How do people see God? If you’ve attended our Foundations of Faith Community Nursing Course, you’re familiar with the terms “God concept” and “God image.” These are terms to describe how people think about and perceive “God.” What does this have to do with spiritual care?
In the book: America’s Four Gods, Froese and Bader discuss their extensive survey that identified four ways Americans tend to think about and see God. These were the four categories that emerged:
Authoritative God—involved in everyday life, a “Father” with clear expectations, judging and passing out benefits and punishing those who violate rules.
Benevolent God—involved in everyday life, a kind and helpful God who suffers with people and will intervene to rescue and provide help in times of need Critical God—God does not intervene, but judgment awaits in the afterlife Distant God--God set the world into motion but largely stays out of people’s affairs.
Our image of God evolves over the years. Which of the above best describes how you think and see God?
The way a person sees God is critical to how they view challenging times in their lives, such as illness or a crisis. In the Foundations Course we discuss assessing this aspect of spirituality. A simple question, “How do you see God?” “How do you see God involved in this time of your life?”
If our own concept of God is different than those we serve, we need to take that into consideration as we offer spiritual care. If you see God as benevolent, you may need to strive to understand someone who sees God as critical and punishing and believes they are responsible for their illness or suffering. They may express guilt and remorse for their lives and have trouble seeing God as compassionate and walking along side them through their difficult times. Sometimes a referral to a spiritual expert is helpful in these situations.
Spiritual Assessment remains a critical step in our efforts to provide intentional care of the spirit. Thank you for what you do to understand and meet people “where they are.”
America’s Four Gods: What We Say About God and What That Says About Us. Oxford University Press, 2015
