by Mike Andrews

The question that shaped evangelical piety on early Usenet was almost always directed inward: Who is God to you? In November 1985, Mike Andrews — an engineer at John Fluke Mfg. Co. in Everett, Washington — reversed the direction. He asked his readers to consider the question from the other side: Who are you to God? What does God think of you, personally?

The meditation that follows draws on the parent-child analogy — one of the oldest theological metaphors — to articulate what Andrews calls "divine dependence," a condition he distinguishes sharply from human dependence. It is one of his most compact theological statements, closing with a single crisp sentence that has the quality of an aphorism: "Divine dependence is not human dependence. Not ... even ... close."

The question often asked is "Who is God to you?" Here's another way to look at the question — "Who are you to God?" What does God think of just you personally? How does He treat you? How does He care for your personal and your family needs? How does He give you particularly what you need spiritually as well as physically? How often do you go to Him to ask Him to change your life, situations, etc.? It's humbling to know there are things about us that need changing, and only God can change them, if we let Him. He won't go against our free wills.

His Word says we are His children. So how do you treat your children, or at least wish you would, or could? This comparison only goes so far, though, because He is God to us, we are parents to our children. Yet the comparison has a lot of value. If your child asked for help with something that only you had the ability to help them with — wouldn't you be right there? If you saw your child's life in danger, wouldn't you risk losing your own to even attempt to save their's? Jesus did.

God's Word also tells us not to worry over the slightest things, because He is caring for us in all ways. Remember the "birds of the air." He even says He cares enough for us to know just how many hairs, or lack there of :-), we each have on our heads. Nothing is beyond His care and concern for us. Nothing is beyond His ability to help us, if we let Him.

I choose to include in my Faith that God cares for every facet of my life, nothing is excluded. Undoubtedly He has priorities, and some things are more important to Him than others. He wants me to use the many Gifts He's given me for the benefit of others. This isn't a prideful boast, it's a statement we can all make. He also wants me to realize my total need for Him and for His strength and Love and guidance. There is nothing I can change in myself by myself — God either changes me, or guides and strengthens me in the efforts I must make, or both. Regardless, it is Him doing it all. I just make the choices. Humbling, huh.

This is where the God-parent comparison fades — Divine dependence is not human dependence. Not ... even ... close.

God Bless,
Mike Andrews

Colophon

Mike Andrews was an engineer at John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc. in Everett, Washington, and one of the most consistent evangelical voices on net.religion.christian in 1985. He posted regularly on faith, prayer, free will, and the daily experience of Christian life — a warm, plainspoken presence in the early days of online religious discourse.

This post appeared November 14, 1985. Message-ID: <[email protected]>.

Preserved from the Usenet archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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