A Crucial Distinction

I was listening to two gentlemen arguing while they were filling out paperwork for our food pantry. Gentleman A (he was wearing an Atlanta Braves baseball cap) was saying that God is angry with people these days. Gentleman B, no cap, says he thought God might not care much. And that my friends...is pretty much the two options you hear if you ever go to a website like Patheos or read anything on the web in general. Religious journalists have pretty much abandoned the love of God. There are still some theologians out there hammering on the love of God but they are pretty much drowned out by the cacophony of folks who are pretty convinced that if we don't change our behavior God is going to stay really angry with us.

The internet is filled with tons of journalists who pretend to be Jonathan Edwards without his sense of style.  "Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God" is just one of the many imperatives tossed upon us if we do not care for the earth or believe in the inerrant word of God or whatever hobby horse the person is upon this week.

The other half of religious journalists seem to think God doesn't care at all what we do. People seem to think if they write about a story that happens in a church or invokes a swear word that somehow that is a religious experience. They never even consider what God might think of what is going on...how is that religious if you never consider the ultimate?

So I didn't blame the guys, because that's pretty much where we're at...but there is a still more excellent way.

"If I speak in the tongues of angels and elites, but have not love I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal."
Paul of Tarsus.

The Christian message has always been about God loving the world, even when the world is not perfect. The message is always about God caring for people, even those no one else cares for. For all I know, God might be angry, God might not care...but God is not dependent upon my knowledge...God invites me to love--whether I understand or not. I want to understand, but I understand that I may never...and I'm ok with that.

May your tables be full and your conversations be true.