A Fresh Perspective - November 2, 2007
A Christian brother who recently shared his faith journey told us that the version of Christianity preached to him as a young person was one intended to evoke fear. God was presented as the God who threatens people with eternal damnation. The message drove him away from God, not to God. I understand this. I grew up with a version of Christianity that preached "fire and brimstone" as the lot of all who reject Christ. I understand why many people today have turned away from the Christianity passed down to them, and why others who were not taught the Christian faith have no interest in pursuing it. They could never really trust and worship, much less love, a God who would do that to people, no matter how evil they are.
The evangelical theologian and philosopher Dallas Willard says that the acid test for any theology is this: Is the God presented one that can be loved - heart, soul, mind, and strength? If the thoughtful, honest answer is ‘Not really,' then, Willard says, "we need to look elsewhere or deeper. It does not matter how sophisticated intellectually or doctrinally our approach is."
Fortunately, there is within the biblical tradition an alternative. The writer of 1 John says, "God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them . . . There is no fear in love, but mature love drives out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached maturity in love" (4:16, 18). The author of the NT book of Hebrews compares God's punishment to the discipline of a loving parent who punishes to correct, not to condemn. Any caring parent wants the best for his or her child. The writer says that God "disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness" (11:3-11). God's holiness is a holiness of love and compassion; the kind of holiness Jesus embodied and taught in the Gospels.
God is no pushover; love takes many forms, one of which is discipline. But its aim is always to redeem and restore, to heal and make whole, not to condemn and banish. Fear of a God who threatens his children with damnation cannot change one's heart. Fear can cause a person to alter his or her behavior temporarily, but it cannot transform a non-loving person full of anger, bitterness, resentment and hate into a more loving person characterized by forgiveness and compassion. What God wants for every one of us is that we would share his heart; that we would be able to receive and respond to his love by loving all of his children, especially the ones who have been excluded, rejected and condemned by the religious and social structures of society.
Chuck Queen is Senior Pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church, Frankfort. You can access his sermons and past articles at www.ibcfrankfort.com. He welcomes your comments at cqueen@fewpb.net.