What if God was one of us?

We're all familiar with the Joan Osbourne song from back in the day...

If God had a face what would it look like
And would you want to see
If seeing meant that you would have to believe
In things like heaven and in Jesus and the saints and all the prophets
What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on a bus
trying to make his way home...

It was (still is) a catchy tune with simple chords and simplistic theology...

The other night I watched Evan Almighty - the sequel to Bruce - featuring Steve Carell as the man chosen to build an Ark ("the weirdo with a beardo") by "God" who is played by Morgan Freeman. I absolutely love both Bruce and Evan - they're by no means epic, award-winning films but they are tightly spun yarns that entertain for 90 minutes, make you laugh and if you notice actually make you think. I would by no means describe either as a Gospel film but it does make the average viewer think a little more of Biblical concepts - even if they are skewed - than one normally would.

What fascinates me about these movies is the fact that others, including Hollywood, are fascinated and entertained by the idea of God becoming man, in this case a black man who looks like he's in his sixties and is of average build and temperment. The movies would lack their punch and entertaining quality if this element were missing from the movie. If God was just a voice but was never seen in human form, the movies would be far less intriguing.

This is what I love about these movies.

It's our culture admitting that deep down the idea of God taking on human form and walking among us does resonate. The idea is woven into the fabric of who we are. Greek mythology takes it too far, humanizes it too much and created a system of "gods" that were immature, indesicive, susceptible to error and more "human" than humans. But the idea, the crazy notion of God taking on human form and coming down to us - to intervene and help us - resonates.

It's part of who we are.
We want to believe.
It's what caused us to whistle the Joan Osbourne song.
God was one of us...
Although He wasn't a slob...He is Savior...
And He wasn't trying to find His way home...but to show us how to get home...