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Ask An Evangelical: Does God Need Our Help?

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Ask An Evangelical: Does God Need Our Help?

What do you want to know about Evangelicalism? Submit your question here.

By Scott McIntyre

Does he need help or has he asked for help in any manner?

Similar to how a parent seldom needs the help of their young child, God as our father doesn’t need us to help him. That, however, doesn’t mean we’re not instrumental in carrying out his will on earth. Rather than relying on our help, he chooses to use us to accomplish what he wants done.

God used a very ingenious method, which I call the “Domino Doctrine,” to pass on his expectations to us. The Bible tells us, in what is often referred to as the “Great Commission,” that Jesus spoke these words to his 11 disciples after rising from the grave: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”  

But that was Jesus talking, some might say, so how does that answer a reader’s question about God? Well, a common belief among evangelical Christians and other sects of Christianity is that Jesus is God. That may sound confusing, and maybe someone will ask a question about it. But for now, what I mean is that God is one being but three distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. 

A Commandment

Back to the passage quoted above, notice Jesus wasn’t asking if they would do this for him; it was clearly commanded. Second, it had the benefit of making people in today’s world, who are Christians, responsible for following the same command. 

People might say, “That was written to a few very important men that Jesus knew. How could that still apply to me?” Let’s follow one of the eleven disciples to get the answer to that question. 

Simon, whom Jesus named Peter, actually wrote books in the New Testament. His job, according to the Great Commission, was to make disciples. Part of that was to teach them to obey everything Jesus had commanded him. Being a good follower of Christ, he went out, made disciples and taught them to obey the same command Jesus gave him. 

If they followed in his obedience, they went out and made one or more disciples. Eventually, a Christian who had been discipled shared with me the same command. 

“Like A Domino”

By the very nature of God’s command to his first disciples, Christians living today are supposed to have been taught by others — like one domino falling forward and toppling another — how they are to follow Christ’s teachings. 

For the other part of our reader’s question, there’s a slightly different answer. 

Although I don’t know of a single passage in the Bible where God asks for help, you can find places online that think he does. I didn’t search exhaustively but the one I found didn’t, in my opinion, meet the criteria. 

Assisting God

Reading the article, I found the same passage as the one I quoted earlier in this piece but with a major difference. The author wrote, “Here we can see that Jesus has all the authority to do whatever he wants. But he also tells us to assist him in building his kingdom. So it’s safe to say that God does ask for our help.” 

I wrote to the post’s author asking for clarification because it seemed to me the verse was clearly commanding the disciples to do something, which I see as different than asking for their help. I asked if he could “help me understand why you see this verse, and others, as God asking for our help instead of him directing us to follow his instructions?” 

His website said that due to the amount of correspondence they receive, he couldn’t guarantee getting back in touch. As of today, I still haven’t heard back from him. 

To sum up, God expects his followers to do work on earth that accomplishes his will for humankind, but he neither needs our help or has ever asked for it.

Scott McIntyre
Scott McIntyre
Scott McIntyre is glad his parents didn’t name him Vladimir or he’d be listed last on this page. While a long time California resident, he was the Oakland Spirituality Examiner for Examiner.com from 2011-12 and about the same time began blogging on several topics. The first, teaching Christians how to lovingly share their spiritual beliefs, emphasized skills that can benefit all forms of one-to-one interaction. He also writes on marriage, travel, downsizing, humor and the motive behind people’s words and actions. After retiring in 2016, Scott embarked on some major ‘R & R’ — Relocating and Rebranding. Following in his sister’s footsteps from the early 80’s, and later in the decade, his parent’s, Scott left the Golden State to become a Washingtonian in a small town just west of Spokane County.

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Great content! Keep up the good work!

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