Anytime we speak about the extravagant and unending love of
God for people, we must always remind ourselves – and one another – just how
sinful and undeserving we are of such amazing love.
The danger, of course, is that we might fixate too much on
God’s audacious love and not spend enough time meditating on our own worthlessness.
Several authors are guilty of this. For example, people like
Philip Yancey, and Brennan Manning tend to go on and on about God’s great love
for us, and even seem to emphasize our full acceptance of this love, without
balancing these ideas with the truth [which is that we are slimy worms who
could never deserve such unmerited grace and love].
For example, here’s what Yancey says about God’s grace:
“God loves people because of who God is, not
because of who we are.”
“I would far rather convey grace than explain
it.”
Notice how he makes no mention of our sins? Hmm…
Now, look at what Manning says:
“God loves you exactly as you are, not as you should be,
because none of us will ever be as we should be.”
Ok, he does mention our sins but he fails to emphasize how
our sinfulness is repulsive to God and how our failures can be a barrier to God’s
great love.
As bad as these may be, the worst offender of all is this
guy Paul, the Apostle.
Notice what he says about God’s great love:
“I pray that you, being rooted and
established in love, may have power…to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is
the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be
filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” [Eph.
3:17-19]
Worse yet, Paul doesn’t follow up this thought about God’s
awesome love with any verses about how much we don’t deserve that love.
Shameful.
And it gets worse:
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall
trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?...No,
in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I
am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither
the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor
anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God
that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [Romans 8:35-39]
Here, Paul not only goes on and on about God’s miraculous
and astounding love for us, he even tries to convince us that nothing can
separate us from this great love. Really, Paul? Not even our slimy, undeserving
sinfulness?
In another epistle, Paul drops casual references to God’s
love for us and uses it as motivation for how we should love one another:
“Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved,
clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
[Col. 3:12]
Of course, Paul even went so far as to write an entire
chapter about love [see 1 Cor. 13] without ever mentioning how much none of us
deserves God’s great love. Talk about a missed opportunity.
The other Apostles are no better. John, for example, who has
the gall to call himself “the one the Lord loved” also talks about God’s love
for us without the necessary caveats:
“God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God
lives in them.” [1 John 4:16]
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we
should be called children of God! And that is what we are! [1 John 3:1]
Again, all references to how much we don’t deserve God’s great
love are "conveniently" omitted.
The dangerous thing here is that Christians who read this
might actually start to forget their filthy sinfulness and begin to focus only
on the goodness, and kindness, and graciousness of a God who loves them so much
that He would rather die than live without them.
Just imagine what would happen if more and more Christians
started to forget what horrible people they are? Sure, they might start to
experience more joy in their lives, but they might also start to forget what
shame and guilt feel like.
And then what?
The more Christians start to become aware of God’s unmerited
favor and His love that surpasses knowledge, the more they might also start telling
others about it, too.
Do we really want to live in a world where the emphasis is
on God’s continual, unending love for those who are made in His image? Are we
prepared for the consequences of this unbalanced approach to the Gospel, or to
life itself?
The implications are almost unbelievable.
Almost.
-kg
1 comment:
If we confuse God's love for us with God's approval of what we think, say, &/or do; then can't we find ourselves entangled in all sorts of things such as politics, nationalism, & militarism; and meanwhile sincerely believe that God is on our side because He loves us so much?
Lincoln put it this way: "Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right."
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