Today's interview is with Drew Dyck, managing editor of Leadership Journal. We talked about his latest book, Yawning at Tigers: You Can't Tame God, So Stop Trying, which released this week. Yawning at Tigers explores our attempts to domesticate God and direct people away from "safe" Christianity and into a deeper understanding of God's holiness and majesty.
1) A.W. Tozer famously wrote, "Whatever it is that we think about God is the most important thing about us." So what is it about our modern conception of God that you feel is lacking?
We lack an awareness and appreciation of God's holiness. We don't seem to have that sense of the terrible glory of God described in Isaiah 6, what Rudolph Otto called the "Mysterium Tremendum."
I remember being in a church service where the pastor invited congregants to call out God's attributes. He asked us to finish this sentence: "Lord, you are . . ." The responses came in rapid succession: "Loving!" said someone. "Merciful," added another. "Gracious." . . . "Kind." . . . "Compassionate." All true. Yet what I found interesting was what wasn't said. There wasn't a word about God's holiness, not a whisper about his justice, let alone his wrath. Had Isaiah been in attendance, perhaps he would have added, "Terrifying."
2) We seem to like a God of love, but not so much a God of holiness and even, say, wrath. Why?
I get why it's tempting just to camp out on God's love and acceptance. To speak of divine holiness is to risk turning people off. Yet at the same time I think people are thirsty for transcendence. There's a deep-seated desire to be in the presence of something majestic and powerful. When we sideline God's transcendence, we deny them that encounter.
There's a deep-seated desire to be in the presence of something majestic and powerful. When we sideline God's transcendence, we deny them that encounter.
3) You describe God as dangerous. Some people would be scared by a dangerous God.
I think it's crucial that we see God as dangerous—as long as we remember that he's also good. I wouldn't want someone who has been abused, for instance, to imagine that God is cruel and capricious. We can trust in his goodness.
I also think it's important to remember that God isn't merely dangerous to people "out there." He's dangerous to us. Dangerous to our way of life, to our comfort and carefully crafted plans. There's no telling what he might ask us to do or give up—and that's scary.
4) It seems our modern worship tends to domesticate God. How can worship leaders lead people in gazing toward a more transcendent view of God?
More silence would be a good start. Silence is a spiritual tonic. And I think it allows people to experience the awe of God. Of course, in our culture it's hard to ask people to be silent. After a few seconds of silence, we get fidgety and start reaching for our smartphones. But I think silence has tremendous benefits.
We need deeper worship songs too. Isaac Watts, the hymn writer wrote, "A solemn reverence checks our songs, / And praise sits silent on our tongues." Where are the songs like that? Most contemporary worship songs could be sung to God—or a girlfriend. I'm not for just resurrecting old songs. There are some great song writers at work today—like Keith and Kristyn Getty ("In Christ Alone"). We just need more people like them.
5) How can pastors change their preaching to move away from a domesticated God and more toward the God of the Bible?
Teach "the whole counsel of God." Today nine out of ten sermons are preached from the New Testament. There's nothing wrong with preaching from the New Testament, of course, but I fear that ignoring the Old Testament is often a way of circumventing passages that portray God in a way that makes us uncomfortable. But it's often these same passages that convey something unique about the holiness and otherness of God.
Daniel Darling is vice-president of communications for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. He is the author of several books, including his latest, Activist Faith.
