What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.

The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man’s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God.  Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God.

For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.

We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God.  This is true not only of the individual Christian, but of the company of Christians that composes the Church.  Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God.  (A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of The Holy.)

Tozer was right.  No individual Christian will ever rise above what he or she believes about God.  No church will ever advance beyond its concept of God.  I am not referring to the theology an individual can quote or doctrine a church puts in its statement of faith.  I’m talking about how the individual or church actually sees God and relates to Him.  That understanding will define them and limit them. 

Years ago, J. B. Phillips wrote a book called Your God is Too Small.  He asserts that many Christians live with inadequate conceptions of God that cannot stand up to the complexities of real life and do not match the reality of Who God is.  These small understandings of God prevent them from seeing the real God and keep them trapped in futility and frustration. 

It is only when we see God as He really is that will we find Him worthy of full-on, unabashed worship.  Until then, we will be bored and unimpressed with worship services that live up to our expectations or meet our standards.  Total surrender to a small version of God is unthinkable, but when we see Him as He is failure to completely surrender to His will is absurd.  A small view of God will never motivate a believer or church to take bold steps of faith, but truly understanding the magnificent power of the Almighty will cause us to bravely push forward into uncharted territories. 

So, how big is your view of God?  Does it match Who He says He is – Who He really is?  What does your view of God say about you and how is it limiting you?