We Need God

Children need structure and affection. This is the consensus of numerous studies and experts. Consider what happens to a child raised in an environment without adequate structure or love. You don’t have to consider that, do you? We see the consequences of this all around us.

Well, it isn’t just kids who need love and structure. Consider what happens to a community devoid of love and structure.

I’ll tell you what happens. That community ceases to be a community.

Now, look at the news! Is this not what’s happening to us today?

We’re deconstructing the structures (institutions, narratives, etc) of our communities and losing our love — indeed, rejecting our love — for one another (especially those with whom we disagree or those whom we perceive as threats or adversaries).

Now, look again at the story of the Garden of Eden. God creates the universe and our planet and then makes human beings in His image. He puts the First Couple in the Garden of Eden. He blesses them, provides for them, and has a relationship with them. And…

He gives them structure.

He tells them not to eat from a particular tree. “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Thus says the Lord in Genesis 1:16-17.

In the Garden of Eden, we have both a relationship and a rule. We have affection and structure.

There are those, of course, who chafe at the idea of God handing down rules — including rules they see as arbitrary, unfair, or objectionable. One needs simply to consider how certain people today feel about various Bible passages concerning worship, salvation, sex, marriage, and the family. Why would God say that? It’s so wrong. It’s so unfair.

Well, God is God.

He’s the Creator. He gets to make the rules.

And guess what?

We need rules.

Let’s talk about kids again. The vast majority of experts agree children need structure. Some argue they need structure even more than they need love and affection. Child psychologist Lisa Damour explains: “‘Adolescents actually want structure from their parents, despite their protestations to the contrary. Permissiveness and inconsistency from parents can be unsettling and provoke anxiety.”

Again, what’s true for kids is also true for adults.

We need structure.

And that’s what God provides. He provides structure.

Before you balk, consider the state of our society if there were no rules and no rulers. No structure.

Given the reality of human nature and what we see in the news, you don’t have to imagine such a scenario. There would be chaos and widespread suffering – even more so than is the case now.

This is not to say that all rules or all rulers are good. Quite the contrary, human rules are often deeply problematic and human rulers are often part of the problem rather than the solution.

And that’s my point.

With God, you have a perfect Ruler. And with His rules, you have standards and principles you can count on. You may not always like them, but you can count on them.

We need divine structure the same way we need guardrails when crossing a bridge. Without those guardrails, a casual drive across a tall bridge would become dangerous and high-stress — and potentially catastrophic.

The more we turn our backs on God, the more we question His existence, or resist His rules, the more we endanger ourselves and strike at the cords of our communities.

We need God.

It’s time we stop denying that and embrace it.

It’s time we all embrace Him.