How to Put God in a Box

When you grow up in evangelical churches one of the things you will eventually realize is that there are certain words and phrases that you have heard all of your life that people outside the Christian sub-culture don’t use. I’m not talking about words like “sanctification” or “propitiation” but, rather, phrases like “hedge of protection.” I have realized that many of the phrases I have grown up hearing and even using have shaped me to some degree and, in most cases, I don’t know where they are, if anywhere, in the Bible.

One term that I don’t recall using (except perhaps when poking fun at it) is the idea of “putting God in a box.” Growing up at Markham Street Baptist Church (9 of the best years of my life) I heard this term quite a bit. Now I hear the same term a lot but it seems to have a different meaning than it did at MSBC.

In light of this discovery I have done some research (which basically means I thought about it for approximately 5 minutes) and discovered that there are two primary uses of the term “God in a box” that have completely different meanings.

Definition 1. To compartmentalize God. To act as if He doesn’t exist unless needed in times of trouble. To act like a Christian some of the time.

For Example:

A sermon point- "Some people don't spend time in your bible 6 out of 7 days a week and they would only pray if their plane was going down or their 401k was in the tank. They just try to keep God in a box until they need someone more powerful than themselves to do their bidding.

Also known as: Genie in a bottle god.

Definition 2. To act as if God only works in certain ways. To say that God doesn’t do something. To speak of boundaries on God’s actions.

For Example:

A conversation with a fictional person with cool glasses named Bob Rell:

Me: Hey man, I'm really concerned because my Buddhist friend Rich won't even listen to me when I try to share the gospel.

Bob Rell: Stephen, you're view of God is way too small. It's like you're putting God in a box when you say that he can't be saved apart from Christianity. God's plan is so much bigger than that.

Also known as subtraction by addition or heresy.

I think the first use of this term is an accurate commentary on the way many people act. The second way of using it, however, is usually used in a way that is incredibly unbiblical. Regardless of what the Bible says there are some people who will simply say that God will do things that He will not do. To say He won't do something because the Bible says He won't isn't "putting God in a box" it is simply believing Scripture.

Grace and Peace,
Stephen

What do you think? How have you heard this term used? Do you think it was a valid use?