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God Loves You. Period!

I often leave the TV on for my dog when I leave the house. Yesterday, a TV preacher came up on the screen. I usually don't pay that much attention as I'm leaving but his words (of course it's an old, white man, telling us what the Bible says) struct me and made me sad that this was the teaching being shared with a large audience. 

The preacher kept saying that "God loves you but 'he' loves the faithful more." "God loves you but 'he' loves those fighting for God more." He had a whole litany of these sayings. A few also had the word "but" in them. "God love you but only if..." It was clear that there was a mandate of being their version of Christian. The list made it clear that it was either this or that - an all or nothing to being loved by God. 

I cringe at this because if this were the truth about God and God's love - I don't think anyone would be loved by God. Of course, the preacher had all kinds of proof texts to support his message of this conditional love from God. Too bad this man didn't look at the bigger picture of scripture and the Christian faith because he would have seen that he was misreading the text. 

Most of his Bible quotes contained prepositional phrases and additional punctuation that's not there or part of the Christian faith. Let's start with the idea that all of creation is created good. Going back to the litany contained in Gensis chapter 1, it is clear that at the end of each day of creation that God pronounces it good. Period. There are no conditions or terms. All of creation is made good and therefore is worthy. Then let's move unto talking about Jesus and his ministry. Jesus came and expanded the circle of who gets to be included to add everyone. There was no limitations or conditions for loving God. It didn't matter where you came from, your gender, who you loved and so many other things. Jesus said God's love was for everyone. The epistles demonstrate a growth and expansion of the Church/faith. 

So all of this is to say - we are not to add additional phrases to God's love We don't get to add terms and conditions - God's love is not like your Apple terms and conditions. The fact of the matter is God loves you. This is the Good News - short, simple and sweet. God loves you. It's a radical thing that it's just so simple and pure. We can't remove it from others or ourselves. It just is. It's always there. We can choose to accept it or not but God's love never leaves us. 

Let's spend more embodying and sharing this Good News in a world that doesn't always share this idea. In a world that wants to twist God's words to fit a particularly narrow version of a faith that is so big and vast, let us proclaim that the Good News is simple - God loves you. And if no one else has told you today - I love you too.

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