An angry God, really?

Jim was taught that the world was a dangerous place, that people were terrible, that God was angry.  He was told that he had to work hard to make things right, that he never could let others get ahead of him, and that he needed to be good, very good, to make God care for him. He feels guilty, hides himself behind herculean efforts to be ‘good,’ but knows he fails almost all the time.  Is it any wonder that Jim is afraid and feels powerless?  He lives behind defensive walls.  He looks for people who think and act like he does but even among them, he is fearful, unwilling to deeply love or trust.

Sam grew up where love was king. He was taught to see his world could be a beautiful place, that Creation was a gift of God given to us for our enjoyment. Oh, yes, Sam knows that things went terribly awry. The Bible taught him about the reality of evil.  Sin entered that wonderful Creation and people became Selfish, Unloving, and Cruel.  But, God, far from being angry, is broken-hearted, because above all, He is Love. 

The Creator’s greatest desire is to restore life to a dying world. His desire is to bring us to His Presence, because He made us to know and love Him. Sam learned the Gospel of Christ which says that God will give him what he could never earn- life abundant and eternal -  if he will accept it by faith.  He trusted Christ to restore him to the Father who loved him, but from whom he was alienated.  He opened his heart and mind to the Holy Spirit, asking Him to guide so that he would live faithfully and obediently to the highest calling; doing the will of a loving Father Who would allow him to find the richest life possible. As a result Sam lives joyfully, hopefully, and effectively engaged as a godly influence in his world.

Which kind of world do you inhabit- a fear filled one like Jim, or a Spirit-filled world like Sam?

Fear-based Christianity is not a new thing. For the two millennia of our faith,  there have been Christians whose message focused sin, Hell, the Devil, and death.  Why? Because, at first, fear is a powerful motivator to change. If a preacher can make the fires of Hell hot enough, he can scare people into a confession of faith. Fear also bonds people together, getting them to stick with the Church. Give them a common enemy, the Devil (or abortionists, or homosexuals, or liberal judges, or Muslims) and they will overcome their differences to fight the those enemies. Huge organizations are built around shared fear of ‘the other.’  

But, this kind of religion is flawed because it’s based on misconceptions (and outright lies) about the nature of God. He is not angry, vindictive, or capricious.  He is loving, forgiving, and trustworthy.  Besides being based on a lie, religious Christianity will fail because fear always has a diminishing return. Anyone who lives with fear, over time learns to adapt to it, to turn it off. That's why fear based Christianity ultimately fails to keep people in the faith.

Jesus does not drive people to God with fear. He calls them to God with love! Jesus' Gospel is not so much a defense as an opportunity. He says, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Matthew 11:28-29, NKJV) In The Message (a contemporary paraphrase of the Bible) that passage reads - "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me-watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you."

John reminds us that love perfects (completes) us. "God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first." (1 John 4:16-19, NLT) How can we miss this wonderful truth? How can we give up the rich promise of acceptance for a paranoid fearful experience of 'faith?'

Study the story of the Prodigal Son (or as I prefer to call it, the story of The Waiting Father) and let the Word and Spirit convince you of God's gracious favor.
Jesus told this ‘everyman’ story to show us God’s heart for us – even while we are rebels!  

“There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, I want right now what’s coming to me.’ “So the father divided the property between them. It wasn’t long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any.

“That brought him to his senses. He said, ‘All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I’m going back to my father. I’ll say to him, Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.’ He got right up and went home to his father.

“When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: ‘Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son ever again.’

“But the father wasn’t listening. He was calling to the servants, ‘Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We’re going to feast! We’re going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!’ And they began to have a wonderful time.”   (Luke 15:11-27, The Message)  That is the Gospel!

Yes, the Devil rages, evil men seek to exploit the weak, and Nature is unbalanced by the Curse of sin. But, if we belong to our Father, through Christ Jesus, we are not afraid! Why?
Because "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." (1 John 4:4, NKJV)

___________

How He Loves

He is jealous for me loves like a hurricane
I am a tree bending beneath
The weight of His wind and mercy
When all of a sudden I am unaware of
These afflictions eclipsed by glory
I realize just how beautiful You are
And how great Your affections are for me

We are His portion and He is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If grace is an ocean we're all sinking
So Heaven meets earth
Like a sloppy wet (unforeseen) kiss
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest
I don't have time to maintain these regrets
When I think about the way that

Oh how He loves us so
Oh how He loves us
How He loves us so

© 2005 Integrity's Hosanna! Music
John Mark McMillan
CCLI License No. 810055