Skip to main content

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.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Political vs. Partisan in Preaching

For years now, I have heard in preaching and clergy circles about being political in sermons; the good, the bad and those who state that church shouldn’t be political. There are workshops, books, and podcasts talking about politics in the church with a variety of opinions. What do people mean when they make the statement that the church shouldn’t be political? The IRS has the most say about the rules for the separation of church and state/politics. If your church wants to be tax exempt, there are rules: don’t endorse any candidate or party, if you allow one party to use your space, other political parties also must be allowed to use the space, etc. The UCC’s general counsel, Heather Kimmell, has a webinar on this topic if you’d like to hear a more detailed explanation which can be found on the UCC’s YouTube channel. Churches have gotten “creative” in how to get around this, often partnering with another non-profit group to give support to a particular group. The UCC is proud to claim...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Day in the Life: A Minister and Forgiveness

 I shared in one of my last blogs that I had complaints lodged against me by a small group in my congregation. Most seem to have moved on after our group meeting, where I apologized for a lot of things - probably more then I should have had too. But I'm the professional in those settings so I did it.  I'm not being told, second hand, that two of those in that meeting want a one on one apology from me because what I said in the meeting wasn't good enough. This is the couple who cursed in my church, have flat out lied about me and have repeatedly stated that the only outcome they're willing to accept is my termination.  Let me explain why I won't be having a one on one meeting with this couple and I won't be giving any more apologies. First, lets start with the apology part. I have apologized for my actions - maybe my misinterpretations is a better term. Based off of their actions and words, I communicated with the proper board/committee and asked for consensus ab...
Post a Comment
Read more

February 2025 Clergy Life Glimpses

February 2025 feels like it's been the longest year ever. The state of the US government is just scary and getting worse and worse by the hour. As a cis-gender, white, middle age, female I know I have more agency and power then many. I can't know what my siblings of God are feeling and dealing with during this time when their existence is literally being erased by the US government and they're being told they're flawed and have no rights to even exist. Although there are grassroot efforts to fight the orange one's executive orders, I fear we are following the Hitler playbook and there are not enough people on the right who will stand up against our president and his regime.  It has been hard to write an update on daily or even semi regular "days in the life of a pastor." Finding words that speak to as many as possible because I work in a purple congregation takes time and energy that I am running low on. And then on a more personal professional note: being...
Post a Comment
Read more