God is Irrelevant. God is Unable to Satisfy. God Does not Care if We Reject Him.
These lies about God are not unique to suburbia, but I think they very loud here. They are not so much explicitly stated as they are implicitly assumed by the decisions, advertisements and values we embrace. Insidious and persuasive, we must recognize these lies for what they are so that we are not duped and led astray.
1 God is Irrelevant
Competitive sports. Renovated homes. Designer yards. Full schedules. Planning for vacations. Squeezing in more media. Securing our children’s success.
What role does God have in a busy suburban life? How can God even matter when there are so many important other things happening?
This is the vibe we encounter as we face the onslaught of suburban gods clamoring for our attention. But if God is real—and He is—and if God has legitimate authority over His Creation—and He does—then no one could more relevant than Him.
We owe our very existence to God. He graciously gives us good gifts—families, houses, talents—that we might enjoy them and bring glory to His Name. God knows best how we ought to live in our suburban world, and no one else can guide, inform, or help us to do this than Him.
2 God is Unable to Satisfy
Success. Money. Sex. Beautiful bodies. Strength. Achievement of goals.
These things all offer us satisfaction, if only we can achieve them… And because of their delightful qualities, we can easily fall into the lie that God cannot satisfy us.
Augustine once said, ‘the heart is restless, until it finds rest in God,’ but we say the heart is restless until it finds a larger 401k, a promotion at work, or our children being the star players on their sports team.
But God is actually more satisfying than all these things… He puts more ‘pleasure in our hearts, than they have when their wine and grain abound’ (Ps 4:7). In God there are ‘pleasures forevermore’ (Ps 16:11). The pleasure of knowing God is more satisfying than all the suburban prizes combined, and far more lasting.
It is the privilege of the believer to enjoy God daily. We behold Him in His Word, worship Him in community, and experience His life-giving Spirit fill us with joy. He satisfies—‘oh taste and see that the Lord is good’ (Ps 34:8).
3 God Does Not Care if we Reject Him
Many believe that it doesn’t really matter if we chose to ignore God. God is fine either way and there won’t be any consequences for us now or in the life to come. What matters in suburbia is that our children are succeeding, our homes look nice, and we are comfortable and safe.
The truth of the matter is that ignoring God has real consequences. If our souls were made to enjoy God, trying to fill them with that is not God will only lead to emptiness and ruin now and forever. If God is a just Judge before whom we must all give an account, then there is nothing more consequential than breaking God’s laws and living lives of apathy toward Him.
But there is hope in the gospel. Though these lies can lead us astray, Christ leads us back to the truth. He, the truth itself (John 14:6), died on the cross for our lies, that we might live in the truth and be free from these lies.
