# "God showed up"?



## moselle (Jul 20, 2010)

I've been hearing this phrase more and more lately and it makes me want to pull my hair out. I understand what they are saying - essentially, "God did something wonderful", but something about that statement sounds so trite and...I don't know what it is.

Someone please either help me understand why it irks me or tell me to switch to decaf and find something worth fussing over.


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## rbcbob (Jul 20, 2010)

Could you provide some context or an example?


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## au5t1n (Jul 20, 2010)

I usually hear the phrase in reference to a worship service. I would point out that what distinguishes Christian worship from pagan worship is that pagan worship is made up by man and offered up to gods, while Christian worship is worship according to revelation from God (regulative principle). We don't call God with our worship; he calls us and sets us worshipping. In other words, God was already there -- you showed up. We are summoned by God not summoners of God.


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## Ivan (Jul 20, 2010)

I've been hearing this phrase too, but only on Facebook. It's mostly Pentecostals that have used it in my experience. It seems disrespectful to me, but maybe I should switch to decaf...but I don't think so.


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## bookslover (Jul 20, 2010)

I'm sorry, Ivan, but decaf is not real coffee.


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## Ivan (Jul 20, 2010)

bookslover said:


> I'm sorry, Ivan, but decaf is not real coffee.



Amen! I grind my own beans now. Makes a big difference. Makes an excellent strong coffee.


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## sdesocio (Jul 20, 2010)

I've heard and used the phrase and its always been in reference to the presence of God with his people. I've never said it in reference to some ecstatic experience. There are certain times where we can be confident that Spirit is working in particular ways. ie. when someone comes to understand their need for salvation, or where two parties come together and put aside long standing difference after being encouraged from Scripture to do so. 

"God shows up in his ordinary means." While it might sound modern, my confessional commitments require me to speak in the vulgar.


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## rbcbob (Jul 20, 2010)

sdesocio said:


> *I've heard and used the phrase and its always been in reference to the presence of God with his people*. I've never said it in reference to some ecstatic experience. *There are certain times where we can be confident that Spirit is working in particular ways*. ie. when someone comes to understand their need for salvation, or where two parties come together and put aside long standing difference after being encouraged from Scripture to do so.
> 
> "God shows up in his ordinary means." While it might sound modern, my confessional commitments require me to speak in the vulgar.



I too have heard such expressions used in a good sense. Verses like the following come to mind:

1 Corinthians 2:4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

1 Corinthians 14:24-25 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.


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## rbcbob (Jul 20, 2010)

I agree Josh that God is omnipresent. However the Scriptures inform us that in some sense there that which theologians refer to a His "special presence".

Numbers 12:8-9 I speak with him face to face, Even plainly, and not in dark sayings; And he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid To speak against My servant Moses?" So the anger of the LORD was aroused against them, and *He departed.*

Matthew 18:20 "For *where two or three are gathered* together in My name, *I am there* in the midst of them."


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## rbcbob (Jul 20, 2010)

Okay. I don't doubt that such expressions as that in the OP are more often abused than not. I haven't had much experience in those quarters.


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## moselle (Jul 20, 2010)

rbcbob said:


> Could you provide some context or an example?


 
A person was describing a family gathering after a funeral - "God showed up" - and the grieving widower was comforted.

And others have mentioned a person who has a "powerful" worship experience.

It almost has an attitude like - "We sent God the invitation - we've been singing and praising for 15 minutes now - and we're all just tickled pink that he decided to stop by and give us confirmation that we're doing everything right." 

At any rate, I wonder if it's more accurate to say that our eyes were opened to the presence of God?

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bookslover said:


> I'm sorry, Ivan, but decaf is not real coffee.


 
In the words of David Letterman, "It's what they're drinking in hell."


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Jul 20, 2010)

The phrase "God showed up" implies (as Joshua noted) that God was not present. Just because it is used "in the vulgar" language does not mean it is appropriate or correct. I wonder if the same people who use the phrase "God showed up" when something "good" happens" use it when "tragedy" occurs?


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## SarahM (Jul 20, 2010)

It almost has an attitude like - "We sent God the invitation - we've been singing and praising for 15 minutes now - and we're all just tickled pink that he decided to stop by and give us confirmation that we're doing everything right." 

At any rate, I wonder if it's more accurate to say that our eyes were opened to the presence of God?


Moselle, I like what you said. I was thinking it makes God seem like he is late or the reason He showed up was because of our awesome worship. Kind of puts the focus on man, but I could be wrong.


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## Jack K (Jul 20, 2010)

moselle said:


> rbcbob said:
> 
> 
> > Could you provide some context or an example?
> ...



I think many people say it to mean God's Spirit was working in a particularly powerful way. In that sense, we might trivialize the work of the Spirit by making him out to be equal to our emotional experiences. If people got an emotional high, then "God showed up." Plus, using this phrase can get us to thinking there are times when God leaves us alone—when we study his Word or come to him in worship and it is all for naught. We could easily start to think that whether or not "God shows up" has to do with something _we_ have done to get him there—as if we could conjure his Spirit. That's the negative.

However, if someone simply uses the phrase to note that it seemed God was at work in a particularly powerful way, I'm inclined to put up with it. It's good, in fact, for us to be attuned to the workings of God. He _is_ a personal God. If we were pantheists, it would make no sense to ever say "God showed up." But we are not. We are dealing with a personal God who answers prayer and has a relationship with his people, and who at times chooses to intensify that relationship or answer prayer in special ways. In that sense, he does indeed "show up."


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## JBaldwin (Jul 20, 2010)

The first time I ever heard the term was in the movie Forrest Gump in the scene where Lieutenant Dan challenges God to show Himself. Forrest had been praying for them to catch shrimp. When a hurricane comes, Forrest says "Just then, God showed up." We were watching that movie a week or so ago, and it rubbed me the wrong way, too. I wonder if that's how the term was popularized?


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## coramdeo (Jul 20, 2010)

Equally or more irksome is the phrase " Lord we invite you into our presence as we worship", etc. How audacious! If God is not present in you service, turn out the light and go home!


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## moselle (Jul 20, 2010)

JBaldwin said:


> The first time I ever heard the term was in the movie Forrest Gump in the scene where Lieutenant Dan challenges God to show Himself. Forrest had been praying for them to catch shrimp. When a hurricane comes, Forrest says "Just then, God showed up." We were watching that movie a week or so ago, and it rubbed me the wrong way, too. I wonder if that's how the term was popularized?



Forrest Gump, eh? I'd bet not many people currently use the phrase to describe Gods fierce power and wrath. Imagine "God showing up" in THAT context during a service - it'd make for some sincere fear and trembling before the Lord!


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## Steve Curtis (Jul 20, 2010)

Can we envision the people of Israel gathering in the courts of the Temple, and wondering if God would "show up"?


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## nnatew24 (Jul 21, 2010)

Is this phrase akin to the ever popular boast: "I am so excited to be a part of what God is going in [insert particular church, ministry, or city]"? 

To me, like the phrase above, this seems misguided, sentimental, and empty. Isn't _everything_ that happens part of 'what God is doing'? The reality of the Lord's wise providence and sovereignty over everything -including evil- make this statement a misnomer.


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