Serious Circus

My wife and I were at the circus over the weekend. The circus has changed much in the last decade. Gone were clowns with audacious makeup, only one less gaudy, but equally funny, clown remained. Gone were the 3-5 rings as only one ring was used. But what I missed most  was the absence of the tigers and lions. There was not a single one. There were elephants, camels, dogs, ponies, and horses. But my favorites were indeed gone. I was a bit disappointed.

Why did they no longer have them? The danger factor. Even though elephants are bigger, lions and tigers are more dangerous. And in recent times, we have seen several deaths when people lost their respect for these massive dangerous beasts. Just a week ago, I was watching the news and heard about a young woman who was killed by a lion in a private zoo. It only took one swipe of its massive paw to end the girl's life instantly.

What's all this got to do with Theology? Well, just like some people with lions and tigers, we often loose our respect for God's power and wrath. We think of God as cuddly, like a fuzzy cat, instead of the God of ultimate power and holiness. We think of His love as a get out of jail free card, and we abuse it.

Does that mean we should fear God? Absolutely. (Lev. 25:17, Deut. 5:29, Deut. 6:23, Ecc. 12:13, Is. 59:19, Acts 9:31, I Peter 1:17 and others) We are to fear God. Like a lion tamer fears the animal's true power, we are to fear God. But unlike tamers and lions, we are not in control. God is in control. We are given His grace, not to abuse, but to use. But fear is not a bad thing. Just like we fear animals for their power, we are to fear God. If we forget that factor in our relationship with God, we may be fall under His wrath as a careless zookeeper falls under the wrath of a great lion.

Another way we view God is like a loving Grandfather. We see Him as forgiving and indulgent. We think that we can get away with things if we just suck up to Him later, or maybe if we explain how much we want or don't want to do something.

I remember when I was a child, my grandfather was a patient man. He told stories and laughed often. He would tell jokes that didn't make sense to me, but I laughed anyways. I thought of him as a kind patient friend. I got away with far more with him than with my parents. But one day I saw a side of my grandfather I had not seen before.

It happened as we were visiting one summer. My cousin was up to no good. Running back and forth through the house, she would taunt everyone who was at their work. At first, my grandfather played along, but eventually he needed to get back to what he was doing. She continued to come through, but now she made it a point to bother him as much as possible. I was shocked. I had never seen anyone be that disrespectful to their grandparents. She was warned again, then again. Now she would run by and yell in his ear. As I watched, I saw my grandfather tense up as he sensed her approaching again. This time, as she shouted, she was grabbed by the shoulder, and as quick as lightning, ended up face down on his knee. Out of nowhere he pulled out a flyswatter and swatted her defiant little bottom. She was surprised, however I was far more so. This was a side of my grandfather I did not know existed. I saw him but rarely. My cousin lived right next door.

So was my grandfather inconsistent? Not at all. Judgement came only after warning, time and time again. I had been warned by my grandfather about things before, but never had I been disciplined like this. So what was the difference? Well, now that I am older, I am told that the cousin I speak of enjoyed bothering our grandfather. She had firmer discipline due to greater familiarity and more pronounced disobedience.

In that way, God is like a grandfather. He will judge us based on our familiarity with His standards (His Law) and disobedience of those standards. (Luke 12:48) He will not ignore our disobedience. After this episode, I marched to my grandfather's beat of the drum (or bum if you prefer). I knew that crossing the line could result in punishment. In the same way, God judges some as a warning to others. It is not in harshness that He judges some now, it is  in mercy that stays His hand for so many instead. So let us fear the Lord with proper fear. Love and fear go hand in hand. Let us fear the Lord and depart from evil.