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This insightful exploration delves into a crucial spiritual dynamic, examining how contemporary culture subtly diminishes God’s presence and majesty in our lives and thinking.
The Core Thesis of the Book
At its heart, “When God is Small” argues that modern Western Christianity often suffers from a profoundly diminished view of God. Ortlund posits that we’ve largely traded a biblical understanding of God’s transcendence, sovereignty, and holiness for a more manageable, relatable – and ultimately, smaller – deity.
This isn’t necessarily a conscious rejection of God, but rather a subtle accommodation to prevailing cultural values. We’ve inadvertently reshaped God in our own image, prioritizing personal comfort, emotional fulfillment, and therapeutic benefits over a robust engagement with His revealed character.
The book contends that this “smallness” isn’t merely an intellectual error; it has significant practical consequences, impacting our worship, prayer lives, moral frameworks, and overall spiritual vitality. Ortlund passionately advocates for a reclaiming of God’s grandeur, urging readers to embrace a vision of God that is both awe-inspiring and deeply transformative.
The Author and Context: Gavin Ortlund
Gavin Ortlund is a gifted author, speaker, and pastor with a deep commitment to biblical theology and a keen awareness of contemporary cultural trends. He serves as the Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and holds a PhD in systematic theology from Fuller Theological Seminary.
Ortlund’s background significantly informs his writing. He’s deeply rooted in the Reformed tradition, yet demonstrates a remarkable ability to engage with diverse perspectives. His work often bridges the gap between academic rigor and practical application, making complex theological concepts accessible to a wider audience.
“When God is Small” emerged from Ortlund’s observations of a growing spiritual malaise within evangelicalism – a sense that something vital was being lost in the pursuit of relevance. He recognized a pattern of subtly shrinking God to fit modern sensibilities, and felt compelled to address this issue with both intellectual honesty and pastoral sensitivity. His context is one of genuine concern for the health of the church.
Why This Book Matters Today
In our present cultural climate, “When God is Small” resonates with urgent relevance. We live in an age of increasing self-focus, where personal experience often trumps objective truth, and therapeutic values frequently overshadow biblical ones. This creates a fertile ground for subtly diminishing God to align with our desires and preferences.
Ortlund’s work provides a timely corrective to this trend, reminding us of the sheer magnitude and otherness of God. It challenges the pervasive tendency to create a “god” who is merely a helpful life coach, rather than the sovereign Creator and Judge of the universe.
Furthermore, the book equips believers to navigate complex cultural conversations with grace and conviction. It offers a framework for understanding the root causes of spiritual decline and provides practical steps for reclaiming a robust, awe-inspiring faith. It’s a vital resource for anyone seeking a deeper, more authentic relationship with God.
Part 1: The Problem ー A Shrinking God
This section meticulously unveils the concerning trends contributing to a diminished view of God, highlighting cultural shifts and their impact on our spiritual perceptions.
The Cultural Shift: Secularization and its Impact
Secularization, a defining feature of modern Western society, represents the declining influence of religious institutions and beliefs in public life. This isn’t necessarily a sudden rejection of faith, but rather a gradual process of marginalization, where religious explanations are increasingly replaced by scientific, rational, or materialistic worldviews.
The impact is profound. As society becomes less explicitly religious, God often recedes into the private sphere – a personal preference rather than a pervasive reality shaping culture. This leads to a narrowing of perspective, where transcendent concerns are overshadowed by immediate, earthly priorities. Moral frameworks, once anchored in divine authority, become increasingly subjective and relative.
Furthermore, the rise of individualism, coupled with consumer culture, fosters a self-centered worldview; Emphasis shifts from duty and sacrifice to personal fulfillment and self-expression. Consequently, the concept of a sovereign God, demanding obedience and reverence, can feel restrictive or even irrelevant in a culture prioritizing autonomy and individual rights. This creates fertile ground for a “small God” – one who accommodates our desires rather than challenges them.
The Rise of Therapeutic Morality
Contemporary ethical discourse is increasingly dominated by a “therapeutic morality,” prioritizing psychological well-being and emotional comfort above all else. This approach frames moral questions not in terms of right and wrong, but in terms of what “feels good” or what promotes happiness and self-esteem. Traditional virtues like self-discipline, sacrifice, and humility are often viewed with suspicion, seen as potentially damaging to one’s psychological health.
This shift has significant implications for our understanding of God. A God who calls for repentance, challenges our comfort zones, or demands difficult choices can seem harsh or even cruel within a therapeutic framework. The focus moves from God’s character and commands to human needs and feelings.
Consequently, God is often reimagined as a benevolent force whose primary purpose is to affirm and validate our existing desires, rather than to transform us into His likeness. Moral failings are reframed as psychological wounds needing healing, rather than as sins requiring confession and forgiveness. This ultimately shrinks God to the size of our emotional needs.
The Idol of Self: Modern Individualism
A defining characteristic of modern Western culture is its radical individualism – the belief that the individual is the ultimate unit of reality and the source of all value. This emphasis on self-autonomy, while offering freedoms, fosters a subtle but pervasive idolatry of self. We are encouraged to “find ourselves,” “follow our passions,” and “live our truth,” often with little regard for objective moral standards or the needs of others.
This self-focus inevitably diminishes God. When our primary concern is self-fulfillment, God becomes a means to an end – a tool to help us achieve our personal goals or feel better about ourselves. His glory is eclipsed by our own ambitions, and His will is subordinated to our desires.
The relentless pursuit of self-actualization creates a vacuum where God should be. We become the center of our own universe, and God is relegated to the periphery, a distant and irrelevant figure. True worship is replaced by self-worship, and the pursuit of holiness gives way to the pursuit of happiness – as we define it;
The Diminishment of Awe and Wonder
A crucial consequence of a shrinking God is the corresponding loss of awe and wonder. When God is perceived as small – limited in power, relevance, or even existence – the world itself loses its sense of mystery and grandeur. The everyday becomes mundane, and the extraordinary fades into the background.
Modernity’s emphasis on scientific explanation, while valuable, has sometimes contributed to this diminishment. As we understand more about the natural world, there’s a temptation to believe we’ve demystified it, leaving no room for the sacred or the miraculous. This reductionist worldview strips away the sense of divine artistry and intentionality.
Without a sense of awe, our hearts become hardened, and our spirits grow cold. We lose the capacity to be truly amazed by God’s creation, His providence, and His love. This spiritual numbness hinders our ability to connect with God on a deep and meaningful level, further solidifying the cycle of a “small” God and a diminished life.
Part 2: Reclaiming God’s Grandeur ー Biblical Foundations
This section meticulously unveils scriptural truths, powerfully demonstrating God’s inherent majesty, infinite power, and absolute authority as revealed throughout the Holy Bible.
The Transcendence of God: Beyond Human Comprehension
The very essence of God’s being surpasses our finite understanding. He exists outside of and beyond the created order, not limited by space, time, or any human construct. This isn’t merely a matter of intellectual mystery, but a fundamental reality impacting how we approach faith.
Scripture consistently portrays God as “other,” distinct from humanity in every conceivable way. Isaiah 55:8-9 vividly illustrates this, declaring His thoughts and ways are not ours. Attempting to fully grasp God within the confines of our minds is inherently futile, yet profoundly important to acknowledge.
Recognizing God’s transcendence isn’t about dismissing reason, but about recognizing its limitations. It fosters a healthy humility, preventing us from molding God into our image. Instead, we are called to worship a God who is gloriously, wonderfully, and intentionally beyond our complete comprehension, inspiring awe and reverence.
God’s Sovereignty: Control and Purpose
Central to reclaiming a “big” God is embracing His absolute sovereignty – the belief that He governs all things, not merely permitting events, but actively orchestrating them according to His perfect will and plan. This isn’t a passive observation, but an active, controlling power.
Scripture affirms this repeatedly, from Proverbs 16:4 (“all the works of his hands are faithful”) to Ephesians 1:11 (“working all things according to the counsel of his will”). Understanding God’s sovereignty isn’t about relinquishing responsibility, but about finding peace and purpose within His overarching control.
Acknowledging His sovereignty combats the modern impulse to seek control over our own lives and destinies. It allows us to trust even in suffering, knowing that God is working all things together for good for those who love Him. This profound truth liberates us from anxiety and empowers us to live with unwavering hope.
The Holiness of God: Separate and Majestic
A vital aspect of a “big” God is His absolute holiness – a radical otherness and perfection that sets Him infinitely apart from creation. This isn’t merely moral purity, though that is included, but a complete transcendence beyond all that is flawed or finite.
Isaiah 6:3 powerfully depicts this: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” This threefold repetition emphasizes the utter uniqueness and majesty of God. His holiness demands reverence and awe, reminding us of the vast chasm between Creator and created.
In a culture that often seeks to demystify and domesticate God, recognizing His holiness is crucial. It challenges our attempts to make Him relatable on our terms, forcing us to approach Him with humility and worship. It’s this very separation that underscores His power and worthiness of adoration.
The Wrath of God: A Necessary Attribute
Often misunderstood and frequently avoided in modern discourse, the wrath of God is not a capricious outburst of anger, but a righteous response to sin and evil – a defense of His holiness and justice. It’s intrinsically linked to His love, as He cannot tolerate that which destroys His creation and violates His character.
Romans 1:18-32 vividly illustrates this, demonstrating how God’s wrath is revealed against ungodliness and wickedness. This isn’t simply punishment, but a relinquishing of restraint, allowing the natural consequences of sin to unfold. To diminish God’s wrath is to diminish His justice and, ultimately, His love.
A “small” God wouldn’t care about evil; a “big” God must respond to it. Recognizing God’s wrath isn’t about embracing a vengeful deity, but acknowledging the seriousness of sin and the profound cost of redemption. It compels us to seek reconciliation through Christ.
Part 3: Practical Implications ー Living with a Big God
Embracing a grander view of God necessitates a corresponding shift in our lives, demanding humility, worshipful devotion, and a renewed commitment to biblical truth.
Repentance and Humility: Recognizing Our Smallness
A foundational step towards reclaiming a “big” God is a sincere reckoning with our own inflated sense of self-importance. The book powerfully argues that a diminished God often correlates with an exaggerated view of human capability and worth. True repentance isn’t merely acknowledging wrongdoing, but a fundamental reorientation of our hearts, recognizing our utter dependence on God’s grace.
This involves dismantling the idols of self-reliance, achievement, and control that we’ve constructed. Humility isn’t about self-deprecation, but a clear-eyed assessment of our limitations in light of God’s infinite greatness. It’s acknowledging that our talents, opportunities, and even our very existence are gifts from a benevolent Creator.
Ortlund challenges us to actively cultivate a posture of submission, willingly relinquishing our claims to autonomy and embracing a life of yieldedness. This isn’t a passive resignation, but an active trust in God’s sovereign plan, even when it doesn’t align with our desires or expectations. Only through genuine repentance and humility can we create the space for God to truly be big in our lives.
Worship as Reorientation: Recovering Awe
Genuine worship, as presented in “When God is Small,” isn’t simply a religious activity, but a profound reorientation of our hearts and minds towards God’s true character. It’s a deliberate act of acknowledging His majesty, holiness, and transcendence – qualities often obscured by a culture focused on the mundane and the self.
Ortlund emphasizes that worship should evoke a sense of awe and wonder, reminding us of the vast gulf between the Creator and creation. This isn’t about emotional manipulation, but about encountering God as He has revealed Himself in Scripture and through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Recovering awe requires intentionality – actively seeking opportunities to contemplate God’s attributes, meditating on His Word, and participating in corporate worship that is Christ-centered and theologically rich. It’s a continual process of recalibrating our perspective, shifting our focus from our own concerns to the glory of God, and allowing His greatness to fill our hearts and minds.
The Role of Doctrine: Knowing God Truly
Ortlund powerfully argues that sound doctrine isn’t a dry, academic exercise, but the very foundation for a vibrant and rightly oriented faith. He contends that a “small god” often arises from a deficient or distorted understanding of who God actually is, as revealed in Scripture.
True knowledge of God, rooted in biblical truth, combats the tendency to project our own desires and limitations onto the divine. Doctrine provides the framework for understanding God’s attributes – His holiness, sovereignty, love, and justice – and how these attributes work together in harmonious perfection.
Without a solid doctrinal foundation, worship risks becoming superficial and self-centered, focused on feeling good rather than on truly knowing and glorifying the God who exists. Studying theology, therefore, isn’t an optional extra, but an essential component of reclaiming a “big god” and living a life of genuine faith and obedience.
Prayer and Dependence: Seeking God’s Will
Ortlund emphasizes that genuine prayer isn’t simply about voicing our requests, but about cultivating a posture of profound dependence on God. When we operate from a place of self-sufficiency, believing we can manage life on our own terms, prayer becomes perfunctory and loses its power.
A “big god” demands a humble and reliant spirit. Prayer, rightly understood, is an acknowledgement of our limitations and a seeking of God’s wisdom and guidance in every aspect of life. It’s a recognition that His will is superior to our own, and that true fulfillment comes from aligning ourselves with His purposes;
This isn’t a passive resignation, but an active participation in God’s work, trusting that He will accomplish His good pleasure through our prayers and obedience. Cultivating a consistent prayer life, therefore, is vital for dismantling the idol of self and embracing a life of joyful dependence on a sovereign God;
Part 4: Addressing Common Objections
This section tackles prevalent challenges to a robust view of God, thoughtfully responding to doubts about suffering, inclusivity, boldness, and subjective experiences with grace.
The Problem of Suffering: Reconciling a Big God with Evil
The existence of evil and suffering presents a formidable obstacle to faith, particularly when contemplating a God described as all-powerful and all-good. If God can prevent suffering, the question arises: why doesn’t He? And if He wills it, how can He be considered benevolent? This chapter doesn’t offer simplistic answers, acknowledging the profound mystery inherent in this issue.
Instead, it proposes that a “small” god – one limited in power or concerned primarily with our comfort – is less equipped to deal with evil than a truly sovereign and majestic God. A big God understands the complexities of a fallen world, the weight of sin, and the ultimate purpose woven into even the most agonizing circumstances.
The author suggests that suffering, while not inherently good, can be permitted by God to refine character, reveal His glory, and ultimately lead to a greater good that we may not fully comprehend in this life. It’s a call to trust in God’s wisdom, even when His ways are beyond our understanding.
The Charge of Intolerance: Truth and Love
A common critique leveled against robust theological convictions is the accusation of intolerance. In a culture prioritizing inclusivity and subjective truth, asserting objective moral standards can be perceived as judgmental and harmful. This section directly addresses this challenge, arguing that genuine love and truth are not mutually exclusive, but rather intrinsically linked.
Ortlund contends that a “small” god, conforming to our preferences, avoids difficult truths and offers a watered-down message that lacks transformative power. Conversely, a “big” God, grounded in unwavering truth, compels us to speak with both conviction and compassion.
True love, he argues, isn’t simply affirming someone’s feelings or choices, but desiring their ultimate flourishing – which requires confronting them with the truth, even when it’s uncomfortable. This isn’t about imposing beliefs, but about offering a path to genuine freedom and reconciliation with a holy God. It’s a delicate balance, demanding humility and grace.
The Fear of Offending: Boldness in Witnessing
A significant obstacle to sharing one’s faith in contemporary society is the pervasive fear of causing offense. Concerns about social repercussions, damaging relationships, or being labeled as insensitive often silence potential witnesses. Ortlund tackles this hesitancy head-on, arguing that a shrinking God is often a result of prioritizing comfort over faithfulness.
He suggests that the early Christians weren’t known for their politeness, but for their audacious proclamation of the Gospel, even in the face of persecution. This boldness wasn’t rooted in arrogance, but in a profound conviction about the truth and the urgency of sharing it.
Ortlund doesn’t advocate for aggressive proselytizing, but for a courageous willingness to speak truthfully about Jesus, even when it’s unpopular or uncomfortable. He emphasizes that the offense of the Gospel lies not in how it’s presented, but in what it proclaims – a message of sin, redemption, and ultimate accountability to a sovereign God.
The Appeal to Experience: Beyond Subjectivity
Modern culture often elevates personal experience as the ultimate arbiter of truth. “If it feels right for me,” is a common refrain. Ortlund acknowledges the importance of subjective experience, but cautions against its elevation above objective truth. He argues that relying solely on feelings can lead to a highly individualized and ultimately unsatisfying faith.
He points out that experiences are often interpreted through pre-existing beliefs and biases, making them inherently subjective. What one person perceives as a profound spiritual encounter, another might dismiss as mere emotionalism. True faith, Ortlund insists, isn’t built on fleeting feelings, but on the solid foundation of revealed truth – the Word of God.
While acknowledging that God can and does work through experience, he stresses that experience should always be tested against Scripture, not the other way around. A “big” God transcends our subjective perceptions and calls us to submit to His objective reality.
Part 5: Conclusion ー A Life Transformed
Ultimately, embracing a truly magnificent God reorients our lives toward joyful worship, humble dependence, and hopeful anticipation of eternal life with Him.
The Joy of a Big God: Finding Fulfillment
Genuine and lasting fulfillment isn’t discovered through self-actualization or the pursuit of worldly pleasures, but rather in the profound joy that arises from a rightly-ordered relationship with a sovereign God. When we shrink God to fit our limited understanding or desires, we simultaneously diminish the potential for true joy in our lives.
A “big” God – one who is transcendent, holy, and all-powerful – evokes a sense of awe and wonder that surpasses fleeting happiness. This isn’t a joy born of circumstance, but one rooted in the unchanging character of God. It’s a joy that persists even amidst suffering and hardship, because it’s grounded in the assurance of His unwavering love and ultimate purpose.
Furthermore, recognizing God’s grandeur liberates us from the burden of self-reliance and the anxieties of control. We find peace in surrendering to His will, knowing that He is capable of working all things together for good. This surrender isn’t a loss of freedom, but a discovery of true liberation – a life overflowing with joy because it’s centered on the One who truly satisfies.
The Call to Contemplation: Ongoing Growth
Embracing a “big” God isn’t a one-time intellectual assent, but a lifelong journey of contemplation and spiritual formation. It requires a deliberate and consistent effort to cultivate a mindset of reverence and dependence. This isn’t merely about acquiring more theological knowledge, but about allowing that knowledge to deeply penetrate our hearts and transform our lives.
Contemplation, in this context, isn’t passive reflection, but active engagement with God’s character and works. It involves intentionally setting aside time for prayer, Scripture reading, and quiet meditation, seeking to encounter His presence and discern His will. It’s a process of continually recalibrating our perspective, allowing God’s truth to challenge our assumptions and reshape our priorities.
This ongoing growth necessitates humility – a willingness to admit our limitations and acknowledge our need for God’s grace. It also demands discipline – a commitment to resisting the allure of worldly distractions and prioritizing our relationship with Him. The pursuit of a “big” God is a lifelong endeavor, yielding ever-increasing joy and fulfillment.
The Hope of Eternity: A Future Perspective
A truly “big” God fundamentally alters our perspective on life, particularly regarding eternity. Recognizing God’s infinite grandeur and sovereign control provides profound comfort and hope, especially when facing the inevitable realities of suffering and loss. Our present struggles, viewed through the lens of eternity, begin to diminish in significance, not because they are unimportant, but because they are temporary.
The promise of eternal life with a magnificent God offers a compelling alternative to the fleeting pleasures and ultimately unsatisfying pursuits of this world. It anchors our hope in something far greater than ourselves, providing a resilient foundation for navigating life’s challenges. This future perspective isn’t escapism, but rather a powerful motivation for living faithfully and purposefully in the present.
Knowing that God’s plan extends beyond our limited understanding allows us to trust His wisdom, even when we cannot see the reasons for our pain. Eternity reframes our priorities, urging us to invest in things that will last – relationships, character, and eternal values.