Today I was reading Discipleship: Living for Christ in the Daily Grind, which includes quotes from J. Heinrich Arnold.
Arnold was the pastor, or Leader, of an Anabaptist group called the Bruderhof Communities. I would describe it as a kind of Protestant monastic movement, where members make a lifetime vow to give all their income, etc., to the church community.
Arnold writes:
Let me say it like this: God needs us every day – he needs people to carry out his will – so we should not pray for what we would like, but rather ask for the strength to do what he would have us do. God needs people who ask for his will to be done; if no one is interested in it, he must leave his work on earth undone.
But if there are people who stretch out their hands to him in longing, asking and seeking for his will to be done, then he can do something in this world (8).
As I read this, I felt astonished. A few paragraphs earlier, one of his letters is quoted from. It reads:
the main thing for you should be to recognize the greatness of God and to live for him (6).
But as I consider the unimaginable, incomprehensible gap between the Creator of all things and our perspective as his beloved creatures, it is hard for me to appreciate the idea that God needs us.
I don’t know how to start thinking that the one who created me - and uncountable solar systems - could be in a place where he needs me.
However, I wanted to start by offering the most empathetic and generous listening to this statement.
I think it’s valuable to appreciate that our decisions matter. What we believe and do is significant - to God and others.
It seems that the corresponding error would be to say, “Let go and let God.” After all, if he is the Creator, Savior, and Lord, then he can handle it. I don’t need to worry about participating in his mission.
Second, I think the idea of God “needing” us can be understood in a way that honors the humility of God. For instance, I think of Jesus asking the Samaritan woman for a drink of water at the well in John 4. He didn’t need her to do this - he could have miraculously and directly created the finest spring water in a custom wineskin. However, he invited her to serve him, and in doing so, he opened her heart to be filled with his living water.
However, I still think it is unhelpful to speak of God needing us. It assumes far too much about our importance and far too little about God’s.
For instance, even in the Gospels, the very best disciples of Jesus contribute nothing to Jesus as he prepares to die on the cross - as he dies on the cross - or to his resurrection. The narratives make it clear that, even as all humans fail, God is the one who saves us.
As God declares through his prophet in Isaiah 46:8-10,
Remember this and be brave;
take it to heart, you transgressors!
Remember what happened long ago,
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and no one is like me.
I declare the end from the beginning,
and from long ago what is not yet done,
saying: my plan will take place,
and I will do all my will.
So, instead, I would say that because God loves us and participation in God’s mission is how we thrive, God invites us to be filled with his Spirit and actively live as ambassadors of his kingdom.
What do you think about the claim that God needs us?
Even if it is wrong, how does it help us to reflect on our significance in God’s eyes?
And, as we evaluate this claim, how can we avoid falling into the opposite error that our lives are unimportant to God’s plans?
I look forward to hearing your thoughts.