Convincing Evidence that Most Christians Serve a Tiny, Impotent God

As we speed headlong through the home straightaway of human history, evidence is mounting from the mouths of many Christians that we have an overwhelmingly underwhelming view of the power of God. Don't blame me; I'm only telling it as I see it. Decide for yourself.

How many times have you heard "strong, mature" Christians complain about "them" (whoever "they" are) taking God and prayer out of schools, government, etc? How weak God must be if "they" can take Him out of any place? Last I checked, God is omnipresent. He isn't like Dagon, the Philistine god that had to be propped up repeatedly by his worshipers after being knocked over during the night. (See 1 Samuel 5:1-5 for background and details.)

Can anyone take God or prayer out of schools? Wouldn't that say more about us than it ever could about "them?" Consider 1 Corinthians 3:16 (NIV) which says, "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?" So when we say with such exasperation that "they" have taken God out of … are we indicting our relationship with God as so weak that "they" can, at will, remove His Spirit from inside us? Are we saying that He is so weak that "they" can overpower His will to live within us?

What really upsets us is that "they" have taken the Ten Commandments out of public places. God neither told us to, nor does He desire any such public or private display! Instead, he says this: Jeremiah 31:33b,c (NLT) "I will put my instructions deep within [you], and I will write them on [your] hearts. I will be [your] God, and [you] will be my people." Part of being God's people is teaching these laws to our children: Deuteronomy 11:19 (NKJV) "You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up."

So, when we teach our children to pray, must that prayer be loud and in "their" face? Jesus typically prayed in solitude. Look at what He had to say about public prayer: Matthew 6:5a,b (NASB) "When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men." Of course Jesus wasn't saying that public prayer is hypocritical, only that public prayer for the sake of being seen is.

How many of us have taught our youth (and/or ourselves) a private, intimate prayer life? If we have, we already know that no one has the power to take that away. And yes, we have the power, right, and full authority to pray to our God at any time and in any place we please. Could perhaps we think our God can't hear us unless we are able to say His name for others to hear, a condition for which Elijah mocked the worshipers of Baal?: 1 Kings 18:27 (AMP) "At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is musing, or he has gone aside, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened."

Those listening to our moans and complaints must be concluding of us: "Those Christians! What a tiny, impotent God they must serve. Even their prayers can be so easily taken away before ever having a chance to reach Him. A pitiful lot they are!" Besides, and more importantly than, the impression on them, what does our dim portrayal of God's power teach our children? Is it any wonder that more of them than ever resort to so many things before God?

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