equally valid. This isn’t, however, as easy as it might sound.

First of all, beliefs are beliefs, and you can’t just decide to believe something you don’t believe. At any given time there are probably several people in the world who believe they are the Prime Minister of Canada. – I actually received a letter from such a person once. – Though we might do well to humour these folks by pretending to agree, none of us is quite free to actually agree.

Secondly, all people have a tendency to think their gods are better than other gods. It’s really an ego problem more than a god problem. Perhaps if we would deal with our arrogance and intolerance the gods would sort themselves out. This is actually closer to the biblical solution.

Thirdly, arrogant intolerance is not the necessary result of thinking that your God is the God of everything and everyone. Another possible result is the conviction that God loves everyone, relates to everyone, has plans and purposes for everyone. This would imply, for the people of the Old Testament, that God is the God of Egypt, Assyria, Greece and Rome, as well as the God of Israel. And that he can use Pharaoh and the kings of other nations to accomplish his will, just as he used Moses. And it could mean that he expects us to treat the other peoples of the earth with the same respect we give our own people. These too are enduring themes of the biblical story.

When Abraham, for example, is chosen to become the father God’s people, he is told that it is God’s intention to bless all the peoples of the earth through him. (Genesis 12:1-3) And he very quickly meets a person named Melchizedek and honours him. This man, we are told, is the king of Salem (Jerusalem) and a priest of God Most High. (Genesis 14:18) So we are expected to understand that a God who is the God of everything and everyone can never be simply our personal God, and that his concerns are always much greater than our personal concerns. Surely this is why one of the first priestly acts of Abraham is to plead for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, asking, “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18:22-33)

So this is one of the fundamental principals laid down at the beginning of the biblical story as God creates every thing and everyone. If our God is God of everything and everyone, then we must be concerned about the well-being of everything and everyone. We cannot become parochial and self-centred, and nothing can ever be just about us. Of course, this is much easier said than done; another enduring theme of the biblical story.