God as loving soul-mate or as teenage-crush pop idol?

Be warned, the last paragraph of this post is in part about my musical taste, and so shouldn’t be taken that seriously!

On and off, throughout the bible, God is portrayed, in what modern parlance would describe, as the ultimate ‘soul mate’. Go to Psalm 139, for example (especially verses 1-16), and God is pictured as someone who knows you inside-out, better than you even; who knows your deepest thoughts, where nothing is hidden, where from the start of your life and throughout it, he has always been, and will always be, there with you (whether you are aware of his presence or not); and where he recognises and loves your uniqueness and specialness because he was the one that created you. Moreover, for Christians, this intimate knowledge of us is made complete, by God becoming one of us in Christ Jesus. So, he not only understands us completely, he has also experienced what it is to be human, and so he knows and experiences what it is to be you! Believe me, there is no relationship deeper, more profound, or more connected than this one, and it is there, on offer, for all of us to enjoy if we are willing to accept it.

But when I hear so much praise and worship in ‘modern’ churches, using corny chords, and U.S. sickly country and western/British boy-band/power ballad lyrics; and where so many people are waving, swaying, and smiling, and wearing ‘Jesus Loves Me’ T-shirts, I can’t help thinking, where is my God, my ultimate soul-mate? And why has he been turned into a pop idol, and my relationship with him been reduced to some kind of teenage crush in the process? By the way, old people my age, with less of an excuse, do this kind of worship as well (and even I try, sometimes… honest!), and so it’s not just an age-thing!

Click on book cover image on this blog's home page for information on my book Nine Steps to Well-Being: A Spiritual Guide for Disconnected Christians and Other Questioning Journeyers - first three chapters are FREE!!