Who Will Be God?

Remember that movie from 2003 called Bruce Almighty? Some of you may have been so offended by the concept that you never saw it. The idea was this. Bruce Nolan, played by Jim Carrey, is unhappy with his life and, by extension, with God. He challenges God. "Come on," he essentially says, "I could do better!" So God (played by Morgan Freeman) takes him up on his offer and lets Bruce be God for awhile. I know, I know, nonsensical, sacrilegious, impossible, offensive ... all that. Yes. In the movie, however, it turns out that Bruce doesn't make a very good God. He doesn't keep up with prayers. He does things on a whim that turn out to have horrible consequences. It's too much work and he's too stupid to do the job (and I don't use the word "stupid" very often). Eventually he begs God to take it back.

Fiction, I know, and foolish fiction at that. Still, you might be surprised. The Bible says that the problem of sin is predicated on this notion: "I will be like the Most High." It is, in fact, the default human position. We wish, due to our sin nature, to depose God and take the job ourselves. Sometimes we do it overtly. More often it happens without thinking. But we all do it. We operate too much of the time as practical atheists. Even we who believe will unthinkingly set God aside in our lives and proceed with our own plans and choices and desires. "Come on, God," we essentially say, "I could do better!" And God lets us do it.

I don't offer Bruce Almighty as a worthwhile movie. I don't recommend you go see it. That's not the point. Here's what I do recommend. I suggest that you consider your own treason against the Most High more frequently and more carefully. I know it's a problem for me. I suspect all of my readers (and those who don't read this) suffer from the same malady. We replace God as our Ruler and take over as ourselves. The consequences, as for Bruce, are devastating for ourselves and those around us. Instead of making things better, we make a mess of things. We don't know what's right or best. We don't have the power or wisdom or even character to do it all right. Not even close. Not even remotely. We cannot afford to be God. We can easily recognize the foolishness of a Bruce Nolan. Can we as easily see it when we choose to do the same foolish thing?