The Fuddy-Duddy God

You can spot a fuddy-duddy a mile away. Their pants are too high, their shoes are too outdated, their music is too quiet, and their schedule is too lame. Everywhere they go, these old-fashioned fossils just exude a boring traditionalism. As card-toting sticks-in-the-mud, their square conformist mentality flees from anything remotely fun or exciting.  

Their frowns have been frozen in place, and wrinkles are developing as we speak just to make sure they don’t wander off. The only adventure they seek is that of killing the adventures of others. If it can be enjoyed, it must be evil and avoided at all costs. These boring killjoys suck the fun out of life and cause many joyful people to pursue increasingly rebellious tendencies just to avoid becoming like them. Such a despondent demeanor seeks to take the pleasure out of everything for everybody.  

Many people live as if God is the supreme fuddy-duddy. Referenced by those who took the fun out of fundamentalism, God is seemingly antagonistic towards anything enjoyable. If food, romance, music, games, or fellowship bring anything as diabolical such as laughter, smiles, or pep in your step, the curmudgeon Creator wants you to rid your life of such atrocities.  

To their credit, many squares are aware of the debauchery that much of those things can lead to in our lives. Romantic appetites can lead to immoral lifestyles, trashy music can lead to despicable dispositions, greedy games can lead to disastrous downfalls, and unhealthy fellowship can lead to tragic decisions. Instead of addressing the matter of sinful directions, these individuals throw out the entire picture altogether. A hammer that can be used for good causes must be cast aside because it could possibly be used for wrong purposes. To have the propensity to cause such sin, it must be evil. Rid yourself of opportunities for such filth. God is way too serious for such trivial matters. A lighthearted moment is seen as an underhanded attack on the earnestness that one should consistently maintain.

God is not a fuddy-duddy. God is good.

The Goodness of God

The goodness of God means that he alone is the filter by which goodness is gauged. Everything God does is positive. Every part of who God is is exceptional. All things associated with his identity and activity are good. Since everything that he is and everything that he does is favorable, it reveals an appropriate approval of such a standard. By whose rule can we classify such things? It has to be his, of course.

If God’s goodness was voted upon among trifling people, we could never get an accurate evaluation.  

What God has given is good. Even in our sinful conditions and temporal situations, God still provides beautiful gifts. As humans living in this broken world, shards of his artistry yet breakthrough as common graces given to all. “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt. 5:45). The LORD is good to all (Ps. 145:9).  

Every sunrise and sunset are opportunities to enjoy his goodness. Each time a rain shower comes, it’s an invitation to leave the umbrella at the door and frolic in the deluge with the people nearest and dearest to you. Every passionate kiss from your spouse, every snuggle shared with a blanket-toting child, every delectable meal sensational enough to buckle your knees, every tantalizing book begging you to digest just one more chapter, every soaring soprano stirring you even though you cannot understand the language by which she sings, every current of the gentle creek calming your mind as it skips over the stones, and every other good thing that just arrests your soul and momentarily lifts it from the mundane is evidence yet again that we have an exquisitely good God. The God who delivered free bread from heaven, encouraged intimacy in the Garden, and commanded a day off from work is an exquisite God who has planned very good things for your life.