Do You Have a “Cookie God”?

by Marvin Bublitz

It’s that time of year when many homes are filled with the aromas of the season. I remember being a child when both our house and Grandma Schmidt’s house were filled with the wonderful aroma of baking. Mom would usually include us kids in the process. Sometimes she would follow a recipe and have us measure out the ingredients exactly. Sometimes she would let us choose what to put into the cookies—but we quickly learned that adding all of our favourite ingredients into the same cookie did not make for a good outcome. Still, the idea of being the one in charge and telling Mom what you wanted in a cookie was enticing to a mischievous young boy. 

When you use a cookie cutter, there is always some dough left unused around the edges. Oh, sure, you can gather the scraps and make another cookie. Still, there’s always some left out—the dough that does not fit your desired mould.

For some people, Christmas is nothing special. For others, it is just about family, gifts, and decorations. For the people of God, though, it is all about the Word made flesh—about a loving God who saved His creation. Sadly, some see only the Babe in the manger, forgetting the shadow of the cross.

Just as different people look at Christmas differently, some look at God differently. Shortly after my ordination, I received a phone call from a woman who asked if we could talk about God from a Lutheran perspective. I was overjoyed. I had heard of such a thing happening, but never imagined experiencing it. So I worked through the catechism and Scripture passages on God. She listened intently and asked follow-up questions.

For a while she seemed genuinely interested. Then her tone took a sudden change as she proceeded to tell me how wrong I was. She explained that, in her search for God, she had explored all sorts of different religions and denominations, choosing different attributes from each to develop her own personal understanding of God. 

Before I could say anything, she laid out her view of God—and it did indeed draw from many religions and denominations. She even mentioned teachers from various religions, quoting them as authorities. But still, she refused to accept the teachings of any one of them in full. Instead, she mixed together ingredients from different ideas she liked.

“So, really, you worship yourself. You created a god in your own image. You formed him as you wanted, discarding what didn’t fit your narrative.”

I was reminded of 2 Timothy 4:3-4: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” She was clearly following such leaders.

After trying to discuss this with her to no avail, she said, “Well, that is the god I worship.” I responded: “So, really, you worship yourself. You created a god in your own image. You formed him as you wanted, discarding what didn’t fit your narrative.”

In essence, she had a “cookie god.” She determined the ingredients that fit her chosen mould. It reminds me of the children of Israel at Mount Sinai and the creation of the golden calf. It’s easy to point out the error into which the Israelites and this woman fell, but we should also look at our own hearts. We need to ask ourselves too: do we pick and choose what we are willing to accept about God? Do we choose which parts of His Word we like and leave the rest outside our mould? Do we listen to those teachers who tell us what we want to hear and satisfy our itching ears?

Ever since the Garden, Satan has been hounding the people of God. He whispers his lies, and our Old Adam listens. We listen to the wrong teacher. We hear the father of lies, and doubts rise within us: “Did God really say?”

Like the children of Israel, we get impatient with the Lord. Satan convinces us that God is taking too long in giving us what we want. The father of lies entices us to desire what was in Egypt instead of thanking the Lord for what He has given us now.

It was for these and all our sins that the Babe came. In the manger, we see not merely a cute and cuddly baby, but rather a Saviour and King who willingly allowed His crucifixion for us. Christmas is all about the gift our God gave us. In Christ, we have forgiveness and salvation.

To see the manger without the shadow of the cross is to pick and choose what we want. Thankfully, in Christ, God has given us what we need.

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Rev. Marvin Bublitz is Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC)’s East Regional Pastor.

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