Yes Virginia, God Does Need You!

 


I think that God needs humanity.  Beyond that, it is my belief that God needs our world and every other world that they have created.

I know that scripture will tell you that God is All in All and needs nothing from people.  I know that we are horrible wretches that can only be seen by God because she killed her kid on a cross and that saved us.  I know that God can do whatever he wants and that everything happens for a reason.  I even know that you’re probably angry about my pronoun shifts throughout this first paragraph.

The thing is I “know” this, but I don’t believe it (expect that you’re probably pissed at the she and they).

I’ll preface this with the fact that I’m far from a biblical scholar.  I’ve never read the whole thing cover to cover but where I stand on the bible is a separate blog.  I often stand at the intersection of theological and just plain logical.

When did God ever say they don’t need people or anything and that they were perfectly content on their own?  Why would a God create people in her image if it wasn’t some sort of innate need? 

The classical thought seems to be that our triune God was perfectly content in everything but then decided it was time to open up a cosmic game of The SIMS.  This divine puppet master decided what every character did at all times and it was all as part of a massive story arc that they came up with.  God gave people the ability to choose what to do in various situations but not really because if it didn’t fit the storyline, he’d overrule and sometimes kill off characters that weren’t doing exactly what he wanted.  God got so into this game that he chose to jump directly into the game himself with a cool backstory and everything.  In this way God could be the ultimate hero of the game and then after a few thousand years, turn it back on and save the day for all of the characters that were left.

I have to reject this view of the divine.  I believe that God, although self sustaining, felt that something was missing.  Why else would they create? 

This where I have to come back to the idea of God the Father (and I’ll stick with male pronouns for a while here, just to bring down your heart rate). 

I always wanted children and I am loving watching them grow.  While the potential to helicopter parent comes in, I’m learning that I have to let them grow and it’s amazing seeing the people they can become.

Beyond this however, is that I think I needed children.  The changes in my life since they came into it prove that.  I’ve become a better neighbour to all because of them and what they’ve taught me.

Could I have lived a healthy and happy life without kids?  Absolutely.  I’d have more money and more free time but for me there would be a hole and I think that’s how God feels.  God most certainly could survive without humanity and all creation but I don’t think he would thrive. 

I think God felt a yearning to share his love beyond himself because God’s very nature is love.  I believe there was too much love for God to keep to himself and he needed somewhere for it to go.  That’s where humans, animals, plants, and all the rest of creation come in.

God needs creation just like we sometimes need a hug from our kids.  Not for any tangible or measurable reason; sometimes it’s just because it feels great to feel love come back as well. 

Stay safe and keep constructing my friends.

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