Reading
We, though, are going to love—love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first. If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both.
1 John 4:19-21 (The Message)
Reflection
When I was at Texas A&M, there was a guy who’d occasionally set up shop smack in the middle of Academic Plaza. He’d spend hours in that East Texas heat and humidity letting passersby know that as far as things with the Almighty were concerned, we were all up the creek without a paddle.
Mind you, this was in the heart of Aggieland, which, as far as demographics go, is about as Bible-believin’ a place as places come. Still, he’d go on preachin’ and hollerin’, drawing crowds and creating distractions. Sometimes students would engage him in arguments with science and others with their own experiences of faith. Some would just try to rile him up for the sake of rilin’ him, and he’d always oblige.
In all my years of walking through that plaza, I don’t think I ever once saw or heard of someone who gave their life to Jesus because of that man’s words and sweat. That’s not to say it never happened. Who knows what conversations might have sprung from his actions. I mean, here I am, some 20 years later, still thinking of him.
God is powerful and mighty enough that if God wanted everyone to follow, we’d all just fall in line and could skip the Bible beatin’. The only thing sure to come out of bullying someone into a loving relationship with Jesus is that it won’t be much of a loving relationship. And that’s not who God is.
A coercive faith isn’t a particularly Jesus-like faith. It’s rooted in power imbalance, fear, and conditional belonging. Grace-based faith, on the other hand, nurtures belonging, empathy, and healing. In Jesus, God shows us a tender heart, full of love and care, with a righteousness rooted in redemptive inclusion. Jesus shows us how to live grace-filled lives marked by authenticity, a love of justice, and abounding mercy.
When we love others like this—the Jesus way—it creates all sorts of entryways for them to love Jesus on their own. More importantly, it opens the doors wide for Jesus to love them as only he can—wholly.
I don’t know, maybe the most profound thing anyone could have done as that guy stood in Academic Plaza proselytizing was to set up a big umbrella to give him shade and to sit down next to him with a cold bottle of water.
Prayer
God, you are good.
You love me and see me, know me and sit with me.
You aren’t afraid of my anger or fears,
And your patience is long, caring, and gentle.
Let your welcome flow through me—
Help other people know they are loved because of the way I love.
Amen.
