cat and dog theology

There’s an old joke about cats and dogs that I heard retold last night in the context of a presentation by Lincoln Murdoch, a speaker who came to our church as part of a course being offered called “Perspectives on the World Christian Movement”. As the story goes, the inner monologue of most dogs about their owners goes something like this: “You feed me, you play with me, you pet me, you clean me…you must be God!” Meanwhile, the inner monologue of cats about their owners is more likely the following: “You feed me, you play with me, you pet me, you clean me…I must be God!”

Now, I’m equally ambivalent about both kinds of animal, but Murdoch’s story was intriguing to me because he used it as his jumping off point in illustrating the different ways people think about the relationship between God and humanity. Specifically, does God exist for us or do we exist for God? While our knee-jerk reaction (for those who profess faith in God) is to say, “we exist for God, of course,” I wonder how much of our every day lives bears witness to the exact opposite perspective. Whatever view we truly hold cannot help but reveal itself in the way we think about obedience to God, blessing, suffering, eternity, not to mention in the practical areas of career, family, finances, and relationships. Is it all about God, or all about me?

This was my food for thought last night.