A Fresh Perspective - 02/08/08
The story is told of Teddy Roosevelt that when he was a child he was afraid to set foot in the Madison Square Church alone. His mother, trying to find out the root of his fear, discovered that he was afraid of something he called, "The Zeal." He imagined it crouched in the dark corners of the sanctuary ready to pounce upon him. When she asked him what "The Zeal" might be, he said he wasn't sure, but thought it was probably a large animal like an alligator or dragon. He had heard the minister speak about it.
His mother, using a concordance, looked up the word "zeal" and read to Teddy all the passages where it occurred in the Kings James Bible. When she read John 2:17 Teddy told her to stop; that was the passage he had heard his minister talk about. The passage reads: "And his disciples remembered that it was written, "The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up."
The God we worship can be a source of fear and dismay if we imagine God as one ready to pounce upon all those who don't measure up to his standards.
For many years I had such a God, but I did not experience fear because I imagined myself being on his good side. This God could send other people to a fiery hell, but not me, because I believed the right things. And so I compartmentalized God. I believed that God loved and accepted me, but those who didn't subscribe to my theology were going to face the zeal of God's wrath. By adopting an "us" and "them" dualism I could hold a clear contradiction, namely, that a loving God could condemn people forever to a fiery furnace for not believing and living according to the right (my) theology.
If God really is love, then God's love extends to all people regardless of their theology. If God's love is really unconditional, then it is given without strings attached. If one has to believe certain things (like the deity of Christ, his virgin birth, etc.) or do certain things (like make a profession of faith, be baptized, join the church, etc) in order to be loved by God then God's love is not unconditional, because certain conditions have to be met.
Of course, it's hard to hug a telephone pole. God will never force, coerce, or manipulate a person's response or dictate that people have a relationship with him. A relationship with God must be voluntarily entered into. But surely a loving God would not limit this relationship to only those who are fortunate enough to get the facts straight about the Trinity, the person of Jesus, the Bible, etc. In fact, we can't agree on the facts; there are diverse interpretations and understandings. As Paul says in his famous description of love (1 Cor. 13), we see through a glass dimly. We now know only in part; our understanding is like a poor, distorted reflection in a mirror.
We have no right to claim God's love for ourselves and talk about other people facing the zeal of his wrath because they have beliefs different from our own.
Chuck Queen is Pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church, Frankfort (CBF affiliated). You can access his sermons and past articles at www.ibcfrankfort.com. He welcomes your comments at cqueen@fewpb.net