Does God Desire You to Have Fun?

I want you to look at this TikTok skit and tell me whether the 'reality' reflects a loving God or not.

Transcript:

POV: How we think God talks to us versus how he actually talks to use.

Expectation:

Narrator: Lord, I know i've been spending way too much time with my girlfriend lately and not enough time with you. I'm sorry Lord, I will do better.

God: Nah, it's no problem, Spend more time with with her. I want you to hang out, I want you to be happy in life. Spend as much time as you want.

Narrator: Alright! Babe! Let's hang out!

Reality:

Narrator: Lord, I know i've been spending way too much time with my girlfriend lately and not enough time with you. I'm sorry Lord, I will do better.

Narrator gets a text

Narrator: SHE JUST BROKE UP WITH ME? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

The skit, and the comments praising it, expose a deeply disturbing view of God, a view that is, sadly, all too common within mainstream Christianity. It presents God as a petty, jealous, manipulative tyrant, who uses suffering and loss as tools to force people into a relationship with Him. It's a "God" who breaks up relationships, not out of love or concern for the people involved, but out of a selfish desire for exclusive attention. This is not the God of the Bible; this is a monster created in the image of human insecurity and possessiveness.

The "Expectation" scenario, where God supposedly encourages spending time with a girlfriend, is actually closer to the truth, although still flawed. God does want us to enjoy life, to experience love and companionship. He created us for relationship, both with Him and with one another. The problem is, the skit, and the commenters, are still operating under the assumption that our relationship with God is a zero-sum game, that spending time with loved ones necessarily means spending less time with God.

This is a false dichotomy. God is not a jealous boyfriend, demanding all our attention and resenting any other relationships. He is the source of all love, all joy, all connection. He wants us to experience those things, to flourish in our relationships, to enjoy the good gifts He has given us.

The true "Reality," from a perspective of the Body of Christ, would be something like this:

Narrator: Lord, I know I've been spending way too much time with my girlfriend lately and not enough time with you. I'm sorry, Lord, I will do better.

God: (Through the quiet voice of the Spirit, through Scripture, through circumstances) "My child, I delight in your joy. I rejoice in your love for one another. Don't think of your relationship with her as competing with your relationship with Me. I am in your love, in your joy, in your connection. Live your life, love fully, and you will find Me there, in the midst of it all."

This is a God who rejoices in our happiness, who encourages healthy relationships, and who is present in every aspect of our lives, not just in designated "spiritual" moments. This is a God who wants us to experience the fullness of life, not a God who demands that we sacrifice our joy for the sake of some abstract notion of "spending time with Him."

The "Reality" scenario in the skit, however, is a nightmare. It presents a God who is manipulative, controlling, and cruel. It suggests that God breaks up relationships, causes suffering, and uses pain as a means of forcing people to focus on Him. This is not the God of the Bible. This is a projection of human insecurity and possessiveness onto the divine.

I don't think this was very funny.

Disgusting.

This is blasphemy. This is attributing the actions of the Adversary to God Himself. It's saying that God is the one who deceives, who manipulates, who destroys, while the devil is the one who encourages healthy relationships and happiness. It's a complete inversion of the truth.

The true God, the God revealed through Paul's Gospel, is a God of unconditional love and universal reconciliation. He wills all to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4), and He will ultimately achieve that goal (1 Corinthians 15:22-28; Colossians 1:20). He is not a jealous tyrant, demanding all our attention and punishing us when we fail to give it. He is a loving Father, who desires our good, who works all things together for our benefit (Romans 8:28), and who will never abandon us or forsake us.

The "god" of the skit, the god who breaks up relationships to force people to focus on Him, is a false god, an idol, a projection of human insecurity and religious legalism. It's a "god" that is more like Saturn than like Yahweh, a god of restriction, limitation, and death, not a God of freedom, abundance, and life. To present this god as the "God of the Bible" is a travesty, a distortion of the true Gospel, and a disservice to those who are seeking a genuine relationship with the divine. It's time to reject this monstrous caricature and to embrace the true God, the God who is love, the God who saves all, and the God who rejoices in our joy.