Because I Love You

On Sunday May 29th, I preached a sermon that contained a letter that my dad wrote to me 16 years ago a few days after I was arrested for DUI and carrying a concealed weapon.  The second half of the letter is a testament to the type of man my father was.  It reads...

Allen, God has something planned for your life that only YOU can accomplish.  Sometimes I get the feeling you know that and are trying to run from whatever this thing might be.  Allen, you are a special person – you care and care deeply about people and things.  Please don’t throw this gift away by making poor choices.  You know how much I care, we are alike in many ways – maybe that is why I understand and love you so much.

Dad

Following the first worship service, a number of people approached me and thanked me for my transparency and vulnerability.  My story and more importantly my dad's words provided them great hope and comfort.  I left the sanctuary to find a quiet place to regroup and get prepared for the second service.  My emotions were raw and tears began to pool in my eyes as a surge of gratitude coursed through my body.  I could not stop thanking God.  To think that God would use me a one time drunk, womanizer, and criminal to bring hope, comfort, and healing to others was overwhelming.  I asked God, "Why?  Why would you forgive me of all the things I've done and all the pain I've caused?  Why would you change my heart and give me the opportunity to serve you?"  The answer was quick and simple, "Because I love you."

Right now no matter where you are or what you are doing God wants to heal you, he wants to forgive you, he wants to restore you.  He wants nothing more that to give you peace and purpose.  You are never too broken, too battered, or too bad for God to whisper in your ear, "Because I love you." 

   

Hypocrites Inc.

Recently I sold my truck to a young couple in their early twenties.  We spent a few hours together at the young man's credit union finalizing the sale.  We talked about his job with Publix, my job as a pastor, and the many poor choices we had made throughout our lives.  At one point, the young man turned the conversation towards religion or to be more specific why he doesn't attend church.  Quite simply, he doesn't go to church because the Christians he's known have been a bunch of hypocrites.  From his life experience, the church might as well be named Hypocrites Incorporated. 

I reflected on the young man's comments for a few days and the thought occurred to me that value judgements always have a referent upon which they are based.  And the question came to me, "What does it mean when a 'non-believer' makes a value judgement about the church?"

I believe there is a standard and a morality that exists within the heart of humanity which is based upon the longing of an ideal once known but long forgotten.  An echo reverberates through each of us that is more than morality or moral behavior.  As Ravi Zacharias notes, morality is a sign or manifestation of humanity's true purpose - to love God and to love one another.  Non-believers in Christ and atheists alike affirm humanity's inherent purpose when they make value judgements criticizing or critiquing Christians as a bunch of hypocrites.  To say something is lacking or malformed is implicitly a value judgment based upon a referent, standard, or ideal.  Truth be told, an ideal has been buried deep within our existence that we spend our lives trying, hoping, wishing to see expressed or lived out if only for a moment.  On those rare occasions we glimpse its existence something beyond words within our souls says yes (or in Greek Amen)!

The church is full of hypocrites, but there are moments when stale tradition, misguided morality, and exclusive doctrine disappear and the people who follow Jesus reflect a love that won't be labeled, coerced, or withheld.  On those rare occasions, a longing that lives within the heart of each of us finds itself saying Amen!

Oh, if but for a moment we could be such a people.

Why?

Towards the end of April a friend of mine asked if I would come and speak to his son's Cub Scout troop about faith.  I believe the boys were around 10 years old.  I gave a brief spiel about my faith journey (the G-Rated version if such a thing exists) and then opened up the floor for questions.  The boys repeatedly asked in so many words, "Why did God allow sin in the world?"  What an amazing question.  I fumbled around for an answer and made a few stabs at explaining how genuine love is based upon free will, but the boys weren't buying it.  I tried a few analogies that bombed like a pre-schooler taking a physics exam.  The coup de gras was my use of the arranged vs. unarranged marriage image.  Let's just say I provided some serious job security for counselors and therapists in Metro Atlanta.  Since my night scarring the Cub Scouts, I have thought a great deal about the boys' question: "Why did God allow sin in the world?"

The answer begins with my failed attempt to explain the necessity of choice in authentic relationship.  Quite simply coercion is never a healthy foundation for any relationship.  Genuine love cannot be coerced, manipulated, or dictated.  The only way to avoid such abuses is through the freedom of choice.  The only way to ensure the possibility of authentic love is to provide the possibility of its antithesis - "sin." 

In "Christian-speak " or "Jesus-ese," sin is often defined as separation from God.  There are many passages in the Bible that support this view (Isaiah 59:1-2; Matthew 7:23; Garden of Eden; Prodigal Son; Lazarus in Heaven etc..).  I'm pretty much down with the whole "sin as separation" thing because it is fundamentally relational, but it can be a little too light in the pants for my taste.  More accurately sin is cheating on God and then spitting in his face when he catches you.  It is your spouse walking into the bedroom while you are having relations with someone else and then looking your spouse in the eye and telling them to get the hell out of your business.  It is f-ing up a relationship beyond all recognition.  It is betrayal to the point of death - "Et tu, Brute?"

If we put the pieces together we see that God allowed sin in the world in order to allow the possibility of authentic love.  In Shakespearean terms, you can't have Romeo and Juliet without the possibility of Julius Caesar.  I don't know about you but that answer is like eating a bag full of rice cakes.  It looks appetizing but it tastes like styrofoam.  If you are like me and you have experienced or witness tragedy, or abuse, or hell on earth then the "freedom/authentic love" explanation makes sense but it sucks.

Thankfully there is more to the story.  God allowed sin or separation in the world because he had always planned to do something about it (1Peter 1:20).  God has never been passive or constrained.  He didn't create a world based on freedom and choice then call it day.  God actually stepped right into the world he created taking on its frailty, its suffering, and its mortality.  He actually stepped right into the separation taking heaven in one hand and earth in the other.  The God who created a world based on freedom and choice chose to endure the consequence of our infidelity so that we could experience the consequence of his fidelity.  Why did God allow sin in the world?  Because he the betrayed willing filled the chasm of our separation with a love that never asked "why" but only, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."