"If you don't forgive others, God won't forgive you."
"Your sin is separating you from the love of God."
"God is just waiting on you to turn back to Him so that He can love you."
"You can't draw near to God while you're in sin."
If any of these statements (that I heard all of my life in church) are true, then I'm doomed. If I have to "straighten up my act" or "get it right," then I have no hope. Perhaps more importantly, if any of these things are true (if I'm capable of forgiving others first; if I'm capable of casting aside my sin) then why did Jesus die?
Do we, as parents--who love very poorly compared to God, stop loving our children because of their sinful behavior?
Are we waiting constantly (maybe not patiently, but constantly) for our children to return to us?
Does the sin of our children cause us to turn away from them?
No. Nor does our sin cause God to turn His back on us. God is constantly, and patiently, loving us. God isn't shaking His finger at us, or saying: "tsk, tsk." In fact, the only reason that God wants us to stop sinning is for our own good. It's not so that God can love us--He already does. Our sin doesn't separate us from His love--at least from God's perspective.
Sometimes, maybe oftentimes, our love separates us from God--but only from our perspective. We don't want to go to God in our shame, in our helplessness, in our despair. We want to get it right before we turn to Him. When this is our view, the day of turning back to Him never comes.
As a friend of mine said to her husband, upon hearing PZ preach for the first time: "Wow, Christianity is 'sola gratia' not "sola bootstrapa.'" She further said to him: "Why have we never heard this in the church?" They immediately joined the Advent.
This is why I go to church--to have it proclaimed that I can't out-sin God's love, that He never turns His back on me, that He is never surprised nor disheartened by my sin. Then, and only then, does my sinful nature lessen. It lessens not because of admonition, shame, or exhortation. Rather, it lessens out of thankfulness to the One who never turns His back on me--whose character is always to have mercy--the One that came to earth to ensure that I fully understand this message of One Way love.
Monday, January 20, 2014
Sunday, January 5, 2014
My dialogue with atheists/agnostics--Part 2--a response
Obviously, if one stops with merely questioning God, one's life is hellish. (Actually, all of our lives are hellish, but some are more than others.) Can we live in hellish surroundings with peace and joy? Yes, but only if we come to believe in a loving, providential God. "Taste Him and see that He is good."
Thesis 1--God is providential. When James was 7, I told him the story of how Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt, how his father (Jacob) and brothers were then saved from the famine, how the descendants of Jacob became the nation of Israel while enslaved in Egypt. James's response: "My gosh, we're God's chess pieces."
Thesis 2--God is good. A friend of mine recently expressed her exasperation with her prayer group at church: "If we pray for someone's 115 year old aunt again, I'm going to scream. If we believe in heaven, maybe we shouldn't be praying for her good health. I want to pray about real issues--broken marriages, unloving parents, etc." Indeed, do we believe in heaven--or stated more helpfully to me--"Do we believe in a loving eternal God? If so, we can believe that He wants to spend eternity with us." (This idea came from Tim Keller). So, ultimately every tear is going to be dried from our faces.
Answer--"Taste and see that He is good." One of my best friends growing up has had much more death in his immediate family than me. He doesn't profess Christianity--he is Jewish. But he believes in a merciful God. He told me that if God is not for us, then we're screwed anyway. So, he chose to believe that God is for us. Then, as he lived his life with this belief, he came to find that it is true. Indeed, he is not offended by Jesus, and probably understood Jesus' radicality more than I did for years. My friend told me that he received a Christmas present this year--"a pope that actually lives out what Jesus said."
Thesis 1--God is providential. When James was 7, I told him the story of how Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt, how his father (Jacob) and brothers were then saved from the famine, how the descendants of Jacob became the nation of Israel while enslaved in Egypt. James's response: "My gosh, we're God's chess pieces."
Thesis 2--God is good. A friend of mine recently expressed her exasperation with her prayer group at church: "If we pray for someone's 115 year old aunt again, I'm going to scream. If we believe in heaven, maybe we shouldn't be praying for her good health. I want to pray about real issues--broken marriages, unloving parents, etc." Indeed, do we believe in heaven--or stated more helpfully to me--"Do we believe in a loving eternal God? If so, we can believe that He wants to spend eternity with us." (This idea came from Tim Keller). So, ultimately every tear is going to be dried from our faces.
Answer--"Taste and see that He is good." One of my best friends growing up has had much more death in his immediate family than me. He doesn't profess Christianity--he is Jewish. But he believes in a merciful God. He told me that if God is not for us, then we're screwed anyway. So, he chose to believe that God is for us. Then, as he lived his life with this belief, he came to find that it is true. Indeed, he is not offended by Jesus, and probably understood Jesus' radicality more than I did for years. My friend told me that he received a Christmas present this year--"a pope that actually lives out what Jesus said."
My dialogue with atheists/agnostics--Part 1--greater love for God
I was telling a Christian friend of mine about how helpful my dialogue has been with some of my atheist/agnostic friends. The dialogue obviously centers around whether there is a God and, if so, is he good? My friend said that this question is one of those freshman-dorm type questions--one which can't be proven one way or the other. Therefore, why discuss it?
In discussing this issue with atheists and agnostics, I have heard their plaintive cries--which have become my plaintive cries: If there is a God, why God why? Why is the world so f___'ed up? Why doesn't my wife love me? Why is my boss an asshole? Why is my child mentally retarded? If there is a God, why did he allow Hitler to slaughter my people?
I never had this depth of emotion before. I said blithely: "Jesus died to save me. Therefore, everything is going to be okay." While true, it is superficial. While true, it is only lip-speak. If you don't acknowledge and grapple with your broken heart, then you will never fully know Jesus.
Atheists and agnostics are willing to discuss these difficult issues, because it is these very issues which cause them either to reject or to doubt God. But the same is true for Christians. We all doubt God's goodness at some point, often at many points. Yet, for years, this seemed to be a taboo topic for me. It's not taboo for atheists and agnostics.
As I have discussed this world's brokenness, the inhumanity of man towards man, it has taken it's emotional toll upon me. But rather than ignoring or dealing superficially with this difficult "freshman-dorm" question, I have come to believe more than ever before that this radical, enigmatic, friend to the sinners is the only answer. He is the only answer, because He reveals that God's disposition towards man is one of mercy. God has lived through, embraced fully, this fallen world. God has been the victim of this fallen world. Yet, He is our friend--a friend of sinners. Yet, He brings us life--now and forevermore.
Praise God for those who question Him. For only they can come to truly know Him in all of His mercy and grace.
In discussing this issue with atheists and agnostics, I have heard their plaintive cries--which have become my plaintive cries: If there is a God, why God why? Why is the world so f___'ed up? Why doesn't my wife love me? Why is my boss an asshole? Why is my child mentally retarded? If there is a God, why did he allow Hitler to slaughter my people?
I never had this depth of emotion before. I said blithely: "Jesus died to save me. Therefore, everything is going to be okay." While true, it is superficial. While true, it is only lip-speak. If you don't acknowledge and grapple with your broken heart, then you will never fully know Jesus.
Atheists and agnostics are willing to discuss these difficult issues, because it is these very issues which cause them either to reject or to doubt God. But the same is true for Christians. We all doubt God's goodness at some point, often at many points. Yet, for years, this seemed to be a taboo topic for me. It's not taboo for atheists and agnostics.
As I have discussed this world's brokenness, the inhumanity of man towards man, it has taken it's emotional toll upon me. But rather than ignoring or dealing superficially with this difficult "freshman-dorm" question, I have come to believe more than ever before that this radical, enigmatic, friend to the sinners is the only answer. He is the only answer, because He reveals that God's disposition towards man is one of mercy. God has lived through, embraced fully, this fallen world. God has been the victim of this fallen world. Yet, He is our friend--a friend of sinners. Yet, He brings us life--now and forevermore.
Praise God for those who question Him. For only they can come to truly know Him in all of His mercy and grace.
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