“I don’t want to call God an idiot or anything,” I told Ivan, “but if I had created the world, I would have done things differently.”
Someone I love made a choice that hurt me, and that is why I said it.
“I guess he could have made us all puppets,” Ivan said.
Puppets, yes…but happy puppets. I would be okay with that.
“When I get to heaven, I would like to tell God everything he did wrong,” I said, “but I’ll be too scared. He’s so big.”
“You might be emboldened,” Ivan said.
I hope I am emboldened. I would like to talk to God. I would like to have a frank discussion with him. If you were going to create people, I might tell him, you need to be responsible. Human beings are hazardous materials—like dynamite or anthrax or methamphetamine—and ought to be kept bottled and boxed and away from heat so they won’t explode. The one thing you absolutely should not allow them—ever—is choice. Choice is twice as hazardous a substance as humanity. People hurt themselves with substances like these. Worse, people hurt each other.
If I had created the world, I might say, I would have done it right. I would have put people in pretty pink and purple boxes under pastel skies. The only choices they could make would be good ones, and the only emotions they would feel—ever—would be joy and peace and love and contentment.
Wouldn’t you find that boring, though? I can imagine God would ask. Wouldn’t you consider that an insult to your intelligence, to be placed in a creation that has no grounding in reality? There’s a world out here, honey. There are real forces like good and evil and real choices with real consequences. Your small experience on your tiny planet has only prepared you for what is.
But I would be way ahead of him. Don’t you get it? I might tell him. YOU ARE THE CREATOR, and we only have what you give us. Of course NOW we think we want choice, because you made us that way, but you could have created us to be content with soft boxes and pretty pillows. We would have been HAPPY in our reality, and we would never have needed to experience pain. You could have given us happiness. Instead you gave us choice.
I wonder what God would say to me then. He’s not actually human, and he knows a lot more about much bigger things than I do, so he would probably say something I wouldn’t expect. I think what he said would blow my mind and give me a bigger perspective, but that he would put it in such simple terms I would understand what he meant. I think this because that has often been my experience when I read his words in the Bible.
I don’t know what God would say, but in my human imaginings, maybe he would say: Luci, you say that you love me, and I believe that you do. But if I had created you so that you could not CHOOSE to love me, that bond of mystery and miracle couldn’t legitimately be called love. It would have to be called something else, and would you really want to make do with something else instead of love?
And maybe, if he thought I would pull out my old argument of, “Well, if you had created me to be satisfied with something else, that wouldn’t be an issue,” he would add: There’s a world out here, Luci, and I created you to be useful in it. To be useful, though, I need you to be an adult, not a pampered pooch with ribbons in her hair. We can do great things together, you and I, because I created you not just for happiness, but for purpose. Are you ready for this?
And what could I say to that? A pep talk from my Creator?
Yes, I would say.
***
Feature photo by Robert Anasch on Unsplash
And why did you creat mosquitoes and flies! Why!
But God did create us to live in a perfect world and created a perfect world for us. Because of choice we screwed it up. But He gets to choose, too. Love and force simply don’t coexist.
Choice is definitely the issue here. Like I said in my post, without choice, love would not be love, but something else. I like how you bring out the concept of force and its incompatibility with love. That brings a richer depth to the discussion.
I have to agree with the posting from Rosanne, he did create the perfect world. Adam and Eve weren’t happy with this and wanted more, so we pay for this. Even though God sacrificed his only son, we still have the freedom of choice. Where we are able to learn from our own mistakes and also from others.
God bless you.
Choice is the problem here. The discussion the post brought out was not whether or not God created a perfect world, but why he created a world that allows us to choose wrongly and mess up perfection.
Thank you, Luci. So many good thoughts here
I’ve had many of the same thoughts. I came to some measure of peace with these things when I realized this: Choice gives a human being a dignity that no other part of creation has, especially when he/she chooses well. Also, I am thankful that we do not have to understand God in order to love and to obey him. Thank you for choosing honest writing over “political correctness.” :)
I really like the aspect you bring out of human dignity. Thank you for your comment! :)
I’m beginning to relate choice to our bearing the image of God. We say that God is self-existent. This means, in part, that He chooses his own character. That he chooses to be good and loving is huge, especially from our perspective. For us to reflect Him in His creation, we too must choose the character He has chosen. I don’t know how the idea works at God’s level, but for us, choosing from the midst of hard realities is what makes our choices valuable.
I have never thought before of God as choosing his own character. I always thought the Bible teaches that God is good and God is love, and that these things are intrinsic to his nature. I am very intrigued by this idea which is new to me. What scriptural backing do you have to support the assertion that he chooses his own character?
I appreciate your thoughts on why our human choices are valuable. Another friend brought up the point that choice is what separates us from the animals and lends us dignity. Your thoughts supplement and deepen hers.
I’m not sure that I can give a clear Scriptural reference for God choosing His own character. Off the top of my head, Jesus’ reference to the Father having life in Himself (John 5:26) is the closest that I can come. Another reference that might go with it would be where God calls Himself, “I AM” in Exodus 3:13-14. I think I’ve heard that the idea of self-existence is behind the Hebrew Yahweh (LORD or Jehovah in English translations). If God doesn’t derive His existence from anything or anyone else, He about has to choose His own character. Of course this is all probing areas that aren’t spelled out in Scripture and a guy could get in over his head really quick. So I wouldn’t want to stand up and shout about it, but I’ve found it fascinating food for thought and don’t think it’s going astray from any basic Christian doctrine.
Thanks for the reminder that doctrine needs to be Scriptural.
It is fascinating food for thought, and I really appreciate your thoughtful answer.