I had a delightful meeting this week with some wonderful people, discussing our mission strategy and ambitious plans with great unity and enthusiasm. At the end, one of them said, “Let’s close in prayer”. We thanked God for our time together and asked him to bless our efforts. Sound familiar? How do you feel after one of those times? I feel, I don’t know, important. Like we’re doing something of significance for God.

I had another conversation this week where we envisioned getting together to plan out our mission priorities for 2025. The proposed agenda was to spend time listening to Jesus and hear what he tells us to do. Period. For 2025, that’s more like, “Let’s open with prayer”. Ever been to meetings like that? How do they make you feel? I feel, humble. Like God’s doing something important and we get to join Him.

Such opposite experiences and reactions. I could describe the two methods to fit this next quote as reason and revelation….

“Belief in God based on reason rather than revelation or the teaching of any specific religion is known as deism. The word originated in England in the early 17th century as a rejection of orthodox Christianity. Deists asserted that reason could find evidence of God in nature and that God had created the world and then left it to operate under the natural laws devised by God. By the late 18th century, deism was the dominant religious attitude among Europe’s educated classes; it was accepted by many upper-class Americans of the same era, including the first three US presidents.” – Merriam-Webster

It seems like as Christians we can fall into a kind of sanctified deism. God created the world and gave it to us to run, so let’s take charge and do it! Even sounds American. Invigorating. But is it biblical?

“But we’re not deists! We believe in Jesus!” Yes, but is Jesus Lord or Assistant? Would you wait until the end of the meeting to hear from your boss? Or, in our case, just ask the boss for help with our plan? Seems more like how you’d speak to an assistant at the end of a meeting: thanks for your presence here with us, please do these tasks, thanks.

In the Old Testament, it seems that the nations had a kind of deism arrangement. Unless they messed with Israel, it seems like they were left to run themselves. That didn’t go so well, so when Jesus came God changed the rules.

Since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. – Acts 17:29-30

In the New Testament, deism is the opposite of how we relate to God, as modelled by Jesus.

Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” – John 5:19

“If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5

Let’s OPEN in prayer, listening to the voice of God for our instructions.