What is your image of God?
What is your image of God? Father Richard Rohr suggests that for many people Santa Claus is the “go to” image of God. You know the song, “He’s making a list and checking it twice, going to find out who’s naughty or nice.” It goes on to suggest that he knows your every behavior, sleeping or awake, but most especially, he knows who has been bad or good. We are well advised to “be good for goodness’ sake.” The strong message is that good boys and girls will be blessed with lots of Christmas gifts and toys such as new bicycles, dolls, computer games, and maybe even a BB gun. For adults, the Santa image of God morphs into an accountant who rewards or punishes, depending on the balance of behavioral debits and credits.
God the Accountant is one who is calculating, constantly measuring our worth and value. And if we worship God the Accountant we are easily tempted to weigh the worth of others and whether or not they should “qualify” for a loan of grace; whether or not they deserve credit; and finally whether or not their loan might be forgiven. This “theology” easily justifies our neglect of the poor, people of different color-race-national origin and so on. There are plenty of so-called “prosperity” preachers whose message is that if you have enough faith or you are good enough you will become rich. Rich as in money, property, and social standing.
The Christian tradition claims that Jesus is the face of God. What is that face? It is the face of radical inclusivity where every person has a place at the table. It is the hand that feeds the poor, heals the sick, blesses the children, comforts the women, and forgives the “no accounts” of his day. You know who they are. They are the “sinners,” outcasts, religious and social pariahs or every society, and even the girls and boys who have been mostly naughty. Father Rohr goes on to say that if Jesus is the face of God we have nothing to worry about.
This is more than a Sunday School lesson. I meet hospital patients, patient families, and employees every day who are convinced that their disease is the just wages of sin that God has measured out to them. They believe that God’s scales of righteousness has measured their worth and they have come up wanting. They believe that their cancer, or diabetes, or motorcycle accident is a result of some real or imagined sin and this is what they deserve. More than that, these same people believe that they or their loved one is going to hell. That is what you get with God the Accountant or Santa Claus.
God the Accountant gets in the way of wholeness and healing. It casts a pall over the human soul that slows recovery and impedes hope. But if the face of God is the face of compassion wholeness is always possible, even with end stage pancreatic cancer or in the midst of divorce. This is the God who will lift you up out of the dust or the stupor of morphine and see you safely home.
Yes, there are consequences for our behaviors. There is a price to be paid for bad choices. Illness is very expensive. But God does not put a lien on your soul, or send you to “collections” because you are broken or flawed or unhealthy.
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Chaplain Gary Blaine, D.Min., provides Pastoral Care at Susan B. Allen Memorial Hospital. He received his Doctorate of Ministry from Emory University, and holds certifications as a grief counselor and a grief group facilitator. He can be reached via e-mail at jblaine@sbamh.org