Wednesday 20 March 2013

The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. – Psalm 145:9


Today’s Scripture Reading (March 20, 2013): Psalm 145

Rob Bell has just released his new book “What We Talk About When We Talk About God.” It probably promises to be a little less controversial than his last book “Love Wins” – but only a little. And I hate going over old ground, but I am still a little bothered by “Love Wins” – let me rephrase that – I am bothered by the Christian response to Rob’s last book. For those who have had their heads buried under a rock for the past year and a little bit, “Love Wins” discussed the possibility that someday hell will be empty (not that there is no hell, which some have charged). But the basic idea of the book is that if God is all powerful he can do whatever it is that he wants to do. And one of the things that God wants is that all will be saved - one of God’s most basic desires is that hell will be – at some point in time - empty. If this is true – and there is ample scriptural evidence for both of these statements – then does it not follow that, someday, God will get what he wants?

The Christian community reacted to this statement with anger and fear. It was as if their purpose had suddenly disappeared. They could no longer look at their neighbours and sing the children’s song “Na-na-na-na-na, I am going to heaven and you’re not.” For me, what I heard come out of the Christian community in the aftermath of “Love Wins” was this hope that some of the people – mostly their enemies – would find themselves in hell. If we are going to have to suffer the indignities brought on us by our enemies in this life, at least we can be assured that they are the ones that will be punished in the next life.  

Yet, there are passages in the Bible that invite us into a Bellian belief. And too often when we come to these passages we find that we interpret them by saying that the author really meant something very different from what the words say. And this passage is a good example. What we want this passage to say is that God loves all that follow him – or that God loves all who believe in him and have ordered their steps according to him – everyone else God hates. But that is not what the verse says. It is amazing to me that those who demand a straight forward reading of the text for most of the Bible do not want to hear that reading here. Because if we just accept these words, what they say is that God loves and is compassionate to everything that he has created. If we take this verse at face value, it leads us to believe that God possibly even loves Judas and Satan – because they too were created by his hands.   

I need to be up front. I am not sure that Rob Bell is right. But I also have to admit that somewhere deep in the core of my being is a child that is wishing and hoping that he is. And I have been very public in saying that I support anyone who is willing to stand up and say that love is tangible and has a real effect on our lives. I want desperately to believe that if I hit you with a two-by-four or I hit you with love - that both will have a very real effect on your life. And if my love has made a difference, God’s love and compassion is a tidal wave that will totally redesign the world in which we live now – and forever.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 1

2 comments:

  1. I'm wondering how grace fits into all of this - and what does it look like? Love your blog Garry, except my head hurts sometimes because you get me thinking too much... Blessings Amigo!

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  2. I think that grace is all over that kind of love. It is only because of the incredible grace of God that this kind of love is even remotely possible. And I would go further and say that as God's grace is extended to us, we as the Christian community need to make sure that we extend grace to those within our community and circles of influence. And we need to very visibly extend grace to those we may disagree with. But my feeling is that we don't because we are afraid that that kind of grace makes us look weak.

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