We Christian folk love the idea of a side-choosing God, and assume quite miraculously (and not at all surprisingly) that God is somehow always on our side—whatever we determine that to be.
Every single day political parties, churches, pastors, Christian athletes, and snarky social media comment trolls all strain to claim ownership of Divine approval. You and I do it too.
It happens to all of us. It’s part of that insidious narcissism running quietly in the background of our brains; that ever-present self-righteousness that makes us prone to Messianic delusions. In other words: we all think whatever we do and say is, God is totally cool with.
So if everyone believes they’re standing on the highest moral ground as they speak and move and preach and correct, how can you tell whether or not God is indeed on your side?
Here are some hopefully helpful tips:
If your side only looks, talks, and believes the way you do… God may not be on your side.
If your side enables wealth to be hoarded by a few and withheld from the many… God may not be on your side.
If your side values revenge over forgiveness… God may not be on your side.
If your side believes American lives are more valuable than other lives… God may not be on your side.
If your side acknowledges only it owns interpretation of the Bible… God may not be on your side.
If your side seeks to withhold from others the rights you have in abundance… God may not be on your side.
If your side believes that God only speaks to you… God may not be on your side.
If your side asks a person with no boots to pull themselves up by their bootstraps… God may not be on your side.
If your side believes that God chooses sides… God is probably not on your side.
Christian, there are no sides to choose.
There is no Us vs. Them,
no Good People vs. Bad people,
no Right vs. Wrong,
no Righteous vs. Wicked,
no Heroes vs Villains.
There is simply Humanity.
We are all a variation on a similar theme.
We are made of the same flawed stuff.
No person or political party or faith tradition exclusively owns virtue.
None of us have the market cornered on Truth at any given moment.
No one ever holds a secure monopoly on morality.
God is good and we all are good in varying (and spectacularly lesser) degrees. So the myth of a God up in Heaven somewhere cheering on you and your friends or rooting for your political party or liking your Facebook posts or wearing your team’s jersey is all a bit ridiculous. That’s just a religious ego trip we take ourselves on to justify our endeavors and undergird our convictions.
Yes, God is for us, but that speaks to the reality that we are fully loved. It doesn’t mean God co-signs everything we believe or engineers our successes or sanctions our actions. Our victory is not at all the point. That is not God’s side.
As best I can tell, God is on the side of humility,
and compassion,
and love,
and mercy,
and forgiveness,
and faith,
and peace,
and charity,
and sacrifice,
and healing,
and decency.
So the question at any given moment for we who claim faith, is not “Is God on my side?”
The real questions are:
“Am I for who God is for (which turns out to be a pretty expansive list)?”
“Am I about what God is about?”
“Am I loving in the way Jesus is loving?”
“Am I erring on the side of goodness and justice and mercy?”
I’m trying to live with a passionate pursuit of what I believe my faith calls me to do and be, but to do so with the constant humility that reminds me that I am always probably falling well short.
I’m doing my best to believe that God is by my side, not on my side—and to let that be enough for me.
