(08/40) Does Your God Always Seem to Agree with You? That might be a problem.
“I’m not like those regular gods, I’m a cool God” (and other things God never said).
As part of Hear from God in 40 Emails (or Less), we’re exploring the four views of how God guides us: absentee God, helicopter God, cool God, and free-range God. You can read the introduction here.
When I was in high school, there was a popular teen movie that just about everyone in my life could quote on command.
In one scene, the main character, Cady, joins a new friend group and meets her friend Regina’s mom for the first time. After greeting them as “all her best girlfriends,” Regina’s mom explains the kind of mom that she is—all while wearing a pink tracksuit in a desperate attempt to fit in with the girls.
“I just want you to know that if you need anything, don’t be shy. There are no rules in this house,” she says, “I’m not like a regular mom. I’m a cool mom.”
What makes her the “cool” mom? She doesn’t have any rules. She lets you do whatever you want. She’s just there to get what you need.
Some of my friends had parents like this growing up, and there were plenty of moments when those were the kinds of parents I thought I wanted—at least so that I could have a later curfew.
And, there were moments when I wanted God to be like that, too.
You might think that’s what God is like.
He’s a Cool God.
The Cool God isn’t like those regular gods—with all their rules and commandments and You Shall Not’s. He’s your best buddy and your cheerleader in the sky. He says exactly what you want to hear, and he seems to sound just like you. He’s always supportive because he just wants you and your friends to like him. He doesn’t want to risk you feeling unhappy even for a moment.
When you say, “God, what should I do?,” the Cool God always seems to say right back, “You do whatever you want, honey, you know I’m behind you.” He always says exactly what you were going to do anyways.
On the grid, the Cool God is high on freedom and low on personal guidance. Why? He’s high on freedom because he gives you room to do just about whatever you want to do. But, he’s low on personal guidance because he gives you little to no guardrails or direction on what’s good for you.
What the Cool God Gets a Little Bit Right
In some circles, there’s this idea that God is always going to say exactly the opposite of what you think you want. So, whatever you do, don’t express what you want, because God will just say the opposite. And, if God doesn’t seem to be saying the opposite of what you want (and especially if it’s relatively easy), you must not be hearing him right.
But, in some decisions, you’ll find that God does agree with what you’re thinking. In fact, as you grow in spiritual maturity, you’ll discover that more often than not, you and God are on the same page.
Why? It’s not because God is trying to become more like you, it’s because you’re becoming more like him. He’s not getting “cooler,” you’re just getting holier. He’s not wearing a pink tracksuit and trying to fit in with you and your friends, you’re starting to fit in with him and his friends.
What the Cool God Gets Dangerously Wrong
The problem, of course, is that sometimes you have stupid ideas about what you should or shouldn’t do—and, so do I. In these moments, it’s a good thing God doesn’t tell you exactly what you want to hear.
Parents are often told that loving your kids means always affirming them and never correcting them, no matter how misguided the ideas and impulses in their still-forming brains might be. It’s easy to think God ought to be the same, but I’m afraid it’s messing up a whole generation.
Trust me, it’s better to have a good God than a cool one.
You want a God who will tell you the truth even when it hurts. You want a God who will tell you what you need to hear, not just what you want to hear. You want a God who is more interested in your long-term growth in holiness than a short-term spark of happiness.
“Only if your god can outrage and challenge you will you know that you worship the real God and not a figment of your imagination,” says Timothy Keller. “If your god never disagrees with you,” he goes on to say, “you might be worshiping an idealized version of yourself.”1
And, you might just be hearing from an idealized version of yourself as well.
A good God, unlike the Cool God, loves you enough to gently correct you and steer you away from danger regardless of what you might think about him. He doesn’t care if you’re mad at him or if you don’t want to talk to him for a while. He’s going to tell you how it is whether you like it or not.
That’s what the Cool God gets dangerously wrong, and it’s a lesson King Ahab learned the hard way.
When the Cool God Gets You Killed
King Ahab thought he had a cool God—and it cost him everything.
In 1 Kings 22, Ahab was facing a decision about whether to go to war or not. Another king named Jehosephat advised him, “First, please ask what the Lord’s will is.” That’s good advice.
The problem is that Ahab only asked prophets—400 of them—who told him exactly what he wanted to hear from God. They said, He’s on your side, and he’s totally going to support you in this battle.
He’s a Cool God.
But, Jehosaphat wasn’t convinced this was the God he knew.
He asked Ahab if there were any other prophets. “There is still one man who can inquire of the Lord,” he said, “but I hate him because he never prophesies good about me, but only disaster. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.”
Micaiah tells him the truth: If you go to war, it’s not going to go well for you. But, Ahab prefers the 400 prophets who tried to make God into a Cool God over the one who told him what God really said.
Ahab goes to war anyways, and he’s killed by a random arrow—a story that repeats itself again and again in the Bible and in our lives. It’s a reminder that, sometimes, the cool God can get you killed.
Don’t make the same mistake.
Whether you view God as the absentee God, the helicopter God, or the cool God, in the next email, we’ll explore the view of God that will set you up to experience his guidance.
Let me know in the comments: Why do you think we long for the Cool God in our cultural moment?
Miss a post? Get caught up here. Or, start with the first email.
I have no idea where this quote is from. I’ve just had it saved for a while. Let me know if you find the source.