And yet another one

One of my favorite bloggers, the Internet Monk, has posted a great post about The Face of a Gracious God. In this post he is contrasting two views of God:

1. The view that God is majorly torqued at us and can't wait to beat us over the head. We're currently being protected by Jesus, but if we step out of line we're in danger of the huge divine wet noodle heading our way.
2. And the other view—that God is a loving God who has blessings upon blessings stored up for us. He can't abide sin and our sin has caused a rift in the relationship, so he provided Jesus' sacrifice on the cross to restore us to full fellowship with him, which includes that huge storehouse of blessings.

Having grown up in a church that preached the second definition but lived the first, I am particularly sensitive to those Christians that iMonk describes as "grumpy." They seem to revel in looking for things God is going to be upset about in the lives of others and then instantly jump all over that person. Of course, they defend their attack by saying that they are simply concerned that the person repent and be restored to fellowship with that really ticked-off God of theirs.

Here's a quote:

We have far too few Christians who are overwhelmed at the news that God has fired the bookkeepers, sent home the bean counters, dismissed the religion cops and bought party hats for the grumpy old people. The big announcement is this: In Jesus, we discover that God is just sloppy with his amazing grace and completely beyond common sense when it comes to his love. Just to enhance his reputation as the God who know how to throw a party, he’s inviting all of us back home, no tickets necessary, no dress code, for a party that will last, literally, forever. With open bar, and all on him. (Oh calm down Baptists. You can go to another room.)

Go read the rest.