God is...

Do you get as annoyed (and occasionally amused) at people's bumper stickers as I do? Perhaps those of you who have not lived in the DC-Metropolitan area do not have the privilege to sit close enough to someone's bumper for extended periods of time like I have had, but I certainly get my fair share of bumper reading opportunities. I especially love to see the religious and political beliefs of the people who cut me off! I avoid overt auto-hypocrisy by having no religious symbolism on my car, however I do proudly display the "Virginia is for Lovers" bumper sticker, which was mainly to declare my loyalty to Virginia when I was living in Texas.

Anyway, my post is not about bumper stickers. But it IS inspired by something I saw on the highway while driving to work. I'm always amazed at the humor that comes from people's dirty cars. "Wash me" is typical. Sometimes you see paw prints. On the highway yesterday morning I saw a large truck with "God Is Love" written in huge dust letters.

For once this was a religious automobile platform I could get behind. And it got me thinking, "Is this inscription in truck dust not symbolic of how our actions are representing God to people every day?"

Think about the type of Christians that get represented on the news. Who immediately comes to mind? The Koran burning pastor. The anti-gay/abortion protesters- take your pick, every day there are enough of either to abound. The ultra-right wing political conservatives who zealously adhere to socially conservative policies even at the expense of people's government paychecks.

What are these people representing about the character of God?

God is... judgmental.

God is... angry.

God is... hateful.

God is... more concerned about social mores than the wellbeing of individuals.

I work with attorneys that represent a cross-section of different backgrounds and beliefs. This topic comes up often with every new church group that shows up in court or the media for their decision to protest the funeral of a soldier who is taking the brunt for the repeal of the 'Don't Ask-Don't Tell' policy, or whatever ignoble form of attention grabbing, religious excuse for hate-mongering is fashionable that week. We share personal experiences of encounters with judgmental and hypocritical Christians.

And then the question always arises, "How do they think that God is behind these hateful actions? Where do they get the idea to use their religion to promote hatred?"

Well, it simply comes from their concept that God is all the above mentioned qualities. If God is primarily a judgmental God, then it follows that He is primarily concerned about sin. And if God cares about sin, then so should we! It becomes the Christian's job to go around ridding the world of sin, which necessarily has to be some sort of societal taboo, which of course has to do with sex because those are the sins self-righteous people feel most indignant about. This is in opposition to lesser sins such as gossip, lying, or of course, judging.

With such a view of God your mission in life becomes simple- you must diligently go about informing the world of God's EXTREME displeasure with their behavior so they will repent. And THEN when you repent, God will be happy with you and He becomes a good and loving God.

Yesterday at work a question arose, "Who is the person who is converted by the John 3:16 signs at football games?" Has anyone ever testified to seeing "John 3:16" on the bottom of a Forever XXI bag and realized their need for Christ? Would the lost sinner have the wherewithal to know they are supposed to look up the verse in the Bible?

I could go on and on about the ludicrousness of it all. But what is not a laughing matter is that so many people, deep down to their core, believe this is what God desires from them in order for them to be faithful to His call for them to make disciples of all nations.

I'm here, in this little public forum of my humble blog, to declare- it is WAY more effective to publically represent the image of a LOVING GOD to the world and keep your ideas of what constitutes sin to yourself. I don't care WHAT you believe in private about God's judgment and his anger over sin. We can differ on what our focus is after reading the same Bible. But PLEASE, for the sake of the reputation of Christians WORLDWIDE, don't spread hatred in the name of religion.

Do you remember the popular, "What would Jesus do?" bracelets? I'll tell you what Jesus would NOT do. He wouldn't bash gay people. He wouldn't burn other religious texts. And he wouldn't wage social warfare to promote any political agenda.

When we ask what the character of God is, as purported followers of Jesus, we should always view God through the lens of Christ. What does John 3:16 say anyway? That "God so loved the world..."

In the words of the Black Eyed Peas, "Where is the love?"

So people, let's make a point to represent who God really is... LOVE!