How do you have a discussion with someone about the wonder
and love that define our God, if they have never heard him referenced in that
way up till now? If I told you about a
friend of mine, who most of you have never met, a friend who I have known since
childbirth (we were neighbors) and grew up together. We went to the same schools. Were interested in the same girls. Faced similar challenges. I would say that as far as one person can
know another, I pretty well know my friend.
If I further described him to you, as the biggest S.O.B. I had ever
met. If I told you he regularly kicked
his pet dog, went to the bathroom on my lawn, and tortured babies for fun –
would you really want to meet him? If
all you ever really heard about my friend was from me, and I was constantly
telling you about how he misbehaves, and is a horrible human being, what
interest would you have in anything to do with him, except as to avoid contact
with him.
This is what 20th century Christians have
accomplished with our God. We as a group
of believers have consistently referenced God with a constant stream of
negativity that would dissuade the most ardent believer. We use His name to justify our wars, our
murders, our thefts, … our evil. We use
His name to condemn. Constantly to
condemn. To judge others. To condemn those who do not share our
beliefs. While most Christians will not
state publicly that they believe they get to go to heaven due to their good
works – they will almost always accept the idea that you do get to go to hell
for all your bad works. In fact, bad
works are the only reason for anyone to go to hell, right? That is the false idea we have taught for
years.
The tender words “Jesus loves you” are said in context of
hurling them at young women wrestling with the hardest decision they may ever
face in their lives while seeking knowledge or counsel at an abortion
clinic. Screaming “Jesus loves you”
while carrying a sign that states “abortion is murder” seems a bit
inconsistent, and does nothing to say WHY the idea that Jesus loves you is
going to make any difference to the poor girl wrestling with this
decision. It is certainly NOT an example
of Jesus’ love. In point of fact, Jesus
would forgive her decision regardless of its outcome, and would truly seek to
support her, love her, and show her real alternatives – not placards, slogans,
and condemnation. Consider further that
Jesus might even have a different idea than you do about when exactly life
begins.
But it is not just outside of abortion clinics where
Christians reference God in negative ways.
They do it in their own speech.
They make regular statements like … “this must have been an act of God”
to describe horrific events that ruin others lives. They blame groups of people who do not share
their own beliefs for the calamities that affect the world such as … gays
responsible for aids, greed responsible for 9/11, lust responsible for hurricanes,
abortion responsible for economic catastrophe.
In this way they depict God as vengeful, angry, and out for blood. They use God and reference God to condemn the
behavior of others, while never fully examining the behavior of
themselves. In this, every method of
reference is negative. So far the world
of unbelievers, witnesses the world of believers, as the groups who lives life
by condemning others, and having nothing of real value to offer them. Sounds like we have described my fictional
friend as our God, to the world around us.
Where does all this negativity come from? How is it that Christians seem to only
reference God in these terms? It is
because we as a group, have adopted the same philosophy as every other false
religion in the world. We have turned
our doctrines into paganism through the elevation of the importance of
self. Simply stated, we have put the
burden of salvation, from off of Christ, and on to our own shoulders. In every other religion in the world, man
serves God to earn his favor. Only in
Christianity does God serve man. Only in
Christianity does the God of the universe so reflect love that He defines it by
giving up His own life, to save fallen man from his own fate. Only in Christianity can a God be defined as
pure and absolute love.
But unfortunately Christians as a group, are all too willing
to accept the idea, that this doctrine is just too good to be true. There must be some part we are required to
play. There must be something we are
required to do. Some work left on our
doorstep so that we can earn the right to be saved. Since we all know salvation is a gift of
Christ, we will focus on the idea of getting rid of the sin in our lives, as
the “work” that “we alone” are responsible for.
This work becomes our banner, our ability to judge others, and the
reason why we look no different to an observant crowd than the next guy in line
who does not share our beliefs.
The truth of the matter is far from this thinking. It begins by understanding that the act of
“salvation” is not our ability to go to heaven and live forever. The devil has lived forever. And for the past 6000 plus years being
immortal and living in sin has been the definition of what Hell truly is;
Separation from God. To live forever in
the condition of sin, is to live forever being tortured without rest. Going to a city with streets of gold, and
gates of pearl is NOT salvation. That is
the reward for the saved (who by the way will care less about what construction
materials are used when you could be close to Jesus). This is not salvation.
Salvation is being saved from evil itself. This act only Christ can do FOR you,
sometimes in spite of you. To be saved
then, is not to work to get rid of the sin in your life. It is to work to let Christ do it for
you. It is the work of surrender. The realization of your own unworthiness,
combined with the acceptance of this condition.
To be saved is to submit even your will, your desires, the core of who
you are to Christ alone. The only way
you survive, the only way you can be different, the only way you will ever have
something of value to offer – is to learn how to surrender it all to
Christ. To give up on yourself. To stop fighting to win it all, and accept
the victory that Christ will do on your behalf.
You are not a partner. You are
not the worker. You are not going to be
able to claim an ounce of credit for the salvation you experience. Your only claim to fame will be the statement
that you gave it all up.
Christians have such a hard time with this idea, because they
lack the faith that God will indeed do as He promised. They fear (because evil insists on it) that
were they to let go of their self-control, and self-discipline, sin would
simply overwhelm them. But not if it has
been surrendered to God. For God beats
Satan every single time. And the
submissive, pliant heart, can be molded to abstain from even the thought of
sin. This is where the victory lies for
every Christian life. This is where
real, and lasting differences and changes are made. Not through the fires of adversity, through
these may be a catalyst to start the process, but through the constant willing
submission to God to remake you completely in His image. It is putting your faith in God that He will not
allow you to fall into sin you cannot shed yourself from, but that He can clean
up the worst mess of it you have ever made in your life. This is the power and love of God in
action. NOT to condemn you as you surely
deserve, but to SAVE you from the fate you would otherwise find yourself in. That is salvation. That is what God’s plan and the Christian
religion is all about.
When a Christian experiences this, they become changed. And God is no longer referenced in terms of
hate, cursing, or condemnation of others – but in gratitude, humility, and hope
for ALL mankind. When we start
describing God as He truly is, and start referencing Him with the Integrity He
deserves, we will see a fallen world embrace a love it could never find on its
own. We will see a fallen brother lie
prostrate before a throne of grace, from the eye-level position of our own
prostrate bodies who lie there right beside them. We will see the prostitute, the thief, the
murderer, the homosexual, the adulterer in the mirror as a mere image of what
we ourselves used to be. For All of us
exist in this form right now, but through the grace of our God, the only God
who serves His own creation, we are to be made anew; not to judge those who
have not endured this transformation as yet, but to pray in earnest for them
and for our own continued journey towards the perfection that defines the LOVE
of our God…
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