Skinny Definitions of God

I recently began the Souljourners spiritual direction training program at Sophia Center, and during our residency week in July, instructor Lucy Abbott Tucker spoke about the need to avoid “skinny definitions” of God.

A “skinny” definition of God is one that places limits on the way God acts, thinks, and loves. We are envisioning a skinny God when we believe God won’t forgive us or others for something we have done, when we assume that God prefers Christians to Muslims, Jews, or Hindus, or when we believe God listens to only certain types of prayers.

According to the prophet Isaiah, God rejects our skinny definitions: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Is 55:8-9). Paul echoes this wisdom in his letter to the Romans, “Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” (Rom 11:34).

When we recognize that God is not skinny but boundless, we give up trying to predict what God thinks or wants and accept that God is mysterious. Giving up our skinny definitions of God is satisfying because it means we are no longer placing limitations on our relationship with God. Now we have the pleasure of being surprised by God, and we transition from thinking about God to actually encountering God.

Humans love trying to figure out mysteries, but God is beyond our comprehension. The best we can do is set aside our efforts to define and understand and instead be open to God who is with us in a myriad of surprising ways.