God: A Lover or a Fighter?
Luke 3:8-9 – “Prove by the way you live that you have really turned from your sins and turned to God. Don't just say, 'We're safe – we're the descendants of Abraham.' That proves nothing. God can change these stones here into children of Abraham. Even now the ax of God's judgment is poised, ready to sever your roots. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.”
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Really… This paradox is so hard for me to grasp. This is John the Baptist’s message to the “spiritual” people of the day. There is no paradox in this scripture itself but in the whole of my theology there is one that stands out greatly. How does this fit into God’s love, his grace and his forgiveness. I have to wonder if this whole idea of God’s unconditional love is a construct of modern day Christianity. I am not saying that God does not have unconditional love for his children, but what that means perhaps has been skewed. I can’t back this up from research but I would be willing to be that scripture spends more time on God being angered by man than God loving man despite his anger. All this is to say that I am probably better served knowing in my heart that God gets angry, yet he is slow to anger. I hurt God, yet he loves me. I feel like we have in so many cases made our scripture and the theology it creates fit into the church model that was passed down to us. Things work best when God is seen as a giant grace teddy bear and not the God presented in this scripture. I am sure however that I am better served by a grasp of what God really is…both.
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Lord, help me to better understand your nature. I feel like I lean towards your soft side and I know that at times tough love is what I need. It is scary to ask you for something like that, but if it means me being more fruitful, I am willing. I realize that you could make anyone into a Christian, even stones, but you chose me, and I want to make that choice worth your while. Help me to do that in my motives, my actions and my thoughts. Help me to bring you joy by bearing fruit.
*
Really… This paradox is so hard for me to grasp. This is John the Baptist’s message to the “spiritual” people of the day. There is no paradox in this scripture itself but in the whole of my theology there is one that stands out greatly. How does this fit into God’s love, his grace and his forgiveness. I have to wonder if this whole idea of God’s unconditional love is a construct of modern day Christianity. I am not saying that God does not have unconditional love for his children, but what that means perhaps has been skewed. I can’t back this up from research but I would be willing to be that scripture spends more time on God being angered by man than God loving man despite his anger. All this is to say that I am probably better served knowing in my heart that God gets angry, yet he is slow to anger. I hurt God, yet he loves me. I feel like we have in so many cases made our scripture and the theology it creates fit into the church model that was passed down to us. Things work best when God is seen as a giant grace teddy bear and not the God presented in this scripture. I am sure however that I am better served by a grasp of what God really is…both.
*
Lord, help me to better understand your nature. I feel like I lean towards your soft side and I know that at times tough love is what I need. It is scary to ask you for something like that, but if it means me being more fruitful, I am willing. I realize that you could make anyone into a Christian, even stones, but you chose me, and I want to make that choice worth your while. Help me to do that in my motives, my actions and my thoughts. Help me to bring you joy by bearing fruit.
posted by Thomas at 1:48 PM
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