Today I did my laundry. When I was stuffing the wet washed bed linen into the dryer, I prayed out loud, asking the Lord to prevent the sheets from swallowing the smaller items and entangling them into little pockets where they would stay wet. Just now, I pulled my stuff from the dryer and it was all nicely separated.
It’s not a question of whether God cares. It’s a question of whether my request meets the ultimate test of His glory. Will my living by His Word and claiming His shalom make Him look good? That’s all that matters.
This business of asserting imago dei (Latin: made “in God’s image”) does not elevate us. Rather, the only reason Scripture says we are made in His image is so we will realize that we are made to commune with Him. Whatever it is communion requires, we can be sure that we are enough like Him that we are capable of caring about what matters to Him. The burden is upon us.
On the one hand, He is capable of hearing us all at once. On the other hand, He has bigger fish to fry. But He can be extravagant in meeting our requests without hindering His bigger concerns. The trick is to get used to living off of that limited understanding, that small portion of awareness His bigger concerns that He grants us. We need to fully embrace what He reveals, with the caveat that we support the inexplicable bigger issues we cannot understand.
He still wants to commune with us, despite our insignificance in His purpose. He has room in His life for something like that. It’s just how great our God is.
But this is why I keep saying that human life is not sacred. The crazy myth that says live is precious is dangerous, and we have to oppose it. Even if we live under conditions wherein we cannot say so publicly, it is our duty to live by the divine value system revealed in God’s Word. We can’t afford to read some human mythology back into it.
Let me cite an example: I would love to get involved in supporting those who fight child sex trafficking. I think it’s one of the greatest endeavors right now. But those people don’t want me around, because my motives are different from theirs. They are obsessed with childhood as somehow sacred, a symptom of the fear and dread of what’s after death. They may even show bravery in the face of death, but their motives in the charitable work of rescuing trafficked children are idolatrous.
I would do the same work for one reason: It is part of my divine calling. It doesn’t require hating pedophiles. It doesn’t require a revulsion for men trying to purchase sex with children. Frankly, I pity such men. But it’s in their best interest to stop them. It’s in everyone’s best interest to stop the child sex trade, but not for the reasons the current activists express for it.
Because the real cause for this awful dehumanizing trade is Western Civilization itself. The very panicky reaction itself is another symptom of the idolatrous obsession with youth. I am working to stop that trade, but from a different angle; I’m setting an ax against the root cause.
I’m not saying God doesn’t care about children suffering in that criminal activity. I’m saying that their suffering is not the best reason for attacking it. The best reason for attacking it is the idolatry that provokes it. The activists are perpetuating that idolatry. Children don’t have some inherent right to a life free of suffering, because no human at all has any such right. I would do the work with a deep passion for God’s divine revelation.
Our God wants everyone free from the chains of slavery to idols.
