As man constantly changes his view of God, he becomes more convinced that God really doesn’t care about several aspects of life. This is despite the fact that the Bible emphasizes that God does want man to be righteous. Peter declared that God waits on destroying the world because He wants all men to repent (2 Peter 3:9). That sure sounds like God cares!
First, does God care what I think about Jesus? The gospels are not impartial witnesses of Christ. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are a presentation of Jesus, while John is an interpretation of Jesus. Matthew presents Jesus to the Jews as the King they awaited. Mark presents Jesus to the Romans as a Being of action and extraordinary power. Luke presents Him to the Greeks as the compassionate Son of God. In John, Jesus states, “I am the resurrection and the life” and “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (11:25; 14:6). He essentially finishes his gospel by saying, “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30-31). God wants you to believe in Him.
Second, does God care what church I go to? Jesus only promised to build one (Matthew 16:18). Acts and the epistles take great care to explain how Christ is the head of the church and how the church is to function. We’ve got so many churches just in the United States, but those churches are unknown to the page of the New Testament. Because Jesus promised to root up what God hasn’t planted (Matthew 15:13), that tells me God cares what church I attend.
Third, does God care how I worship Him? Acts 2:42-47 give a pretty good guide of what the early church did to worship God. The reason we have accounts like the ones in Acts is for us to follow. Since God is the higher Being, He gets to direct what He wants. There are too many people who only want to do what they think God will like. But the fact is, we can know what He likes and wants — if we’ll only have the courage to abide by it.
Fourth, does God care how I live my life? This one really confuses me because there are massive amounts of instruction on godly living. These guidelines are clear and easy to find and understand. Putting on the “new man” means a new life of righteousness (Ephesians 4:24). God wants people to be pure and holy. It’s incredible to see people on social media proclaim their love for God and Jesus, and then the next post is full of ungodliness.
God does care, and He cares enough to give some pretty explicit instructions in the New Testament. Because we will be judged by the words of Christ (John 12:48), everyone has the serious choice of whether they will listen and follow.
Kyle Campbell
