According to Christian orthodoxy, God is omnipresent. This means “God is everywhere.” Psalm 139:7-12 states:
Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and night wraps itself around me,”even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you.
The heading for Psalm 139 says “The Inescapable God.” This Psalm of David lets readers know that God is everywhere. From the heights of Heaven to the depths of the sea, God is there. It is impossible to escape his presence. This God see, hears, and knows everything. Almost eight billion people on our planet, yet according to Christianity, God hears, sees, and knows everything we do. God is never not present.
God is a personal deity; one intimately involved in his creation, even though he leaves no signs of this involvement. God has countless moments every day where he could meaningfully help us and make the world a better place to live. Instead we see heartache, sickness, pain, disease, violence, starvation, and war everywhere.
This alleged good God knows everything about us, yet he acts as if we don’t exist. He’s an absentee father who is long on promises and short on delivery. Christians tell us there is coming a day when God will make all things right. Fine and dandy. Why can’t God start making things right now? Look around. There’s plenty for God to do.
I’ve concluded that God is a Peeping Tom; a voyeur who gets off on watching us go through the machinations while doing nothing to help us. God knows our thoughts, needs, and desires. What does the Almighty do with this information? Nothing, outside of filing a report that will be used to judge us on judgment day.
The next time you are doing your daily business in the bathroom, just remember God is there. Next time you have sex, he is there. He is with you for every meal, and joins you when you take a shower. As I write this post, supposedly God is right here with me. When I go to bed later tonight, God will join me. He loves to snuggle, though I’m starting to think God is gay. “Keep your hands above the covers, God.”
As a child, I heard countless sermons about the God who is everywhere. The omnipresence of God was used to scare people into obedience. “Just remember, the next time you look at a porn magazine, God will see you.” This sort of thinking was used any time preachers wanted obedience to a certain standard or Bible verse.
Were you taught that God is everywhere? Was this used to demand and force obedience? Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comment section.
Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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