When the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God…” he is suggesting that it is possible for us to imagine things that are incorrect – we are capable of misconceptions. And, as it turns out, there are in fact, many things we imagine about God, and about Christianity, which are not true at all.

For instance, many people imagine God as a stern and angry judge, sitting in heaven with a feather-quill pen, writing down every mistake, transgression, and sin, eager to pass judgment and mete out retribution upon sinning humanity. Actually, just the opposite is true. Psalm 103 tells us that “he has not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquity”. In fact, rather than punish our sins, we are told that God has “removed our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west”. The same Psalm goes on to say that, far from being angry with us because of sin, God has sympathy for us “like a father who pities his children.”

Jesus confirms this view of God in his parable of the so-called “prodigal son”. In this story, Jesus presents us with a son who sins in every imaginable way. Yet, the father in this story never becomes angry or threatens his son with retribution. Why should he? The son experiences enough grief as the consequence of his own actions. In the story, a turning point occurs when this son “comes to himself”, that is, he recognizes his former misconceptions and begins to think differently, both about himself and his father. Having changed his thinking, the prodigal son returns to his father. Jesus says that “when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, had compassion, and ran, falling on his neck, and kissed him.” Remember that the father in this story represents God. This story is not really about the prodigal son at all. Instead, Jesus is revealing to us the true nature of God – he wants us to understand what God is really like. Jesus presents God, not as an angry judge, punishing sin and giving everyone what they deserve, but instead, as a loving father, intent on reconciliation rather than retribution. The point of the story is this: We, like the prodigal son, are invited to change our thinking about God and see him as he really is.

Paul wrote that we should “cast down imaginations” that “exalt themselves against the knowledge of God”.  It is up to us to change the way we think about God. If we hold on to wrong ideas about God, these misconceptions color our perception of him, even though what we are imagining is not true at all. We should throw out negative ideas and notions about God which inspire fear rather than security, and reimagine Christianity, not as a religion full of duties, burdens, and obligations, but simply as a relationship with a loving God who has nothing in mind for us but blessing.