The God who commits genocide?

Genesis 6-9 records the great flood where God destroyed His creation (because it had turned evil). The question I want to address is this: should we take from this story the notion that God commits genocide?

My answer is "No!" I believe to read such a meaning into it is to miss the point. In fact, I believe it to be a powerful story of the love of God towards humanity.

In Genesis 4 we have the first murder. Although the murder itself did not please Him, God still valued the life of Cain so much that he did not want anyone to kill him: God vowed to punish anyone who kills Cain. But, at this stage God did not outlaw murder. That came later.

Fast forward to the flood. God was sad that His creation had turned so evil, so He decides to start afresh, cleansing the world, but keeping alive the only people faithful to Him: Noah and family. I believe that such mass destruction brought so much pain to God because it is at this stage where He makes two promises:

1. He promises punishment for those who would kill another human (God does not wish anything which is made in His image to be destroyed). (Genesis 9:5-6)
   
2. He promises to never flood the earth in such a way again. Ever. (Genesis 9:11)
   

From (1) we can conclude that God loves His creation more than anything - even animals that kill people must die (this is clearer in the New Living Translation). The flood - God's action against evil humanity - must have been so devastating for the Creator that He promises point (2).

God is not a God of genocide: He is a God of love. He loves His creation so much that He hurts so much when He sees it destroyed.

God is more

Here’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while... what if God is more?

Let me explain. We can get so caught up with our view of things that we become narrow-minded. We start accusing other Christians of “doing it wrong” because their way is not our way. We say things like, “The Holy Spirit can’t have come on that person because they were pushed over.” We come up with a set of rules by which God works, and if something happens which doesn’t fit in, then we say that it can’t be God. Some people have even made a list of “false prophets” to beware of... people who break the “rules” but still see supernatural consequences, and some even go so far as to say that such people are in league with the demonic.

The people who make the lists are just waiting for such people to make a mistake, then they pounce on them and degrade their entire ministry... as if to say that God’s power only flows from those who have got it perfect.

But what if God is more than that? Could we handle it?

What if God uses the prosperity gospel preachers to reach out to people? What if God uses the wealthy televangelist to speak to thousands who sit in front of their TV? What if God really does use healing crusades as a chance to show His love to His people?

What if God uses every part of the “body of Christ” to His advantage? It’s like a hand saying to the foot, “God can’t use you because you’re not a hand!” Or the eye saying to the ear, “You’re useless unless you repent and become an eye!” Whilst we all bicker because a church thousands of miles away isn’t like our own, God still speaks. God is bigger than our petty arguments.

Jesus’ disciples once complained to him that people were using his name to cast out demons. Jesus told them not to stop him. (Mark 9:38-41)

Just because someone isn’t doing things our way, we shouldn’t let that become an issue. As long as we’re sure of why we do things the way we do them – and we’re happy that God is pleased with how we do it – surely we can understand that God uses different people in different ways? The God I believe in is bigger and more powerful than the reflection of Him that my church shows as it reaches out to the community.