Unrelenting Love.

Warning: The following subject matter may make you uncomfortable. It may even be inflammatory to you or stir up other negative emotions so I apologize on the front end. Further, I would ask that you withhold judgment against me and forgive me ahead of time if anything I proceed to say is perceived as offensive or confusing. 

(NOTE: This post is also longer than most so grab acup of coffee and settle in for a few;) 

I recently had a conversation with a good friend of mine who made an interesting observation about both of our lives. He is in his mid-fifties, financially secure and retired and knows that I too have some level of resource and time, which we are both tremendously grateful for. He proceeded to tell me that there is both a blessing and a curse that comes with the “gift” of time. There is time to do the things you wish to do throughout the day but there is also time to process things more deeply than when we were mentally, physically and emotionally tapped from our busy days of work. At first pass, you’re asking, so what’s the issue? When you have time to really sit with your thoughts, it is much easier to become “trapped” in your own head, over-analyzing, over-thinking, and becoming overly anxious about the cares of this life and even the life beyond. Thus, was birthed the following stream of thought upon which you are about to embark and endure…

Those who know me know that I was born Jewish and embraced Christianity later in life. I don’t like to say that I “converted” to Christianity because I still embrace my Jewish heritage and believe Jesus was not only the greatest human to ever walk the earth but was also the greatest [Jewish] human of us all! Those who know me very well know that what I’m about to discuss is something I’ve been wrestling with for a long time. What’s most interesting to me is that literally every time I’ve been bold enough to have this conversation with a close friend, each one of them has muttered one of the following responses; “That’s exactly how I’ve been feeling”, “I can’t really argue with that” or, “Only God knows but I hear what you’re saying” which I only mention because the subject matter, for most Christian evangelicals, may be considered by many taboo or even heretical to discuss openly.

What I want to talk about is the character of God and why this is important in light of eternity for each of us. I’ve walked with God for over 30 years now and I believe that the cliché stands; “God is love.” He is lots of other things as well. He is the Creator of all and the Holiest of all but let me take this a step further. The best way for me to understand God as a mere mortal is to understand him as I understand what it’s like to be a real earthly father. In the Bible, you’ll read, “we were made in the image of God” (Gen. 1:27) so that must mean that we have some characteristics of the nature of God. One analogy would be that of a newly minted quarter versus an old crusty, abused, dinged, scratched, tarnished quarter. The first is perfect. The other is not but you could still tell it’s a quarter because it bears enough of a resemblance. As a father of two amazing children, I can tell you (and I know those of you who are also fathers will agree) there is absolutely NOTHING that either of my children could do that would make me stop loving or pursuing them. Even if one of my children strayed away, made awful decisions with their life and flat out hated me, I would pursue them tirelessly and let them know, even from my deathbed, that they are still my child and I love them and want to be in relationship with them til the bitter end. Like the beautiful story of The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32), no matter what my child may have done to “sin” against me, if they ever asked my forgiveness, I would run (not walk) to embrace them and welcome them back with open arms. I know you’d do the same. That’s the love of a father. That’s the love of The Father. 

If you were raised in a western Christian evangelical home, you were instructed to believe in the following formula for salvation; (i) God created all. (ii) Mankind is sinful. (iii) God sent his son Jesus (The Messiah) to die for us as a sacrifice for our sins. (iv) Jesus rose from the grave. (v) If you believe in Him, your sins are forgiven and you will receive eternal life. (Reference the famous passage: John 3:16) 

Most of us “in the faith” have been encouraged to embrace these truths by faith and not question them. This is sacred stuff, like a precious vase. It is to be respected and valued above all but you should not touch it, peer inside it, or mess with it in any way. 

I am not here to challenge or dispute the “formula”, but allow me to rock the boat just enough to cause a slight ripple in the sea of our beliefs.

I pray frequently for God to increase my faith and to help me in my disbelief. I long to know the mysteries of God as I’m sure you do as well but I as get older, I am realizing that I will likely die with a big bowl of mystery on the nightstand next to me…and that’s okay. However, I think I’ve made God too small and have forced Him into a box in which He simply cannot be contained. I get hung up on things like eternity and who’s “in” or “out”. In other words, I am one of God’s kids, just like you and just like every other human on earth, those who have lived, those who are alive now and those who are yet to come. He has no favorites. We are all the same. In fact, I imagine that when God considers us, his children, we are to Him as faceless, colorless, bodiless persons. Instead, He sees the essence or “spirit” of each of us individually, personally, intimately. There is no difference between you and me and there are nearly 7.5 billion of us living now! According to Wikipedia, there are an estimated 285 million evangelicals (“born again” Christians) in the world right now and 2.4 billion who would more broadly identify as “of the Christian faith”. So, essentially, one out of every three people is a “Christian”. Put another way, approximately 5 billion people currently living (according to the Christian faith) are going to hell. Wait. Stop. Really? Are we sure about this? Again, I am not taking a hard position here. I simply want to have a conversation. I have to step back a moment, catch my breath and go back to the character of God on an issue as massive as this before I dare put a stake in the ground and hang my hat on it. Could it really be that, because I believe that Jesus is who He said He was that I get the “Golden Ticket” and my neighbor does not? I’m not saying that Jesus isn’t the way and I’m not saying that God can’t do whatever He wants to do but I wonder if we might be missing something. I am reminded of verses in the Bible such as, “The Lord is patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, but wants everyone to repent.” (2 Peter 3:9). Or, “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me and every tongue will confess that I am God.’” (Romans 14:11) And, "Jesus answered them, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.’” (John 14:6)

Allow me to net out my thought. These verses (and many others) make it clear that (a) God our Father loves us and is constantly wooing us unto Himself. (b) He is patient and desires that each of us come to Him and spends eternity with Him. (c) All will eventually acknowledge that Jesus is the way to the father. 

So, here’s the question. Is it possible that God, who is by nature love and who exists beyond the confines of time and space, could relentlessly pursue his children throughout eternity, just as a father would relentlessly pursue his own child to the bitter end? Look, I believe a life lived in Christ on earth offers the best possible path toward a truly fulfilling life and thus, I believe it is better to know Him as soon as possible. I truly believe I am a better husband, father, son and friend because I am a follower of Christ. At the same time, I’ve decided to leave a crack open in the door of my faith with the hope that whether I was fortunate enough to find Him in this lifetime or not, that He would continue to pursue my soul even as I enter eternity because He loves me that much. Eventually all will be revealed. According to the Bible, there will come a time when “every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord”. All will be made undeniably clear and yes, even on that day, because we all have free will, we will have a choice even then to accept or reject His love but I believe He will never cease wooing us unto Himself. 

Please hear me. What I am saying here is not fully sorted out for me, nor am I certain it ever will be while I’m on this earth. Please have grace on me through my struggle. I’m not asking you to subscribe to what I’m saying; I’m simply asking you to be open to a conversation. I am anxious to hear your thoughts about this. I respect each of your opinions and there is no judgment here. For those of you who made it to this point of the discussion, I genuinely thank you for listening.

Let’s go get it!