Does God Have an Ego?

“‘God, to me, it seems, is a verb, not a noun, proper or improper,’ designer and architect R. Buckminster Fuller once said. And it makes sense. As long as we do our work honestly and not hurt others, what does it matter if we believe in some invisible superman in the sky, who happens to have such a fragile ego so as to condemn people for not believing in him, no matter how good they might be? “
So wrote Anu Garg to open the week for A.Word.A,DAY listserve. The words are powerful, but are they truthful? Is the God of the bible a superhuman with a fragile ego? Does He need our attention in order to be happy and fulfilled? What kind of God am I following if He gets angry at me if I don’t stroke His ego? Does He even have an ego?
The problem with the thought expressed by Mr. Garg is that if God does exist and has made humans, then ego, His ego, is not the issue; our egos are the issue. What would happen to us if God did make us to be worshipers of Him as our purpose, our reason for existence. Made in a way so that all that made up life, done in a manner recognizing God as our creator, constituted worship. In worshiping we would reach our truest selves, we would find ultimate fulfillment, we would in fact be real. To not worship would then be self destructive and foolish beyond imagination. Any activity or attitude which drew us from worship would be detestable.
What person wants to be unfulfilled, to be less than real, less human, less themselves. Are we not all trying to find out who we are and why we exist? Do we want to just make it through the years we have, finding joy and satisfaction for moments only? Trying to be good ( who defines good?) and honest (defined by whom) and harmless to others (except when must take a stand) seems to be a rather ordinary, lackluster goal for life. This ideal would be beige if it were a color, it would be dry toast if it were a food. A life lived well enough to make ends meet, but not outrageous enough to acknowledge anything beyond one’s self.
Why is it so fearful to look into the world and see something else, to seek to know the One Who made it all happen. Of course I believe in a Creator; One to Whom I owe my very existence. I do not stroke His ego by acknowledging Him any more than my child strokes my ego by calling me “Mommy.” It is what my child calls me, it is appropriate and right, because I am the mother. Acknowledging my Creator is to admit I receive all things from One outside of me. Nothing is ultimate about me, but the One Who is Ultimate made me and knows me and is for me.
No, God does not get angry because we don’t give Him the emotional strokes we thing He needs. Any anger proceeds from Him because in thwarting Him, we destroy ourselves; in not honoring Him, we dishonor ourselves. We were made for Him and only in Him do we find true fullness.