Faith

What Would You Do as God for a Day?

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I only just learned that today is “Play God Day,”&nbsp a whimsical day designed to make people think about what they’d do if they could be God for a day:

The purpose of Play God Day is to perform some kind act for another person, or just generally contribute to the well-being of the world as a whole.

Frankly, I don’t consider suggestions like helping or encouraging co-workers, saying thank you or looking for ways to help someone in need as playing God. To me, that’s what we mere mortals are supposed to be doing every day.

If I’m going to “play God,”&nbsp shouldn’t it, then, be something bigger?

What would I do if I had the chance to be the Almighty for a day?

First, let me presume that it’s supposed to not be all about me. I’d definitely want to stay anonymous. So no mansion with sidewalks of gold in a gated community for me!

If I had to narrow it down to one single thing, I think the answer would be relatively easy.

Just as easy is the one thing I know I would not do: I wouldn’t do some dramatic thing to “let the world know”&nbsp that there is, definitively, a God. There’s something powerful in faith, after all. And there’s something even more powerful in having the free will to be open to believing in something that you may not necessarily be 100% sure of at every single moment, yet choosing to continue believing.

A lot of critics call that intellectual laziness, I realize. Yet it’s fairly lazy to have to see everything layed out in front of you by someone else before you accept it, too. And I have actually heard some non-believers say they wouldn’t believe until “someone”&nbsp proves to them God is real. They never specified which “someone” they had in mind, but it was clear they wanted the proof handed to them.

Clearly, there’s at least some “lazy” on both sides of that argument.

I think there’s something far more important than taking away any doubt, since doubt can be a healthy thing at times.

Most people wouldn’t like my idea.

I’ve heard some pastors say that Christians should strive to be the God towards others that we want our God to be towards us. That’s not to say they should go around craving worship, but rather that they should show the grace, mercy and love towards other people we count on God showing each of us.

That’s a tall order, granted, and often we fail at it.

But unfortunately, I don’t think we ever realize how badly we fail. I think that sometimes, even in moments when we’re genuinely trying to be authentic in our faith, not “holier-than-thou,” that we come off in a way that alienates people from God rather than bringing them closer to Him.

If I were God for a day, I’d want Christians to be able to have that perception. Even if for a brief few moments of painful clarity.

I’d like to gather up every single person who has ever treated someone else with hate, in any degree of a hateful manner, even for a moment, while using God’s name to do it. I’d like to have each one of them experience, for the day, the emotional weight of being on the receiving end of that bile. I’d like them to feel as their victims have felt what hate really is.

And just when they feel they’re reaching their breaking point, and they ask me where all that “love” is that I’m supposed to have for them, before restoring it, I’ll ask them where theirs was for their targets.

I’d like for Christians who are so quick to “speak out”&nbsp rather than trying to hear those around us who may be in pain to feel what that feels like to the rest of the world.

If I were God for a day, I think I’d want everyone of faith to feel the incredible burden inflicted on those who, for whatever reason, haven’t found God and have instead witnessed anger, suspicion, ridicule and rejection from the very people who are called to show them love.

And the scary thought is that I don’t know that God Himself would mind such an idea. He’s already done that once, with His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus took a much larger burden so we wouldn’t be held accountable for every sin we’ve ever committed and those we haven’t committed, yet.

To be sure, His burden would still be far worse than any of ours.

But even if we only took on the burden for the pain inflicted on others “in the name of” God, it would still be considerable. It’s a shame it’s so easy to forget, or even ignore, that level of suffering. A briefest glimpse of it might be what some of us need once in a while.

That might just be the easiest way to truly change the world.

the authorPatrick
Patrick is a Christian with more than 30 years experience in professional writing, producing and marketing. His professional background also includes social media, reporting for broadcast television and the web, directing, videography and photography. He enjoys getting to know people over coffee and spending time with his dog.