Everyone worships something . . . that is just how God made us. But in a world that is corrupted by sin and in constant rebellion to its Creator, that worship gets distorted and twisted in ways that dishonor God. We can understand how that would happen in a jungle tribe where there is no direct access to what God has revealed about the right way to offer worship, but what about in America today? There is access to the Bible on everyone’s phone or laptop, and the instructions are clear.

But That’s the Problem

Many people claim that the problem is just that—the God of the Bible is much too demanding. He expects people to only worship him, follow a list of rules, act a certain way, hang out with certain people, and avoid certain people. So many expectations and such harsh judgment! They would prefer a loving god who accepts them for who they are and validates their choices. If they could find that god, they would probably worship him . . . or her.

A recent commercial from Apple has a ‘Mother Nature’ Figure and the Divine Feminine. It presents several illogical aspects, as we would expect from any worldview that doesn’t begin with God’s Word as its foundation. The key point comes in replacing God with a goddess and attributing his attributes to her. This goddess claims the weather was “however I wanted it to be”, then why doesn’t she just fix climate change? People accuse God of being a capricious, malevolent bully who could exercise his omnipotence to end suffering if he wanted (an oversimplified view that divides God’s character rather than acknowledging his whole being), but this seems to be overlooked in this Mother Earth character. She is claiming to have all-powerful control over the weather, the same ability as the true God. If she can make the weather however she wants it, then why doesn’t she do something about famines and wildlife population devastation through habitat loss (from wildfires, flooding, etc.)? It sounds like she really doesn’t care about these things. And it sounds like she is capricious and malevolent. Yet these technocratic overlords are willing to worship this goddess and demand everyone do the same while telling Christians that our God is evil for not preventing hurricanes, droughts, and melting ice caps. It seems there is a double standard at play.

Dr. Owen Strachan addresses many of these aspects in his Grace & Truth podcast episode “Apple’s ‘Mother Nature’ Figure and the Divine Feminine.” As Dr. Strachan notes, it is not a rejection of any divine being, but the embrace of a divine image that condemns people for their actions and requires sacrifices for those sins. She doesn’t offer up herself, but her gospel is a message of work harder and do more to prove you are worthy of my affection—that is a capricious and malevolent god. The gospel of our technocrat overlords, as Dr. Strachan calls them, is not a gospel of grace, but a gospel of works, which demands acts of sacrifice before love is extended.