Introduction to Godology: Because Knowing God Changes Everything
by on June 08, 2009
Since I can’t afford my own Brookstone vibrating massage chair, I often go to the mall to use theirs. It’s a shameless way to spend a Saturday, but the payoff is huge. One day as waves of glory saturated my shoulders, a young girl approached the chair. She waited for her turn and gave me some serious eye attitude. I pretended not to see her as mechanical fingers kneaded my grateful gluts.
“Ahem!” she muttered.
Normally I would be a gentleman and surrender such a seat, but suddenly the chair switched gears and started working my calves. I was like, “Thank you, Jesus!” It was a heavenly moment and I wasn’t about to come down to earth. Two minutes later, the whiny girl was dragged away by her mom, but not without leaving me with a preadolescent glare of death.
Our culture tells us to take care of our bodies. We feed them, massage them, shave them, and bathe them. We don’t think twice about dropping a hundred bucks here and there on whatever makes us feel good. Being raised in Alabama, I know that if there’s one thing we do right down here, it’s eat. I’m talking cornbread with buttermilk, fried okra, cole slaw, mashed potatoes and of course, some good ole fashion southern barbeque. Mercy.
But what about our souls? Our stomachs are full, but our souls are starving. Jesus said, “It takes more than bread to really live” (Luke 4:4). It takes discipline. It takes a desire to burn off spiritual cellulite and feast on the energizing presence of God.
My generation is on the verge of an awakening. We are trading a kiddy pool Christianity for the deep things of God. We are wading out of the creeks and into the depths. No more treading water. With scuba tanks and weight belts, we are plunging into the Scriptures to find treasure beyond imagination. It takes a radical faith to plumb a bottomless God. And we are ready for the odyssey.
Joe Church, a missionary to Africa, said, “Revival is not when the roof blows off, but when the bottom falls out.” The bottom is falling out beneath ordinary people across America—college students, artists, nurses, waiters, writers, singers, computer programmers. In offices everywhere, Christ is pulling the fire alarm of our hearts and ushering us to worship. He’s raising up a generation who’s trading a casual faith for a crucial one. Our old platforms are crashing away and we’re falling into the invisible arms of the Almighty.
Before I wrote this book, I googled God. Turns out, there are five hundred and sixty-four million results. As I waded through the first page, I came to the conclusion that everyone has an opinion about God—Buddhists, Hippies, and Jews alike. This world is full of people who think, talk, and write about Him. From the animal-worshipping tribesman to the humming monk in Asia. Even amazon.com listed half a million books in print on the subject. So do we really need another book about God?
Yes. My generation needs a book that takes us deeper. J. I. Packer once said that Christianity in America is three thousand miles wide and one inch deep. But it’s time to start the back-ho–bone marrow awaits! Paul wrote, “Ignorance of God is a luxury you can’t afford in times like these” (I Corinthians 15:34). And in these times we are bobbing for questions: Is God as big as He says He is? Was Christ really tempted to sin? What about that Trinity thing? How can three persons be one at the same time?
A. W. Tozer said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”1 In a world created by God, sustained by God and renewed by God nothing is more important than knowing God. I wrote this book to Wal-Mart God so every one of us, no matter where we live or what we do, can understand His 24/7 salvation. My generation is spiritually malnourished and it’s no wonder seventy-percent of us stop going to church our first year of college.
But we are ready for a revolution. It only takes a spark to ignite a country and God is pouring diesel on His people. He is showering a grass roots movement with sprinklers of grace. We’re finding that God is not as calm or tame as we thought. He bursts from the Tupperware we seal Him. He’s on the move. He’s calling us to wipe off our spiritual milk mustaches, exchange earthly habits for holy habits and gorge ourselves on the nourishing Bread of Life.
Since Christianity is an upward, inward, and outward faith, each chapter in this book contains a mystery about God, a spiritual discipline and a practical expression of that truth for the world. This is not an exhaustive discussion of His characteristics—who can really inventory the Eternal? Rather, Godology is my feeble attempt to Map Quest God for a new generation.
Challenge this book! Don’t take my word for it. Hold it up to the light of the Bible and see if God is as great as you think He might be. This isn’t a safe read, but then again, God isn’t a safe God. So exchange your rake for a shovel and let’s see what lies beneath the surface.