There is this idea that we need to live balanced lives. It is okay to have dessert if you eat your vegetables first. You can sleep in on the weekends, but you shouldn’t sleep in every day. You can stay up late; sometimes, but not too often.
I read a great deal of young adult literature because I need to be able to recommend books for the kids I teach. This includes reading fantasy and science fiction. There have been several series in the last few years about creatures like vampires, werewolves, or Greek and Roman gods. There have even been a great many books about “angels” and “demons.” In each book or series, the idea is that if we believe in these traditionally mythic creatures we give them power. If we do not believe, they lose their power.
I don’t see these books as evil or bad, but they do cause me to question a couple of common and growing beliefs. The first is that God (Who is good) is balanced by evil. The second is that what we believe about God somehow changes His character. We create truth with what we believe. Both of these ideas are not Biblical. Both are really quite dangerous.
The first is that there is a balance to good and evil. This is not true. God has no really adversaries. There is no one who is equal to Him. He cannot change or lie. He is not evolving. His power is not checked by anyone or anything. In Isaiah 40: 25-26 God says “‘Who will you compare Me to, or who is My equal?’ asks the Holy One. Look up and see: who created these? He brings out the starry hosts by number; He calls all of them by name. Because of His great power and strength, not one of them is missing.” God is not balanced out. He is above and before all things.
The second idea is that we somehow change God with our understanding. If we believe He has more power. If we do not believe, He becomes less. God is not changed or lessened by what we think or do not think about him. Psalms 10225-27 says, “In the beginning You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing You will change them and they will be discarded. But You remain the same, and Your years will never end.”
I am not talking about what happens when a believer, agrees in prayer with God’s plans or purposes for their lives. I am talking about the idea that as our ideas or theologies change, then God changes. He does not. He has been the same since before the foundations of the world. He is infinite, and He does not change. Any growth or development, or change is in the believer.
There is a song that we sing it church. It is speaking of God when it says, “You have no rival. You have no equal.” Often songs, (even Christian ones) contain some ideas that are contrary to sound Biblical teaching. This song gets it right. God has no rival. He has no equal.
You might ask, “What difference does it make?” These books are fantasy. They are not intended to depict reality. This is true to an extent. It is also true that the things that you focus on or give your attention to can (and often do) affect how you live your life. They change the decisions that you make. Notice what Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–His good, pleasing, and perfect will.”
It is important to pay attention to the messages you are getting. It is also very important to measure them against what God’s word says. You really need to be able to identify the ideas that you are exposed to, test them against God’s standard, and discard the ones that do not align to the Word of God.
- Bibliography:
- (n.d.). Retrieved from https://biblehub.com/isaiah/40.htm.
- (n.d.). Retrieved from https://biblehub.com/romans/12-2.htm.
- (n.d.). Retrieved from https://biblehub.com/psalms/102.htm.
Cheri's Thoughts 