by David Tavender
Below you’ll find an article titled “The Interview With God”. The article has been widely published, and has found its way onto my office desk via different sources over several years now.
One would think that such an interview with God would actually contain some of the actual words of God. Sadly, this is not the case. Instead are words from a human source portraying what the author thought God would have said. Before I make further comment, however, it would be fitting for you to read through the original article for yourself.
“The Interview With God” (author unknown)
I dreamed I had an interview with God.
“So you would like to interview me?” God asked. “If you have the time” I said. God smiled. “My time is eternity”. “What questions do you have in mind for me?”
“What surprises you most about humankind?…”
God answered… “That they get bored with childhood. They rush to grow up and then long to be children again. That they lose their health to make money and then lose their money to restore their health. That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, such that they live in neither the present nor the future. That they live as if they will never die, and die as if they had never lived.”
God’s hand took mine and we were silent for awhile. And then I asked… “As a parent, what are some of life’s lessons you want your children to learn?”
God replied with a smile. “To learn they cannot make anyone love them. What they can do is let themselves be loved. To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to others. To learn that a rich person is not one who has the most, but is one who needs the least. To learn that it only takes a few seconds to open profound wounds in persons we love, and it takes many years to heal them.
“To learn to forgive by practising forgiveness. To learn that there are persons who love them dearly, but simply do not know how to express or show their feelings. To learn that two people can look at the same thing and see it differently. To learn that it is not always enough that they be forgiven by others. But that they must forgive themselves. And to learn that I am here always.”
from www.theinterviewwithgod.com and in print form via several publishers
It has been the practice of Christians and non-Christians alike throughout the centuries to tell us what God thinks about such and such when no such details have been revealed by the one source that really matters – the Word of God. The article above is a typical example of how the Bible can often get left on the shelf when we start considering the things of God. Being human, we often think we know best about such things.
I have no objection to people making suggestions about how we should conduct ourselves. Actually, there are probably quite a few worthy sentiments expressed in the interview poem. However, my main problem is with the idea of presuming to portray the words and thoughts of God without consulting one’s Bible – the genuinely God-breathed Word (2 Timothy 3:16), and thus, the source of what God has truly revealed to us about Himself.
In the Bible, we have at our fingertips God’s very thoughts and words as He made them known, both through His Son, and through the writers of the Old and New Testaments – “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:1,2).
Imagine someone else publishing what YOU think about such-and-such an issue, but not consulting you first? The scope for misrepresentation is enormous! We wouldn’t want that of ourselves, so do we think that God would be indifferent about this?
To assume what God would want or would say, instead of actually looking to see what He wants and has said in His Word, is the best way to come up with a set of beliefs about God and His plans for us which are not quite (or even near to) those set forth in the Scriptures. As an example of how easy it is for us to make up these things, consider how many of each kind of animal Noah really had to take on the ark. Most people say “two of each animal”, but why not consult Genesis 7:2,3 and read God’s very own words? I invite you to take a look now. You’ll find it’s quite a bit different to the traditional story, but it’s easier to go along with what people say than check the Bible.
The “quotes” in the interview article about money and health, expression of feelings, forgiveness, and children, are all derived from a human mind, and are more along the lines of an approach which emphasises the need to be comfortable with yourself, and not hurt anyone else in the process. Regarding such issues, I can’t find anything in Scripture that even remotely represents the ideas put forward. Not much of it lines up with the things that God has to say in the Bible – the true record of what God has said.
If you’ve read this far, you’ve already spent a few minutes reading the original article, as well as my comments, so may I suggest you now spend at least one minute carefully considering these words – some of the actual words of God – and note the authority and importance the Bible plays in God’s revelation to mankind…
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16)
“Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105).
“Jesus answering said unto them, ‘Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the Scriptures, neither the power of God?’ ” (Mark 12:24).
In addition, the people of Berea were considered to be “noble” because, after hearing Paul speak, they “searched the Scriptures daily” to see “whether those things were so”. (Acts 17:10,11).
The “Interview With God” is just one example of the masses of articles and presentations which have had so much influence over many Christians, but with so little foundation. If God is who we make Him to be out of our own imaginings, there is little room for Him to reveal something of His true nature and being to us. And that’s building on the sands of falsehood, instead of the Rock of truth.
