Dumb thing #2: Putting God's name on things that go against his character

I was on Facebook today, and I saw something that blew me away. There was a post from a girl who is in the process of changing genders from female to male. (Why any girl would want to be a guy is beyond me, but that's not the point...) Anyway, this "girl" put up a status update that "she" was about to go into one of her gender-change surgeries. One of her friends responded, "That's awesome! I'll be praying that your surgery goes well!" I stared at the screen for a moment, trying to understand.

My first thoughts were big-guy-behind-the-keyboard thoughts, like "What god are you praying to you idiot??" But then the Lord gave me perspective, and I quickly calmed down and saw this for what it truly is: Someone who is lost has a wrong perspective of who God is, and they need people in their life to show them truth in love. So I prayed for the guy. And the soon-to-be guy.

But it got me thinking: how often do Christians put God's name in places it doesn't belong? I'd say, roughly, all the dang time.

When pursuing a relationship that they definitely shouldn't: "I really feel like God is leading me to him!"

When supporting a lifestyle of sin: "You know, God made them that way, so I support it."

When teaching poor theology: "God just wants you to be happy and rich!"

We put his name in front of a curse word. We use his name as an excuse for poor decisions. We put his name in the "blame" column when bad things happen. The list goes on.

How about we stop trying to mold God into what we want him to be and start respecting and honoring who he actually is? How about we start supporting what he supports, loving what he loves, and hating what he hates? Instead of trying to change God, how about we just humbly serve God? Let's line things up with scripture before we start putting his name in places where it doesn't belong.

In whatever context you use Christ as your lobbying tool, imagine whether or not (based upon scriptural truth) he would come behind you and say: "My name is God, and I approve of this message." If the cumulative message of the Old and New Testaments don't support it, you made that junk up yourself.