The Coping Mechanism That is God
I talked with an older Christian lady the other day and she asked me what I thought unbelievers thought of God.
"That He's a coping mechanism." I said
She wholeheartedly agreed and so memorably said:
"Yup. Some people use drugs and other people are Christians."
The "coping mechanism" theory was confirmed in one of my theatre classes where we have an optional assignment to join a prayer/meditative/spiritual group to enhance our overall wellness.
I hear this a lot in the theatre world: "Spiritual meditation, prayer, or yoga will really put you at ease and in tune with the universe if you practice it regularly."
The biggest shock of rubbing shoulders with nonbelievers everyday has been learning that they're not openly opposed to Jesus (though Scripture makes it clear that if they aren't for Him they're against Him), or spirituality in general, they just see God as another coping mechanism that they don't need.
#jesusismydrug couldn't be more true and heretical. Jesus has melted into the mush of methods that exhausted people employ as they try to calm down, cope, and get by. He's mixed in right next to drinking, hyperactive business, real drugs, sex, food, and sleep.
Unbelievers who see God or Christianity as a coping mechanism are only getting half of the story.
They love what God can do for them, but, they aren't interested in getting to know Him.
They don't see the ultimate prize that is God.
Sadly, many believers operate this way too.
I hear this a lot in the Christian world:
"Prayer gets you refocused on what's important in your life."
"Being still to be with God will give you new peace for your day."
"Service gives back into your life."
"When we worship we are blessed."
Is this why I believe in God? Because He benefits my life and helps me cope?
As Francis Chan so potently put it: "Are we in love with God or just His stuff?"
Whether you can't remember a day without knowing God or you still see Him as an optional coping mechanism that helps your overall wellness, here's somethings to help you get both halves of the story.
The older lady I talked with so beautifully explained it:
"Humans were created with a unique capacity to behave how God behaves and to have a relationship with Him. No other being has these capacities. Vegies don't and animals don't. But, if people reject the work of Christ, they aren't completely human because they aren't in relationship with Him. Only when we ask God's Spirit to enter us and restore this relationship are we fully human. Through our faith in His work God takes us from an incompleteness, a broken relationship with Him, and an inevitable eternal death to a wholeness, a renewed relationship, and an inevitable eternal life."
Suddenly, God looks a little bigger than a coping mechanism. Suddenly, He's set apart. He's necessary for life.
At first we may simply crave this blessed wholeness along with the peace, joy, and guidance He offers, but, eventually His Spirit allows us to look past those and to truly explore who God is.
His Spirit moves us from a life of smooth sailing in the boat to actually feeling the rush of walking on the waves next to Him.
Maybe God has become a coping mechanism because we would rather stay in the boat than actually walk out to His side where we can talk and be in awe of who He is.
I'm so guilty of treating the Lord as an uninteresting coping mechanism, a "get by" tool. Specifically, a ladder.
No one buys a ladder just to have a ladder. The ladder helps us climb to what we really want. It's dangerous treating Jehovah God like this. He won't stand for the casual glances down to see if He is still there as we climb up up and away. He knows our eyes are on a different prize and He grieves.
All I want is to use God so I succeed in my audition rather than witness His perfect, astounding control over my talents and the outcome.
All I want is use God to know if I'll have to go to graduate school rather than witness Him beautifully and intricately organizing and blessing my life.
All I want is to use God to help me fall asleep quickly rather than treasure the few quiet moments I have to talk to such a wonderful, loving God.
All I want is to use Him instead of explore Him.
Have we too forgotten that God is the ultimate prize?
If you don't find God all that great, but you dig what He does for you, I guarantee you can find something else that will give you the shallowness you're looking for without any Ten Commandments attached.
And what's beautiful about our God is that once our hearts declare that they beat only for Him, He is more than happy to draw us further into Himself with joyous blessings upon blessings.
I don't want to make my faith another coping mechanism. I want to be so in love with who God is and have His praises continually in my heart and on my lips so that people understand that He is so much different and more magnificent than any "get by" method.
I want to chase Him not only because He enhances my life, but because He is purely better than my life.
Let us not cheat ourselves out of the ultimate prize that is God.
As C.S. Lewis most wonderfully said, “Put first things first and we get second things thrown in: put second things first and we lose bothfirst and second things."