I actually sat thinking about a a pair of phrases that have long bothered me. They bother me because I feel they both are poor theology, or at least do not reflect my experience or the experience of anyone I know. “God is my co-pilot” and “If God is your co-pilot, change seats”, neither phrase sits well with me. Both phrases were likely coined by non-pilots who have an idealized and, frankly, misunderstanding of how aviation works. However, the latter phrase I feel is fallacious.
As a human with free will, I am the pilot. That is something that God never takes away from anyone. Even as follower of Christ, I still make choices daily and could choose to turn away at any time if I so wished. No where in scripture have I read that God will take over your body and mind and do everything for you. It is wishful thinking at best, though I do not know that I’d wish to follow such a God anyway. The concept of becoming a spiritual zombie not in control of my own body and mind rather disturbs me. All of scripture calls on you to make the decisions, you pick up your cross daily, you deny yourself daily. God does not make your decisions, God does not pick up your cross daily, God does not deny yourself daily. Only you can do that, that is the way God intended it. It takes faith to follow Him daily and active submission out of love. For God to be the pilot, it would require no faith or love toward Him on your behalf. For God to become the pilot would require no faith, you would sit back as an outside observer as God does it all for you.
The former phrase is also poor as a co-pilot’s job is relegated to doing minor tasks (or really any task the pilot cannot safely devote time to without distracting himself from his other responsibilities) and being there should the pilot be unable to perform his duties. He is also under the pilot’s thumb, though it is his responsibility to take control should the pilot put the plane in jeopardy. This is not God. God is not under your control. You cannot order Him into action, you cannot tell Him what to do. He is not there for the completion of tasks you have no time for yourself. He will not take control of you should you put yourself in jeopardy. Oh, He may bring a miracle about to rescue you, but He will never take over your body and mind then force you to make an action against your own will.
If you must use an aviation metaphor to describe the Christians relationship with God, then “God is my Air Traffic Controller” fits much better. When I am flying in low visibility (less than 3 miles), cruising at 106 knots (roughly 122 miles per hour), I am required to be in constant contact with air traffic control, and for good reason. They can see what I cannot. They — like God — know where I am at right now and where I need to go. After all, they have a strip of paper that tells them my origin, destination, planned route of flight and altitude, as well as my aircraft and equipment on board. They also have their radar, which is telling them my altitude and position at all times. In these situations, when I cannot see anything around me, these voices in my ear are the ones I put my faith in to safely get me where I need to be. They tell me to turn, I turn. They tell me to climb, I climb. I let them know my intentions. They let me know if it’s possible or not. Choosing to ignore them and go my own way, flying blind, I likely will find myself slammed into a mountain somewhere. I’d be extremely lucky to do everything right on my own and make it to my destination, but more than likely, I’d end up at the wrong airport. Either way, I’d have to answer to the FAA for my willful disobedience to ATC guidance.
How much like our God is this relationship. It’s not a perfect metaphor, but it is the closer of the two. I do not plan my route. God has already chosen my plan. He guides and directs me. He leads and I follow. He tells me to do this or that, go here or there, and I obey. I put my faith in Him that I will end up where I belong. I hope you do to. If you haven’t already, take that step into faith. Much like flying in the clouds, it’s a thrilling adventure waiting to be experienced.