Mike the Cat

I've been enjoying a good book with a strange name, Cat and Dog Theology, by Bob Sjogren. Sjogren's basic premise is that people look at God in one of two ways: Like a cat, some people assume that God exists for them--to help them achieve their dreams, reach their destiny, and fulfill their hearts' desires. Others, like dogs, recognize that they exist for the pleasure of their owner, not vice versa. Sjogren argues that American evangelicalism has been corrupted by "cat theology." Of course, cat theology is no theology at all. It is merely the American values of achievement and self-fulfillment wrapped in a religious shell. Check out this brief clip from "wisdom" guy Mike Murdock, who explains that God is all about achievement, and that the biggest people in the Bible were the achievers. As Sjogren effectively asks in Cat and Dog Theology, what about the people in the Bible (and in church history) who weren't necessarily models of achievement, but who appear to be grist in God's mill, glorifying Him through their suffering, death and unfulfilled dreams?