Your Own Custom God!

We live in a world where we can customize everything.

Take social media algorithms. It's a machine that constantly watches everything we do on our social media platforms so that it can customize our feeds just for us. We can live in the bubbles that make us most comfortable. And if we're not careful, those comfortable bubbles quickly turn into echo chambers that support and affirm everything we believe without challenge.

How about custom ads? As I know you've experienced, if you search Google or Amazon for any particular item, you are guaranteed to see a ridiculous amount of ads about that product and items adjacent to it. As a geriatric millennial, I'm at an age where I constantly get pushed balding creams and stretchy clothes for that expanding waistline. Make it stop.

Decades ago Burger King popularized the slogan, "Have it Your Way" as a way to differentiate themselves from the competition. But with the rise of app ordering, every order can be your way. I've seen absurd Starbucks orders with no less than 57 customizations. If you want a latte with almond milk and 25 pumps of caramel syrup, you can have it.

For many, even your jobs have become more custom. They say work-from-home is here to stay for a lot of jobs. It has given many a lot more freedom and hours in their week because there's no more commute. Even Apple's CEO, a prominent anti-WFH guy, recently buckled under employee pressure to allow flexible office hours.

This ability to customize our lives is often beneficial (and many times harmless), but if taken to its extremes, it can be really bad for us. There is a temptation to even customize our relationships. It's now possible to mute, block, and ghost ourselves away from hard people.

The biggest issue is when we try to customize God. We say things like, "My God wouldn't do that," or, "I see God like..." As much as we can customize our lives, we don't get to customize God. While that may be disappointing for many, it's actually our customization of God that leads to our biggest spiritual problems, disappointments, and doubts. Tomorrow I want to help you see where you've made God into something he isn't. It's only then you can be freed from your custom god that only leads to pain. Custom gods are never big enough to support faith.

Worship with us at 10 AM!