Judgement

One of my favorite stand up comedians currently is Bill Burr.  I think he does such a great job pushing the limitations of what we aren’t supposed to say.  I think he knows how to take hot issues and put a comedic twist to it. 
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But a few years ago, he made a few jokes about religion.  He talked about his own childhood faith, and I think he has some interesting insights on his thoughts on Christianity.  In one of his jokes, he talked about hos he is going to resent the fact that he would be judged one day by God.  To him it is absurd that God would judge him.  In his joke he points out that God made us humans and that God would also have to absurdity to judge us, His own creation!  He makes a metaphor pointing out the absurdity of judging something that you created, such as building a car that doesn’t work.  If you make a car that doesn’t run, you aren’t going to yell at it calling it an evil piece of garbage.  No, you would fix it, you would trouble shoot and figure out why the car doesn’t run. 

I think this is a good point to make, when it comes to understanding how God might operate in our world, that is the world that He created.  But I do want to share that this is the world that God created and if anyone can be critical of this world, it would be God and no one else.  Furthermore, I cannot argue hod God chooses to redeem or judge His creation.

But my feeling, at least what helps my faith mature is that Bill Burr makes an excellent point about the type of God we believe.  I do believe that the judgmental God is a bit archaic, and I am skeptical in what that means.  I do think God has the power to judge, but not in a way to condemn us.  And I do think God is more concerned about helping us, encouraging us, and troubleshooting with us to make sure our lives run smoothly, peacefully, and successfully. 

God created us and if we were to put ourselves in God’s shoes, that is, being a creator, then I think we might see a bit what God is seeing.  When we create something that is going off the rails.  Like a car that is having trouble, or making food that the taste seems off, we do all we can to try to fix it.  I think that is what God is doing for us.  God does want us to be successful and does not want to see us fail.  So, I do think God is trying to influence us and steer us in the direction He wants us to go.  God does this by using the world around us to give us insight.  Whether it is being inspired by a book we read, or a movie we watch, or a conversation with friends, God is there in our experience to steer us to a meaningful, successful life. 

Now I realize this that if God is A God that created us, and is not looking forward in judging us, that what does that say about how we treat our children?  I think it acts in a similar way.  I am steering them to what I hope will be a successful future.  I am doing the best I can, not to criticize them, and use harsh words when I see them going off the rails.  And I do my best in trying to explain to them what suitable behavior and bad behavior is. 

So, if I take on the perspective of God being more of a guide, then I think I should do the same with my children.  Be their guide and furthermore, not just be a guide to my children, but also to all people I meet as well. 

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