Answering The "My God is Bigger Than That" Argument

Please read Matt 15:9, Mark 16:16, Isaiah 55:8-9, and John 8:31-32 and then read the following article by my friend James Luedecke …I recently noticed the following Facebook post from a young lady in my area:“What is a good church? I need God back in my life.”Many well-intentioned people immediately commented on this post with a brief description of their church, how much they enjoyed it, and how warmly she would be welcomed should she decide to visit. In response to this, a local Baptist pastor posted the following:“I’m amazed by this outpouring from so many people who love their churches so much. I’m also glad that God is big enough to be in all these churches.”This is a classic example of a line of reasoning that I’m encountering more and more these days – the “my God is bigger than that” line of reasoning. Let’s stop for a moment and think about this Baptist pastor’s statement. Is God obligated to approve of every group that calls itself a “church” simply because if He chooses not to approve of this church or that church, it would render Him a littler or lesser kind of God?Here’s another example of the same type of reasoning:An evangelist for a church of Christ was having a religious discussion with a Baptist preacher. The evangelist presented several lines of Scriptural evidence supporting the belief that water baptism, when scripturally administered, is for remission of sins and, therefore, essential to salvation. The Baptist preacher simply replied, “Your God only saves those who get wet in a church of Christ baptistery, but my God is big enough to save everybody who puts their faith in Him.”The implication here is this: “Only a very small God would insist that baptism is essential for salvation.” “Only a very small God would insist that baptism be administered in a Scriptural manner.” “Only a very small God would build one church and save people through that one church.” “Only a very small God would reject people who join man-made churches which preach man-made gospels and teach man-made doctrines.” “Only a very small God would disagree with me and my unscriptural religious beliefs.”Is this the best that false teachers can come up with in defense of their false religious practices- “If God doesn’t do things my way, that makes Him a littler or lesser God.” Shouldn’t it be just the opposite? Shouldn’t it be more like this – “If I don’t do things God’s way, that makes me a littler or lesser Christian?” Are we really so irrational to think that our religious beliefs, whether right or wrong, can make God any bigger than what He already is? Do you think God appreciates being pulled into religious discussions in this manner? The debate lies not in how big or small God really is. The debate is, as it always should be, what is the truth of the Bible and will we accept that truth?