Ditching This Theology Will Make You More Like Christ.
There’s a growing movement around the world of people who are questioning their evangelical theology. And there is a growing movement of Churches who are denouncing this questioning believing it could lead to the downfall of Christianity. However, you may be one of the thousands of people who have noticed contradictions in your faith and practice.
You see, I’ve noticed some contradictions and today I want to share one with you because I believe it will make us more Christlike.
Most Churches would be happy to preach that Jesus was a “friend of sinners” willing to spend time associating with those “He shouldn’t have”. He was compelled by love after all. As followers of Jesus we’re called to love people unconditionally just like Jesus loved tax collectors like Zacchaeus, or hung around women with bad reputations…
However, on the other hand, many Churches preach that God is so holy and just that He can’t stand to be in the presence of sinners. This is why we say people go to hell. Sadly, the Church has modelled this at times too, and rejected people based on their behaviour. You may have been on the receiving end of this and it doesn’t taste nice!
Now, if you’re reading this blog, I’m guessing you probably sway more to the loving people example of Jesus than the smiting people example of the Father. As a pretty optimistic person I actually believe that although most evangelicals believe that God can’t stand to be in the presence of sinners, they don’t act like it. (Thank God!) Rather they choose to love, bless and serve people regardless of their lifestyle choices.
But there is a glaring problem. There is a contradiction between our belief and practice.
Now, it took me a while to be able to voice this, but here it goes. This theology does not work. It does not hold up to the “Jesus Test.” The “Jesus Test” is when we allow our theology to submit to the revelation of God in Christ. But this is just the starting point. As I’m about to show you, the story of God pursuing humanity is THE story of the ENTIRE Bible. God turning away from sinful people is NOT the story of the Bible despite what we have been told.
The story of Scripture clearly shows us that God is always wanting to maintain a connection with humanity, and it is always us that walks away from Him. No matter where we are, what we are doing, or what we are believing, God is always pursuing us. This is why Jesus said, “Eternal life is that you may know The Father!” (John 17:3)
But don’t just take my word for it, let’s jump into the Scriptures to see the story unfold…
The Old Testament
Adam and Eve – sinned, but God came looking for them. They experienced guilt and shame and hid from God, but He came looking for them. Even when they were kicked out of the garden, it was for their own protection, and as we read on, God remained with them and their growing family.
Moses and the Israelites – God requests that the whole nation becomes a Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation. (Exodus 19) God invites them up the mountain so they can all meet with Him - but the people refuse and only Moses ascends. (Deuteronomy 5:23-27) But God gives the people the law as a “tutor to lead us to faith in Christ.” (Galatians 3:24) God never gape up on them even though they refused relationship.
Hosea – The story of Hosea is about a marriage that goes wrong. The wife leaves and becomes a prostitute, but God commands Hosea to go and get her back. It’s a story of a husband who never gives up on His wife. The story is the picture of people running away from God, only for Him to chase them and win them back with His love.
Israelites and Prophets – Time and time again the people of God turn away from God. They act unjustly, wickedly and worship idols. Still God sends prophets to get back in front of them and remind them that “God loves them with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3) and that He is calling them back to Himself.
As we can see, The Old Testament is full of this amazing narrative! But we have taught that God cannot look on sin otherwise His anger would burn and He would destroy us. The Israelites thought this as well, but were confused as to why He continued to pursue relationship with them;
“You are of purer eyes than to behold evil,
And cannot look on wickedness.
Why do You look on those who deal treacherously,
And hold Your tongue when the wicked devours
A person more righteous than he?”
(Habakuk 1:13)
He’s saying, “Hey God, I thought you were super pure and couldn’t look at sin! So why are you just gazing at us like that?” Their sin did not separate them from God in the sense that God shunned them. As they sinned they walked away from God – but God reminds them that He is “The God that Pursues Us!”
This theme of God pursuing us continues into The New Testament.
New Testament
Jesus –The Apostle John wrote that “The Word (Jesus) became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.” He came to us to serve us, to seek us out, and to save us!
Zaccheus – This man was a tax collector who had been stealing off the people of God. People despised him and rejected him. Yet Jesus sought Him out and noticed him in a crowd, honored him, and ate with him.
Woman of ill-disrepute – This woman fell at Jesus feet and washed them with her hair and tears. The Pharisees freaked out and thought that if Jesus was a prophet He would know what type of person this woman was. (Luke 7) They had been taught that God could not touch the unholy. But Jesus rebuked them, and praised this woman’s faith.
Luke 15 – In Luke 15 Jesus tells three stories about things or people getting lost and found. The whole point is that God is looking for us, He is pursuing us and constantly giving us an invitation to know Him.
Enemy Love – In a violent culture, Jesus taught against violence, and insisted that His followers love their enemies. Pray for them, do good deeds for them and bless them. This is the heart of Jesus, love people no matter the cost!
The Cross – At the cross we see God fulfilling the old covenant of law and establishing the new covenant of love. We see God demonstrating His love for us, that while we nailed Him to the cross, naked and bruised, tortured Him, and mocked Him, He did not let out His wrath, but instead promised paradise and forgave those harming Him.
The Father – Jesus said that if we have seen Him we have seen the Father. (John 14:9) He criticised the Pharisees because they know the Scriptures but did not know that God was standing right in front of them. (John 5:39) The point is this, “Jesus is the image of the invisible God!” (Colossians 1:15) Jesus “is the exact representation of His being!” (Hebrews 1:3) Jesus shows us that this is what The Father is like and always has been!
As you can see, when we perform the “Jesus Test”, it’s clear:
Humanity walks away
and
God pursues us.
Matching Faith and Practice
So here is the good news: None of your sin, past, beliefs, cultural background or anything else we can think of, can separate you from the love of God. He just does not give up. He is the God that pursues us! Or as The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8,
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
So there we have it. When we sin and walk away from God, He pursues us. He doesn’t turn away from us at all. That theological belief is anti-Christ and resembles more of a pagan god that needs appeasing as opposed to the beautiful example of God the Son.
Now, since we see that God pursues sinful people, hangs around sinful people, talks to sinful people and loves them into a relationship with Himself, we are to follow His example. Therefore, let us ditch that theology, and allow our faith to catch up to the practice of unconditional love.
