Christ-followers are mostly in agreement that The Bible is the best (and to be sure, historically) essential source of information about who Jesus was/is, what He said and how we are to think, speak, live, treat one another. Love is the bottom line, indeed so!
In that the scriptures are fully pregnant with line after line about God in nature, action and statement we still do not have ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY about how He thinks and acts, nor by His words and deeds, that He is always in complete and regular agreement with His people -be it Israel, the grafted-in gentile believers or anyone else. My/our understanding is partial and shall be until we literally see His face.
In short, God is Love, loves ALL… but from Genesis to Revelation He clearly does not in all areas and at all times agree with those He loves… that means you and I!!!
When we so glibly make statements of “truth”, there are a long list of reasons (or not) as to WHY and HOW we have come to believe such and such is true.
“Now through a glass darkly, then face to face”, “Now I know in part…” and “At the present time WE know in part” which all means our own love must humble itself to confess only partial, incomplete knowledge much less perspective on anything including that of God, His Word and His ways.
Name the topic, the person or people group and you then have a template of… of what??
Sometimes prejudice (pre-knowledge) ignorant judging, dislike, distaste and at times outright hatred of “the other”, those not like us.
God never stops loving those He disagrees with -yet He being perfect, being Love itself, still disagrees with each one of us every.single.day. in I would presume, any number of areas. Think on that a bit.
I love my kids and never stopped, but I fully disagreed with and at times disciplined them and called them out on occasion in full rejection of their behaviors, words (all based in their apparent thoughts) and reasoning when they violated one another in various ways. I didn’t stop loving them deeply though I found myself hurt, angered and in flat disagreement with them. Out of love and concern for them there were those moments in our relationships. I love them today regardless of anything, but I do not always love their choices, interactions with others and so forth.
See? Eyes to see, ears to hear?
Now if we determine we are god, it matters not what anyone else thinks, says or calls us to. Especially when He calls us to repent, change our mind/thinking, attitude, behavior that we might best reflect His character. If we are in the practical, our own god none of that matters. Our personal agenda takes precedence, not Him, not loving our neighbor as our self.
When my loved one/ones are ahead of God in my concerns, when I value them above and over God and His Word, who is truly “God” in my life? When the defining factor is those I care most about it is indeed possible to leave God out of the equation. Jesus spoke directly to that, but I’ll spare you His hard words on that topic here… According to scripture it is HE ALONE Who is first and last, beginning and end. Do we choose Him and His Word above even those of our family and friends when there is conflict? At such a fulcrum an actual assessment of our faith, trust in and surrender to the Lord is likely more evident than any of us (myself as well) may wish!
When WE are the center, when OUR feelings and needs are paramount in our lives, when what HE says and desires isn’t the true motive and desire of our hearts, He no less loves us- but at times re. the Book, He indeed hates our sins and certainly disagrees with our actions.
No discernment nor vote nor varied and broad, majority or minority perspective/view/position of any individual or church equals God Himself. That’s about as obvious as it can be to most of us!
So… “The Spirit TOLD me” is often in reality “I WANT/WANTED” and God is tagged as in Facebook, to agree with my desire/s as if He is in full agreement with me/us. Nada. Ridiculous. Convenient. Dangerous, not because God doesn’t love us all, but because He does and we can place both ourselves and others in a position of opposing Him in a heartbeat, often due to our own personal views over and against His Word which is far more than a perspective.
Crosses don’t only hurt, they kill. Jesus calls all followers to crosses we would never choose, but the issue is self-denial, not getting our way, but getting ever closer to God and HIS way, His desires, His plan for our lives as best as we can grasp what that means in His Word, The Bible.
So… does God hate those He flatly disagrees with? Do you? Do I? Let us take great care not to toss around so powerful a term as “hate”, nor in glib fashion the term “love” when in the end, it’s often in reality a matter of our own definition and quite possibly outside the Word, will and desire of the God Who breathed the scriptures into being.
I, on occasion, proclaimed myself bisexual in my last couple years of high school. My incredible wife and I have shared in 47 years of gracious marriage. God via His Word and Holy Spirit changed my life and in truth, I have no regrets whatsoever. So -who gets to violate whose conscience on this or any other issue?
In a sense, only God Himself -for His love and truth are not violations when we have been the violators. He alone is my God, Lord, Best Friend, First Love. There IS no other like Him!
Perhaps worth considering?
As always, thanks for stopping by. -Glenn
glennkaiser.com 