Let’s play a game called “What If?”  It’s a fun game.  Really, it is.  Now, the only rule to What If is that you actually suspend your own biases and make yourself honestly look at the questions and scenarios posed.  So, for those who like to consider themselves open-minded and tolerant, here’s a chance to exercise those muscles.  We’re going to play What If on some of mankind’s most fundamental and basic queries from the beginning of time.  Ready?
    What if there really is a God?  Immediately, a large number of you are either squirming or moving on to something else.  Remember, this is just a game, so relax.  I’m sure that a discussion on this hypothetical scenario will simply be entertaining, not uncomfortable.  After all, if there is a God, He would never want you to feel uncomfortable, right?
    So, for the sake of our game, we all now believe that there is a God.  That means suddenly there is something bigger than us.  But where does that leave us?  Now we have to figure out if this God is something/someone that wants us to know him or not.  Is this God impersonal or personal?  Is it an ethereal and abstract being without a distinct personality, or is it a very defined and specific person?  Those are important questions that have been wrestled with as long as man has wrestled with the idea of there being a God.  Fortunately, we’re playing what if, so we can just move past all of the arguments and go straight to what we want to look at.  Fun, huh? 
    Well, what if this God is a very distinct, personal and well-defined being?  That means that God can be known in a very personal and intimate way.  That is very cool for some people, very scary for others, and abhorrent for some.  Off the cuff, one would think that being able to know God personally would be cool and only cool.  However, as we said, this God is well-defined.  That means he knows what he wants form us, he knows who he wants us to be.  That can cause problems.  How, you ask?
    What if this God was perfect and holy and he could only be with us if we were the same?  Uh, oh…now we have a problem.  Even the most narcissistic ego-maniac would admit that he or she isn’t perfect.  Yet, the problem is compounded, because this God is also holy.  That means his perfection isn’t based on getting every math equation correct.  It means that his perfection is based on his character and what he does.  In other words, his morality.  I realize that is a dirty word in today’s culture, which is why we are only discussing it in this hypothetical game.
So, now we have a big problem.  We have a void between us and the God that made us and wants to know us.  You know what, though, the problem is going to get bigger.  The reason this God made us was so that we could love him and experience his love and presence.  To obtain that goal, however, he had to give us a free will to choose him or not.  Love forced isn’t really love.  True, genuine love requires a choice.  That’s why love isn’t a feeling or emotion.
    Let’s summarize where we are at this point in the game.  We have decided that there is a God, that he is personal and loves us and wants us to know and love him, but since true love requires freedom of choice, we must choose or reject this God.  Also, even if we choose him, there is a problem because he is holy and to be in his presence we have to have the same purity and holiness, which we don’t.  What a mess!  Well, let’s keep going.  This is getting interesting.
    What if this God loved us so much that he made a way for us to know him, but it would mean trusting in him without having absolute proof in everything?  In other words, we would have to live part of our lives in faith.  He would provide a lot of support and confirmation throughout history, in science, in philosophy and in life experiences of billions over the ages, but there would still be areas of the unknown.  There would be enough questions for those that want to doubt.  He wants those that love him to trust him completely, even in the face of opposition or skepticism.  As we humans want to be shown how much we’re loved, this God is the same way.  He wants us to show him how much we love him by trusting him even when it is hard.
    What if this God gave us instructions on how to live life so that it was honoring and pleasing to him?  Well, he did make us, so I guess that’s fair.  But what if this same God also said that to follow his ways we would have to sacrifice our own wants and desires sometimes to do things his way?  What if this God asked us to submit our lives to him and to give him the right to do in our lives whatever he decides is best?  So, this God expects me to give up control of my life to him so he can do whatever he wants to do, whether I like it or not.  I think we just found the real sticking point.
    If this God existed, he would obviously have some very specific designs for life and what is right and wrong, healthy and unhealthy, life-giving and destructive.  Most people wouldn’t have a problem with that.  The problem comes when this demanding God expects his creations to submit to him and trust him.  The problem is that this so-called loving God does some strange and uncomfortable—yes, even painful—things and then claims it is what is best for us.  That seems a bit contradictory.
    Well, what if this God loved us in a way that we can’t totally understand?  What if he loves us no matter what we do?  What if he loves us totally and completely, regardless of our failings?  That would be pretty cool.  But what if one of our problems is that his love is aimed at making us into the whole, healed, healthy people that he envisioned when he made us?  What if that kind of love is painful at times?  What if that kind of love requires us to let go of life and let him control it and take us through the fire to heal us?  That changes things.  Now it’s a perfecting love, not a gooey pampering love.
    We don’t want hard love.  We want warm and fuzzy love.  We don’t want to give up our independence and control of our lives to some faceless being way up in the clouds.  We know what’s best for our lives.  We don’t need some weirdo God telling us that this is right or wrong, or that this action in our life is unhealthy and ultimately destructive to ourselves and those around us.  Life is about what makes us happy.  That’s good enough.  If we all just do what makes us happy, then everything will be fine.
    What if this God told us that we really don’t know what’s best?  What if he told us that we only see a infinitesimal portion of the larger picture and that we don’t even see our infinitesimal portion accurately, much less the whole dang thing?  Ha!  We know better.  We’re doing just fine, thank you.  We don’t need some omniscient, all-powerful being leading us around.  We’ve got it all under control.  Humans can do anything we put our minds to.
    We don’t need this hypothetical God.  Even if we like the love aspect, we don’t want this crazy notion of holiness and submission to a faceless entity.  We’ll just continue on doing things the way we have been.  After all, when you look at mankind’s history, we’ve done a hell of a job making this world a wonderful place to live.  With all of our independence, we’ve wrought amazing and undeniable legacies of love, freedom, justice and peace.  What if there’s this kind of God?  C’mon…we’re doing just fine down here.  But thanks anyway.