God is not a Bully · The Disciple Machine

God is not a Bully

I used to be an Orthodox Christian, so I’m familiar with the rhythm of the services. In that tradition, you have Vespers in the evening, Matins before the morning service, and then the Divine Liturgy itself. I don’t know the Catholic structure nearly as well, but I do know both the Catholic and Orthodox traditions include repeated pleas for mercy.

And honestly, that was one of the hardest things for me.

During those liturgies, we ask the Lord to have mercy around 40 times, depending on the version and structure of the service. That number may vary, but the repetition is hard to miss.

There were times when I felt like a broken record:

Lord, have mercy.Lord, have mercy.Lord, have mercy.

After a while, it didn’t feel like relationship to me. It felt like begging.

It almost reminded me of a kid being held down by the schoolyard bully, pleading, “Please don’t hurt me. Have mercy.”

But that is not who God is.

Scripture says, “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy” (Psalm 103:8). It also says, “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

That means God is not waiting for us to beg hard enough before He decides to be kind. His mercy is not something we have to drag out of Him. His mercy is already revealed in Jesus Christ.

Jesus Himself said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). He did not say, “Repeat the plea until I finally listen.” He said, “Come.”

That is my concern with some liturgical methods in both the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. When mercy is repeated over and over again, the message can begin to feel distorted. Instead of hearing the good news that God has already shown mercy through Christ, people can begin to feel as if they are begging a reluctant God to spare them.

And that is not the Gospel.

Now, I want to be clear: I am not saying Catholics or Orthodox Christians do not know Christ. I know some who have a sincere and beautiful relationship with Him. If that is where God has them, I respect that.

But I do believe the method matters.

If the structure of worship makes people feel like they are crawling before a bully instead of coming to a Father, then something has been lost.

Hebrews says, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). We do not come boldly because we are worthy. We come boldly because Christ has opened the way.

That is what was lost in Eden.

Relationship.

Sin broke fellowship between God and man. Adam hid from God among the trees. But Jesus came to restore what was lost. Through His death on the cross, He made a way back to the Father.

So yes, we need mercy.

But we are not begging a bully to spare us.

We are being invited by a Savior who already gave Himself for us.

Christ does not want us trapped in endless begging; He wants a restored relationship with us, and He made that possible through the cross.

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