Cursing Jesus

C has a client who is very religious. He is constantly carrying on a conversation with God both in his head and out-loud, and he always says exactly what he’s thinking. The other morning he walks into the living room shouting “Jesus you bastard! You won’t help me find my pants!”

C and I both had a good laugh about this, but some other friends’ reactions made me think. Isn’t this often how we treat Jesus/God? I mean, the client’s statement was totally appropriate for his mental age and condition. But quite often I find myself feeling the same way, if not in so many words. “Jesus, you bastard! Why did you let me hit the snooze button?” “God, you bastard! This party is on a night I have to work!” “Jesus, you bastard! My MP3 player went through the wash!”

This is one of the big problems I have with a trend I see in contemporary Christianity such as the prayer of Jabez , the prosperity “gospel,” and yes, my own faith included. We seem to think God should make everything convenient for us. We seem to want God to be a magic wand. “God, please find me a parking space. God I want to find a top to match this skirt. God, this computer is so slow!”*

God’s promise, His “job”, is not to take away the inconveniences. Or even the misery we see all around us. God’s promise is that He will redeem the misery (and often inconveniences are part of that process). Somehow, someway, grace will shine through. So perhaps our prayers and rantings should focus on how to deal with inconvenient situations, not be rescued from them. On how to be part of that grace.

*I know He numbers the hairs on our heads and He cares for the lilies and the birds. So yes, I think it is okay to pray for the little things. That’s not the point of this post.