Fearing God. And what does that mean, anyway

The cover of a new book I'm reading by Don
Miller. It's really good.

I read the other day that every year, the average American spend 1457 hours watching TV and reads 3 books.

I wouldn't say that I'm a TV junkie, but I could very easily become one. My wife and I watch two television shows per week: Lost, and 24. I would watch American Idol, but I have small group on that night. **(BTW, for a great article about the spiritual implications of American Idol, click here). Thanks Ziman.**

So I have a rule - well, really more like a guideline - that for every hour I watch TV or a movie, I will read at least the same amount. I also have turned off the computer in the morning time and spend the time reading stuff. Mostly religious stuff.

So I'm reading everything by Don Miller that I can get my hands on. Not since Frederick Beuchner have I encountered a writer who I enjoy as much as Miller. He's more modern than Beuchner, but speaks with the same kind of warmth, intellect and wit. If you've never heard of Donald Miller, go out and read everything he's ever written tonight. His books that I have read are:

• Blue Like Jazz (thoughts on Christian spirituality)
• Searching for God (death to old formulas about spirutuality)
• To Own a Dragon (reflections on growing up without a father)

They're all really inspiring. In Searching for God he made an interesting statement. He was telling a story about a made-for-TV movie he saw with Shirley MacLaine called "Out on a Limb." In the movie, MacLaine is on the beach, twirling around, saying, "I am God. I am God. I am God."

I say all this because the other side of what Shirley MacLaine was doing on that beach wasn't funny. From God's perspective, looking down at this squeaky voice going off about how she is God is pretty funny, but the other side, the side that knows how large God is, how He has no end, gives me a start something terrible. And I wonder what it sounded like to God when Jerry Falwell went on television and said the reason the twin towers were hit by those planes was because there were homosexuals in the building. I wonder what kind of annoying squeak that was in God's ear. I don't think a person who makes a statement like that fears God. I don't thnk people like this respect God when He says to love your brother, love your enemy, turn the other cheek, don't judge lest you be judged, be patient, be kind, hold your tongue and give every effort to keep the bonds of peace. Sometimes, honestly, I feel that squeaky-wheel Christian leadership can be as wrong about God as Shirley MacLaine. I don't think they actually fear Him or think He means what He says.

I write this because it made me think about the words I say, and sometimes how cavalier I am about saying certain things. I think there are things that we can know for certain, but other things that we can't. Doors that are open to us and doors that, for whatever reason, are not.

Problem is, too many people - Christians and non-Christians - jump to conclusions about God. And that's usually never a good thing. Anyway, just made me think.