He's Just Not That Into You

You would think we are the first generation of Christians to discover that we worship a God of love. We are endlessly reminded that we must not be judgmental. It is forbidden that we should ever think harshly of non-Christian people just because of their sexual habits or their philosophy or the way they dress.

So we receive these constant reminders that we should preach less and love more. God loves abortionists. God loves homosexuals. God loves Hugh Hefner, Hugo Chavez, the Dali Lama, Islamic terrorists, etc., etc., etc.

Of course all that stuff is true. Jesus came to love sinners into the Kingdom of God. If that was His modus operandi, it’s the way we should work as well. But I’m thinking that some of us who have adopted this message are still missing the point. That is, you can love Hugh, Hugo, Charles Manson and Madonna, and still fail the test.

Jesus taught, “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples- that you love one another.” He was talking to his closest friends in the budding church. The trademark of the Church is the way we love each other. John later asked, “If you can’t love someone you have seen, how can you be so sure you love someone you’ve never seen?” He was talking about claiming we love God, but it also applies to "the lost world."

If everybody is now enlightened that God is a God love, when are we going to show Him that we are a Church of Love? When are we going to move beyond admiration for the world’s sophisticates and begin to love the world’s unsophisticates- other Christians? You know- the ones with ties too short; the ones who say "Jee-zus;" the ones who spend too much time talking about "sin" and "sin nature." Those guys!

I just finished yet another tender book dedicated to the ideal that God is loving and laid back. Chapter after chapter mentions all the individuals and demographic groups Christians must “get over and start loving.” But when I finally made my way to the last chapter, I discovered the author has absolutely no love for the “fundamentalist extremists” who are hi-jacking the church “like Muslim extremists have taken over Islam!”

That’s not very loving is it? What does it say when I can love everybody on the planet except people in the Church who see the Bible as more demanding than I do? Is it loving- or even accurate- to compare law abiding Christians to suicide bombers and masked men who chop off the heads of innocents? Other Christian critics don't use the term terrorists, but they label conservative Christians as haters, hypocrites, Pharisees and losers. Sure, Jesus criticized the Pharisees, but were they Christians? And their problem: was it the lack of love, or was it the absence of faith? Christ died for them anyway.

This is a problem for more of us than just some fashionable Christian writers who lust for the approval of the world. Rejecting and resenting other Christians is a cancer that has spread through the ranks of the Church. Is this really a biblical response to other believers: Jesus died for the world, but he’s just not that into you?

Out’a space. I’ll finish this next week. Selah.