The Biblical God Has Teeth!

American evangelicalism has become a weak and insipid religion because it teaches a weak and insipid God. He is like an indulgent grandfather who loves everyone, and exists only to make us feel good. We have stripped away His wrath, His sovereignty, even His independence. Evangelicalism has become the religion of happiness, with a God who has been redesigned to provide it.

Things That God Never Said

As part of that process, large parts of Scripture have been discarded, because they are offensive. Some people, such as Andy Stanley, make it explicit, telling us that we should "jettison" the Old Testament, because it will hurt someone's feelings. At least he is consistent: "I don't like what the Bible says, so I'll get rid of it." However, I wonder if he understands that he has demonstrated that he is not a Christian.

The biblical view of God is very different from the candyman of the evangelical: "The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies" (Nahum 1:2).

What the modern evangelical has really jettisoned is the sinfulness of sin. Where sin has now become offending some other human being, the reality of it is that sin is whatever offends God! And where offending a human being is merely saying or doing something which exposes him to anything outside his comfort zone, offending God is an act of treason, to rebel against our creator, lawgiver, and proper Monarch. 

And He responds accordingly, as He says through Nahum.