What Our Gatherings Say About God: A Comparison of Four Functional Theologies
- shanjmoloney
- Nov 19
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 19
What kind of God would someone discover if they had no Bible, no doctrine, and no background—only the visible expressions of our worship?
Every church model—Evangelical, Mainline, Catholic, and others—presents a different functional theology: an implied portrait of who God is based on how His people gather.
But how do these pictures compare with the God of the Scriptures? Here is what ChatGPT had to say:
The God of the Evangelical Megachurch
If someone only watched a typical evangelical service—lights, music, stage, sermon—they might infer a god who looks very different from the God of the Bible.
The implied evangelical megachurch “god” is:
A polished, inspirational, entertainment-loving deity who prefers crowds over community, spectators over disciples, and comfort over transformation. A god mediated by professionals, expressed through branding, and experienced primarily through emotion rather than obedience.
Key Attributes
Values entertainment
Prioritizes personal inspiration
Technologically savvy; branding-focused
Prefers crowds over intimacy
Speaks only through professionals
Safe, non-confrontational, agreeable
Prefers spectators over disciples
Blesses comfort and convenience
Measures worth in metrics
Emotional rather than covenantal
Distant from everyday life
Predictable and tame
The God of Mainline Denominations
A visitor to a mainline denominational church—Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopal—might come away with an entirely different image of the divine.
The implied mainline “god” is:
A dignified, structured, historic deity who values tradition, reason, ethics, and institutional continuity. A safe, stable, established God who blesses moderation and respectability more than spiritual power or transformation.
Key Attributes
A god of order, tradition, and stability
Dignified and proper
Known through intellect, not encounter
Delegates work to institutions
Tolerant and unthreatening
Distant and silent
Focused on ethics and social duty
Mediated through clergy and sacraments
Rooted in heritage
Loyalty to the denomination over mission
Values moderation
Morally and socially progressive
Distant from the supernatural
Prefers sacramental form over spiritual fruit
The God of Catholicism
Catholic worship—with its ancient liturgy, sacraments, and symbolism—presents another distinct portrait.
The implied Catholic “god” is:
A holy, transcendent, ancient God encountered through sacred mediators, rituals, and sacramental grace. A majestic, mysterious, patient God who honors suffering and shapes His people slowly through tradition.
Key Attributes
Transcendent and mysterious
Approached through sacred mediators
Gives grace through physical means
Values reverence and ritual precision
Rooted in history and continuity
Forgives through institutional authority
Dwells in sacred spaces
Moved by devotion and penitence
Values moral seriousness
Patient and slow
Fatherly, but mediated
Honors suffering
Communal and global
Favors reverence over spontaneity
Merciful yet exacting
The God of Scripture Alone
Now—if you had no modern church context at all and only read the Bible, what portrait of God emerges?
The biblical God is:
A holy, relational, speaking, covenant-keeping God who confronts evil, rescues the oppressed, chooses the weak, transforms lives, and reveals His heart through sacrificial love. A God terrifying in holiness, tender in compassion, relentless in mission, and faithful for generations. A God who acts—and invites ordinary people into His story.
Key Attributes
A God who acts—not an idea
Seeks relationship, not ritual
Holy—and dangerously so
Fiercely faithful
Radically honest about sin
Chooses the weak over the impressive
Patient beyond comprehension
Relentlessly just
Compassionate and emotionally moved
A God who speaks
Missional—pursues the nations
Enters human suffering
Transforms people radically
Demands loyalty, not halfhearted devotion
Both Lion and Lamb
Revealed ultimately through self-giving love
Forms a people, not isolated individuals
Coming again to restore all thing
Why This Comparison Matters
Every church tradition—whether intentionally or not—forms a certain view of God through what it emphasizes, what it neglects, and how it structures its common life.
But only Scripture gives us the full, unfiltered picture: A God who is holy, relational, active, near, transforming, speaking, just, compassionate, and mission-focused.
The question for us today is not simply: “What does my church say about God in our statements?” but rather: “What does our life together teach people about who God truly is?”
Because whatever our gatherings proclaim—through form, liturgy, structure, culture, and practice—is the god people will actually learn to believe in.
Does your life together with other believers reflect the God of the Bible?