As someone who has somewhat aimlessly but none the less sincerely meandered through life it always strikes me when someone talks about "God's plan for your life". It's a phrase that tends to be used a lot in Christian Circles and one that can really erk me. Often what is behind this statement is a belief that God has our entire lives already planned out for us (with no consultation from us) and it is up to us to try and work out what this plan is an then to follow it. Apart from sounding pretty awful I think there are two major misunderstandings behind this thought. (1) God and Time (2) Paul and predestination.
Firstly, God and time. Plato and the Ancient Greeks were the first to think of God as not being restrained by time and able to be outside of time. This is not an idea found in the Bible. In fact quite the opposite, God changes his mind in the Noah story for example, something that you wouldn’t do if you knew the future (I may flesh out this argument in another post at some stage). Instead God makes a plan and then chooses to carry out or not carry out that plan.
Secondly, Romans 8:29 and the whole predestination thing. I think Romans 8:29 and predestination can be summed up like this. As a Xn you are predestined to become more like Christ, and that’s it (I may flesh this out later too). You are not predestined to marry a particular person, do a particular job or wear a particular shirt. You are predestined to become more like Christ, and you can probably do that wearing a variety of t-shirts. In fact I would go as far as to say that the definition of a Xn is someone who is becoming more like Christ. (oooh that's a bit of a radical throw away line... I'll definitely expand on that in a later post)
Now when these to misunderstandings are combined it means that when people say “God has a plan for your life” They usually mean God has every moment of my life set out. Which means that God has my t-shirt for the day etc… already planned, but I just think that there is no evidence for this thought in scripture and it doesn’t really make sense anyway if humans have free will. So when someone says “God has a plan” for your life I usually politely agree thinking to myself yes and that plan is that I become more like Christ.
God has a plan for your life it’s a big general kind of plan so go fill in the details the way you like. See this post for an illustration of this.
Firstly, God and time. Plato and the Ancient Greeks were the first to think of God as not being restrained by time and able to be outside of time. This is not an idea found in the Bible. In fact quite the opposite, God changes his mind in the Noah story for example, something that you wouldn’t do if you knew the future (I may flesh out this argument in another post at some stage). Instead God makes a plan and then chooses to carry out or not carry out that plan.
Secondly, Romans 8:29 and the whole predestination thing. I think Romans 8:29 and predestination can be summed up like this. As a Xn you are predestined to become more like Christ, and that’s it (I may flesh this out later too). You are not predestined to marry a particular person, do a particular job or wear a particular shirt. You are predestined to become more like Christ, and you can probably do that wearing a variety of t-shirts. In fact I would go as far as to say that the definition of a Xn is someone who is becoming more like Christ. (oooh that's a bit of a radical throw away line... I'll definitely expand on that in a later post)
Now when these to misunderstandings are combined it means that when people say “God has a plan for your life” They usually mean God has every moment of my life set out. Which means that God has my t-shirt for the day etc… already planned, but I just think that there is no evidence for this thought in scripture and it doesn’t really make sense anyway if humans have free will. So when someone says “God has a plan” for your life I usually politely agree thinking to myself yes and that plan is that I become more like Christ.
God has a plan for your life it’s a big general kind of plan so go fill in the details the way you like. See this post for an illustration of this.
2 comments:
I whole-heartedly agree and cringe at the doctrine that suggests otherwise. God's plan for my life isn't to make me a missionary and send me to Africa, although He may call me to that. His plan is to transform me into the likeness of His Son. I see people agonise over 'God's Will' as to whether they take that job, or move to that house etc but He is still going to persue our transformation no matter what choice we ultimately make. I'm actually just drafting up a transformation post which is pretty dear to me. I am also living a churchless faith and have been for several years. look forward to exploring your archives.
Cheers
Garth
Thanks Garth!
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