Is God A Control Freak?

Is God a Control Freak?

Not long ago I overheard a conversation between a few friends of mine. They were having a very heated discussion. I don't remember all of the details of the conversation, but I do remember one of them saying, "God is not a control freak!" I vaguely remember hearing, "God wouldn't do that to anyone" or something like that, but I remember "God is not a control freak" as clear as if it were being said right now.

This statement kept me awake at night for some time. I constantly played the words over and over in my head with different emphasis on the words. "God is not a control freak." "God is NOT a control freak." I decided to write a blog post questioning the reliability of this statement. Here goes:

"God is NOT a control freak!"

My first thought at hearing this statement is obviously "DUH!" I immediately push statements like these aside thinking that they are so obvious that I need not bother thinking about them. But God put these words in my head quite frequently. After about a week of hearing them repeated in my head I decided to make an enthymeme of the argument. I wrote:

Enthymeme:

Claim: God is not a control freak

Reason: (blank)

I hit a wall right here. I couldn't find a reason for the life of me. I knew that every good argument required a claim with reasons, so if I couldn't find a reason then this argument was foolish. The warrant was obvious:

Control Freaks are Bad.

But still, without a reason I knew that this was no argument. After a while of trying to find a reason for this statement I decided to look at the psychological definition of a control freak. Wikipedia explained:

In psychology-related slang, control freak is a derogatory term for a person who attempts to dictate how everything around them is done...In some cases, the control freak sees their constant intervention as beneficial or even necessary; this can be caused by feelings of superiority, believing that others are incapable of handling matters properly, or the fear that things will go wrong if they don't attend to every detail. In other cases, they may simply enjoy the feeling of power it gives them so much that they automatically try to gain control of everything around them.

I read this definition alot. I was covinced that the "God is not a control freak" argument was stupid. It was a pseudo-argument -- a claim with no reason. So, after finding that this argument was stupid, I looked at the other side of the argument by examining every sentence of the definition:


1.In psychology-related slang, control freak is a derogatory term for a person who attempts to dictate how everything around them is done...


Now y'all are smart people. You know that God doesn't attempt to do anything, so obviously God does not attempt to dictate how everything is done. He's God. He is in control of everything. I have had alot of people who do not agree with my position ask me "If God Controls everything, why are we held responsible for our sins?" The 1689 talks about God's control and I'll quote that at the end of the article.


2In some cases, the control freak sees their constant intervention as beneficial or even necessary;

I feel like an idiot saying this. It seems so obvious. God's constant intervention is necessary! If God desn( plan, inervene, or allow somethng to happen then it wont happen! R.C.Sproul can putit mor eloquenty than I. I would encourage you to watch his videos entitled Chosen By God. They're on YouTube.


3...this can be caused by feelings of superiority, believing that others are incapable of handling matters properly, or the fear that things will go wrong if they don't attend to every detail.

"Who is like the LORD our God...?"(Psalm 113:5) God's superiority is mentioned throughout the Bible. He sits on the Throne, finished salvation, and does control everything! his intervention is necessary, and other people are absolutely incapable of handling matters properly and if God doesn't do them, they Will not be done. it's not that they won't be done correctly, it's that they won't be done. Everything requires God's intervention. He must intervene, or things won't happen. God could stop pain all together, could end evil, and do a lot of things that He doesn't do. I don't know all of the things that God does stop, but I do know that Some people have a problem with this. To those I would say that God is not required to employ His power on behalf of man and whatever He does or doesn't do He does (or doesn't do) for His glory. He deserves every ounce of it, and will get Glory. Moving on.


4.In other cases, they may simply enjoy the feeling of power it gives them so much that they automatically try to gain control of everything around them.

God orchestrates everything to his desire. He does what makes Him happy, what brings Him Glory, and He is absolutely deserving of it. He doesn't try to gain control, I say again. He is in control of everything.


When I accidentally posted the rough draft of this article, a good friend of ours named Steve Hackett comented and said this: "God is not a control freak, He is control. I agree completely. So before you stat telling everyone that Michael Gill said that God was a control freak you hadbetter remember that I believe that God is control. Also, don't twist my words into meaning that control is god. that's not true. God is love. Is love God? God is Justice. Is justice God? God's attributes make him what He is. We must worship God in His fullness (as much as we are able to grasp his fullness). If we woship one attribute of God we are commiting idoatry, which is our first sin.

Finnaly, some of you may ask, "If God is in absolute control, how can we be blamed for sin?" or "If God is in control, isn't He responsble for sin?" This is where I hand the rest of this article over to the 1689 and the Bible:


"God hath decreed in himself, from all eternity, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeably, all things, whatsoever comes to pass; yet so as thereby is God neither the author of sin nor hath fellowship with any therein; nor is violence offered to the will of the creature, nor yet is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established; in which appears His wisdom in disposing all things, and power and faithfulness in accomplishing His decree."





Isa. 46:10 - "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."


Eph. 1:11 - also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,


Heb. 6:17 - In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the
unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath,

Rom. 9:15,18 - For He says to Moses, "I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION." ... So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.


James 1:13 - Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone."

1 John 1:5 - This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.


Acts 4:27,28 - For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.

John 19:11 - Jesus answered, "You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin."


Num. 23:19 - "God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? "

Eph. 1:3-5 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will...