Christianity Rediscovered ~ Vincent J. Donovan
In his book Christianity Rediscovered, Vincent J. Donovan tells the story of his work with the Masai people in Africa.
He begins by telling them about the God of the tribe of Abraham who “had become a God who was no longer free. He was trapped in that land, among that tribe. He had to be freed from that nation, that tribe, that land in order to become the High God.”
He goes on to tell them how God called Abraham to leave his land, his people, his tribe, and travel to a land God would show him and how God promised that all nations would be blessed through Abraham if he did this. Then Donovan challenges the Masai, suggesting that maybe they needed to leave their nation and tribe and land – at least in their thoughts – and go in search of the High God, the God of all tribes, the God of the world. He says, “Perhaps your God is not free. Do not try to hold him here or you will never know him. Free your God to become the High God. You have known this God and worshipped him, but he is greater than you have known. He is the God not only of the Masai, but also my God, and the God of the Kikuyu and Sonjo, and the God of every tribe and nation in the world…There is only the God who loves us no matter how good or how evil we are, the God you have worshipped without really knowing him, the truly unknown God – the High God.”
After listening attentively, someone asks a simple, but profound question, “This story of Abraham – does it speak only to the Masai? Or does it speak also to you? Has your tribe found the High God? Have you known him?”
What a profound question. Do we know the High God? As Americans, we certainly have a history of being supremely confident that “almighty God” was and is on our side – regardless of what war we’re fighting. Which god is that? Is the god we invoked to bless our troops in Vietnam as they “destroyed villages in order to save them,” the same god invoked by the pope to bless the troops of Mussolini just before they plundered Ethiopia? Is it the same god as the French God of glory – le bon Dieu – or the German Gott, der Allmächtige? And which god is it that we called upon in the midst of the turmoil in Iraq or Afghanistan?
Kim Reisman
None of these sounds like the High God to me, any more than Allah or Buddha appear to be the High God. There seems to be a desperate need to rehear the message of Abraham – leave your land, your nation. Learn of the High God, the God of the world who desires to bless all nations.
Vincent J. Donovan
Do we really know the High God? Donovan’s answer to the Masai question seems like the most honest answer for us as well. “No, we have not found the High God. My tribe has not known him. For us, too, he is the unknown God. But we are searching for him. I have come a long, long distance to invite you to search for him with us. Let us search for him together. Maybe together we will find him.”
Maybe together we will find him…What would it look like if the God of the world – the High God – actually was the God of all nations and tribes? What would it look like if we could truly grasp what Paul was trying to say in his letter to Titus - that the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. What would it look like if we could get a handle on the fact that the God of the world loves each tribe and nation equally? How would it change how we looked at other tribes and clans? How would it change how we acted and related to each other?
