“For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.” ~ (Acts 17:23 KJV)
***
My college roommate found himself single again after 20 years of marriage. He dated a few times over the course of two years, but he just could not find Ms. Right. So like millions of other divorced people, he turned to the Internet to pursue love. He met a girl online who seemed to fulfill his every dream.

They chatted online and talked on the phone for three months before finally agreeing to meet at a neutral location. I was eager to hear how the big date went so I called him a few days later. I could hardly wait to ask, “Man, how did it go?”

I was anticipating an enthusiastic response from a man who had just met his soul mate. Instead, I heard the familiar tone of resignation.

He said, “When we were chatting online and on the phone, I had this image of her based on the picture she posted with her profile. When we finally met, I found out that the picture she posted was taken a decade and 25 pounds ago. Man she changed a lot.”

I asked him if they had spoken since the date. He had not called her and she had not called him. I guess she was equally disappointed that his head full of hair was gone.

On his second missionary journey, the apostle Paul was rushed off to Athens, Greece, to avoid persecution from the Jews of Thessalonica. In Athens, Paul was shocked by the prevalence of idolatry in the city. He began to preach the gospel in the synagogue and the marketplace.

The curious Athenians summoned the Apostle to Mars Hill to defend his doctrine. Paul, commenting on the multiplicity of idols in the city, observed that the Athenians were so superstitious that they would even erect a shrine to the “Unknown God.”

My college roommate was really smitten by the image of his Internet girlfriend, but when they met face-to-face it was anti-climatic. Likewise, maybe the problem with idols is the visual affect.

When we see things with our natural eye we tend to find flaws or fault with them. People, places and things that initially take our breath away eventually fall under the lens of our microscope where they are dissected, ostracized and ultimately criticized and disqualified. No matter how super the man or the woman, there exist a rival who will find some kryptonite to disable them.

Maybe that’s why God told us not to make any ‘graven image” of Him. Moses wanted to see God’s face, but was allowed to see only His backside as He passed by a cliff. God explained to Moses that no man could see His face and live.

Makes sense to me. If we could see God with our natural eye we would find a way to mess God up. If we could see God, we might make God look like us and act like we do. If we could see God, we might say who God likes or dislikes. We would tell God who to bless or curse. We might sic God on people who don’t vote the way we vote or believe what we believe or love who we love and hate who we hate.

I’m glad I cannot see God. That makes faith real to me. If I could see God, I could confine God to a temple or mosque or church and visit Him once or twice a week.
If I could confine God, I could define God and then I could control God. Seeing God would cause me to limit what God can do based upon my own anthropomorphic projections of how tall or how wide or how old or how rich or how educated or how dark or how conservative or how straight God appears to be.

I’m glad God chooses to remain anonymous, unsearchable and unknown. He remains God without the need of our validation.

Isaiah 45:5 declares: “I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me.”
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George B. Jackson, Ph.D., is pastor of Citadel of Faith Christian Fellowship in Thomasville, NC.
 

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