As I wrote in my previous post, many Christians have settled for a God they can understand. The problem is, a God who fits inside our minds can’t transform our hearts.
Interestingly, many outside the faith also shrink God to fit their own categories.
J.B. Phillips once said that most of us carry around a “God too small.” We shape God through our own insecurities, fears, and preferences, creating a version that reflects us more than Him. The result is a god who feels manageable but is not bigger than our own minds and therefore cannot sustain real faith or produce transformation.
Phillips identified several distorted views of God that remain familiar today.
Moralistic Therapeutic Deism: God exists mainly to solve problems and make people happy. He wants everyone to be nice, but rarely disrupts our comfort.
The God Within: In modern spirituality, the divine becomes an inner energy or higher self. This turns God into an experience rather than a relationship.
Pantheism and Panentheism: Some see God in all things and lose the distinction between Creator and creation. God becomes a vague “life force,” stripped of holiness.
Spiritual but Not Religious: God is reduced to whatever inspires awe or good feelings. The divine becomes a mood, not a person.
Universal Acceptance Without Judgment: This replaces the God of justice with one of sentimentality—kind but without moral authority.
The God of the Few: In certain spiritual circles, God seems reserved for those with secret knowledge or mystical experience.
Each of these ideas holds a fragment of truth, yet none reflects the full picture of God portrayed in Scripture. They are attempts to make the infinite simple enough to control.
Scripture presents a different story. God cannot be reduced to a system or personality type. He is both beyond us and near us, transcendent yet relational.
“My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. Isaiah 55:8
Isaiah’s words remind us that God exceeds our categories. The moment we think we have captured His ways, He shows us another facet of His wisdom.
Phillips offered several guideposts to keep us centered on the God revealed in Scripture.
God Unfocused, Then in Focus: God cannot be contained by human thought. Yet through Jesus Christ, He becomes visible and personal. The unknowable becomes known in a person.
Clues to Reality: The order within the chaos of creation, the ache for meaning, and the tug of conscience all point to a deeper reality behind the visible world.
Invitation to Relationship: God is not a distant force. In Christ, He entered human life and shared our suffering so we could know His heart.
Faith as Transformation: Mature faith reshapes us from the inside. It moves us from self-concern toward love for God and others. Christianity is about life transformed by Christ, not managed by rules.
Leaders are often tempted to present a version of God that aligns with what people prefer. When we do, we make Him a means to an end, comfort, growth, or success, rather than the center of all things.
Our calling is to help people encounter the living God who reveals Himself through Scripture and Spirit. When we fully grasp His magnitude, how we see ourselves changes, and our leadership is different. We stop striving to control outcomes and begin living from trust.
Take time to ask:
Where have I made God fit my comfort instead of His calling?
Where have I reduced mystery to management?
Do the people I lead see the living God or my idea of Him?
The God who cannot be contained is the same God who chose to dwell among us.