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Just let the Colts win!

Sam discovers that he’s not always orthodox.

Posted Saturday, February 03, 2007 by Sam Yeiter
Categories: Popular CultureHumorCulture and Theology  

At work, my office recently went to war with another office across campus.  It began when they stole Rish’s candy jar.  Stealthily, I went and retrieved it.  A few days later the rival camp came and absconded with the jar a second time.  This time they hid it much more effectively (I did discover it later, after this story ends, and we won…but that is incidental to my story).  When my efforts to find it were at first fruitless, I went on a quest for a bargaining chip.

Like Ethan Hunt, I penetrated into the innermost heart of the enemy lair, and made off with a fitting captive, a hand woven basket of foreign origin.  Its owner is an MK, and so I rightly assumed the basket had significant sentimental, if not financial, value.  This fact slowly melded with the thoughts of the potential danger of the path I had chosen to tread back to my office.  At this point, I must tell you that my favorite route from my office to the rival office runs behind Rolfing Library, and during the winter is either glare ice, or glare ice with a bit of  slippery snow on it. 

I began to realize that if God wanted to get me for stealing, he could use that slippery surface to cause me to fall, thus crushing the basket beneath me.  As I pondered this, I thought about re-routing and taking the longer, but well-salted sidewalk to my den. 

As I thought a bit longer, I realized how inaccurate this unintentional thinking was.  I had turned the living God into one of those Olympian deities whose will can be circumvented by cunning or carefulness.  In short, at that moment I was thinking about a false god.  Now, before we’re too hard on me, let me assert that I believe most Christians, at times, have this sort of god…the kind of god we can outwit, out maneuver, or with whom we can make a deal.  One of my theology professors at seminary, Dr. Jack K Willsey, used to talk about making contracts with God.  As ridiculous as it may sound, during each game of the playoffs, and especially during the Patriots game, I found myself silently and unconsciously saying, “God, if you’ll just let the Colts win, I’ll be good.  I promise.”

Let me suggest that we must purge ourselves of such false thinking if we are to know the true God.  He is not a trifling Zeus.  We cannot evade his will.  Nor should we hope to.  Let us believe that God loves us and wants what is best for us.  We should long for his will, whatever it costs…and let us pray that the Colts have been destined for victory!

Sunday, February 04, 2007 8:13 PM

Charlie wrote:  I guess you were good...

Thursday, February 08, 2007 2:55 PM

Sam wrote:  There you go...another example of this pagan thinking:)  Thanks Chuck.  I plan on writing a post soon delving into the reason(s) we have this olympian view of God and how we are to handle this flaw.

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