Julius Caesar Dithers was introduced to the public via the Blondie comic strip in 1933. He was the tyrannical boss of Dagwood, and owner of the construction company, D.C. Dithers. He was constantly berating his employees, and notably Dagwood, for being late, for messing up a contract, for asking for a raise, etc. Dithers’ frequent response to Dagwood’s laziness and food-and nap-focused work ethic was to kick Dagwood out of his office, sending him soaring through the air (but never showing him landing). While presented in comic fashion, Mr. Dithers was a clear representative of so very many supervisors and people with positions of authority who are, yet today, unworthy of their posts, becoming abusive and dictatorial to those under them. This is, of course, anything but a subject of humor to the many millions who work for such insecure, petty, immature, individuals.
The truly tragic part of this phenomenon is that this type of individual is sometimes found among church leaders. Many heartbreaking stories have been told of the way both church staff and volunteers have been mistreated, manipulated, lied to, and falsely blamed for circumstances beyond their control. The wreckage from these situations is devastating at every level.
Maybe this is where the notion originated that God is like that, an angry ogre waiting for His ‘subjects’ to step out of line so He can find reason to crush them, or at least severely punish them. The most widely held myth is that God, because of His mercy, is forced into accepting us, but is always watching with some sort of holy condescension, quick to disapprove, even quicker to shun. These corrosive lines of thinking are exactly what the enemy of our souls loves to focus on and grind our noses in. They leave us paranoid of our slightest misstep.
In the most beautiful contrast to these pit-of hell lies, is the truth that God loves us embarrassingly, unconditionally, passionately – and joyfully! He moved ‘heaven and earth’ so that we could be His. He celebrates us and longs with parental longing to have an intimate relationship with us, His beloved little children. He is good and yearns to see us basking in that goodness. He had Jesus bequeath his peace and joy to us. He’s given us His Spirit to reinforce every Biblical truth about Him, to lead us into alignment with those truths, and to counter every false notion the Father of Lies attempts to feed us. And He permanently lives within us to show us safe passage to the joy-filled, always waiting, heart of our Father, to home. PD