Who is God?

Who Is God?
by John Mark Comer, from God Has a Name

 And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, Yahweh [the LORD], in your presence. - Exodus 33:19

When we talk about God, it turns out we’re all over the map. 

In the West, we still live in a hangover from our Christianized past. There was a time when you could say “God,” and people would immediately think of the God we read about in the Scriptures and see in Jesus. Most people would even come to the same basic conclusions about this God. 

That time has long since gone the way of the earth. 

Today, when I say “God,” you might think any number of things, depending on your country of birth, language, religion, church experience, background — and, of course, whether or not you have cable. 

All of this brings me to the question at the heart of this book: Who is God? 

I’m not writing this book to prove that God exists. If you’re an atheist, welcome to the table. We’re glad you’re here. Just know that I won’t go into a litany of reasons that I’m right and you’re wrong. There are a lot of people way smarter than me — the kind with extra letters after their name — who’ve already had a crack at that. 

I can only speak out of my own life, and, for me, God’s existence was never the question. I’ve been down the road of doubt, had a crisis of faith — a few actually — thought long and hard about Jesus, and had a list of questions about the Bible stretching to Florida and back (I live in Portland — it’s a long trek). But for me, the question was never whether God exists. The way I’m wired, that was axiomatic and self-evident. 

Have you been outside recently? For me, the far more interesting question was always, “What in the world is God like?” 

Is God a he?

Or a she? Come on, sisters... 

Is God a they? 

Or an it? 

Is the tree in my front yard full of the divine?
 
Am I? 

Is God even a person? Or is he/she/they/it/the tree/maybe-even-me more of an energy force or a state of mind? 

Or is God just a myth? A carryover from a world that all smart, thinking people have moved on from? Now that we have science and technology, “we know better.” 

Let’s assume for now that there is some kind of an invisible-but-real being who made everything, and for now let’s call this being “God.” If so, what is this Godlike? 

Kind, or cruel? Close by and involved in my life, or far-off and aloof? 

Strict and uptight like a fundamentalist preacher, or free and easygoing like a good, educated progressive? 

Does he vote Democratic? Or is he a Republican? Maybe Green Party? 

Or how about this one: Is God even good for the world anymore? Fewer and fewer people answer yes. What if God and religion are just an endless source of violence and hatred and bigotry and hypocrisy and really bad music? 

Who is this “God” we love, hate, worship, blaspheme, trust, fear, believe in, doubt, cuss in the name of, bow to, make jokes about, and most of the time just ignore? 

I would argue that how you answer this question will define you. 

The twentieth-century writer A. W. Tozer made a stunning claim: “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”¹ Really?