Monday, November 7, 2016
521 - Where's the Love?
Spirituality Column No. 521
November 8, 2016
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
With these resources, with this truth – our lives of faith should be easy and joyous. Instead we opt for contention and confusion both inside and outside the faith.
Christians will ball up a fist and hit you repeatedly in the face reminding you of your sin and shame. Then they’ll ball up the other first and hit you repeatedly with guilt because of Jesus having to “pay a price” for your salvation with a hideous death on the cross. They’ll then insist this is evidence of God’s tender love and represents a solid foundation on which to enter into a divine, loving, eternal relationship with Jesus to the glory of God. The themes may be biblically defensible, but the “pitch” is relationally warped. Love – true love – never comes from accusation or transaction. It comes from freedom, compassion, mercy and grace; the things that make life easier.
Meanwhile, Jesus-mocking Western-world secularists accuse Christians of arrogance and hypocrisy on one hand and taunt them for a lack of reason, intelligence and sophistication on the other. Secularists are humans who might give God and Christ a chance if only someone could “prove it” to them. Two things in the Bible they believe: they’ll go to heaven, and “Don’t judge.”
Though these secular (non-religious) folks are deaf to the Holy Spirit’s call for Christ and the infinite, eternal love or God, they still are able to love others and do good works; and they’ll defend to the death what they love. Privately they may wonder if God exists, but publicly know it’s easier to go along to get along within the ever-diminishing piety of political, social, academic, scientific and cultural norms not having to explain Jesus in their lives. Odd though how they believe they belong in heaven, the eternal Kingdom home of Jesus in whom they neither believe nor place their trust and love.
Atheists, whom I perceive in actuality to be few in number, militantly reject any notion of a supreme being, though I sense that many public displays of atheism are more fashion than substance. We are all wired to believe something, and believing in no God is still a belief. Atheists will argue no, they don’t believe in anything, and some Christians will argue back, yes, they do. But one divinely important thing I notice is that atheists are perfectly and demonstrably capable of loving others and doing good deeds.
Satan, interestingly enough, is not an atheist. Satan absolutely knows God exists and what God is all about. Satan simply does not love and does no good deeds.
So remember, as a Christian, that anywhere you see selfless, self-sacrificing love, you are seeing God. God is always where the love is.
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) reminds all that 1) God loves and judges on His terms, not ours; and 2) Showing love works better than arguing faith.
November 8, 2016
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
Where’s the Love?
By Bob Walters
Life basics: God is love, Jesus has all authority, and the
Holy Spirit dwells among us providing divine knowledge and comfort.
With these resources, with this truth – our lives of faith should be easy and joyous. Instead we opt for contention and confusion both inside and outside the faith.
Christians will ball up a fist and hit you repeatedly in the face reminding you of your sin and shame. Then they’ll ball up the other first and hit you repeatedly with guilt because of Jesus having to “pay a price” for your salvation with a hideous death on the cross. They’ll then insist this is evidence of God’s tender love and represents a solid foundation on which to enter into a divine, loving, eternal relationship with Jesus to the glory of God. The themes may be biblically defensible, but the “pitch” is relationally warped. Love – true love – never comes from accusation or transaction. It comes from freedom, compassion, mercy and grace; the things that make life easier.
Meanwhile, Jesus-mocking Western-world secularists accuse Christians of arrogance and hypocrisy on one hand and taunt them for a lack of reason, intelligence and sophistication on the other. Secularists are humans who might give God and Christ a chance if only someone could “prove it” to them. Two things in the Bible they believe: they’ll go to heaven, and “Don’t judge.”
Though these secular (non-religious) folks are deaf to the Holy Spirit’s call for Christ and the infinite, eternal love or God, they still are able to love others and do good works; and they’ll defend to the death what they love. Privately they may wonder if God exists, but publicly know it’s easier to go along to get along within the ever-diminishing piety of political, social, academic, scientific and cultural norms not having to explain Jesus in their lives. Odd though how they believe they belong in heaven, the eternal Kingdom home of Jesus in whom they neither believe nor place their trust and love.
Atheists, whom I perceive in actuality to be few in number, militantly reject any notion of a supreme being, though I sense that many public displays of atheism are more fashion than substance. We are all wired to believe something, and believing in no God is still a belief. Atheists will argue no, they don’t believe in anything, and some Christians will argue back, yes, they do. But one divinely important thing I notice is that atheists are perfectly and demonstrably capable of loving others and doing good deeds.
Satan, interestingly enough, is not an atheist. Satan absolutely knows God exists and what God is all about. Satan simply does not love and does no good deeds.
So remember, as a Christian, that anywhere you see selfless, self-sacrificing love, you are seeing God. God is always where the love is.
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) reminds all that 1) God loves and judges on His terms, not ours; and 2) Showing love works better than arguing faith.
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