Notes from the book:
We may have seen Christians who preach
“believe or be thrown into the lake of fire” on the streets[1].
This narrative is extreme but not uncommon. It says that what God most wants is
for us not to sin and instead to do good. This narrative is rooted, as all
false narratives are, in a half-truth. True, God does not want us to sin, and
that is because sin harms us, and acts of goodness are healing both to us and
to the recipients of our goodness. There is a cultural narrative of earning
where we learn from a young age that our parents’ love id dependent on our good
behavior[2].
There are also a some biblical narrative of
earning, such as Israelites being punished and sent to exile by Yahweh for
disobedience, and David’s illegitimate child dies, presumably because it was
conceived in an act of adultery. Yet there is a larger narrative that should
guide our understanding of these stories. The Israelites were chosen by Yahweh
for no apparent reason: they have done nothing to deserve it. David’s act of
adultery and murder should have resulted in his own death, but instead he
becomes a man “after God’s own heart.” To say that sin has consequences is
different than saying that because of our sin God entirely rejects us[3].
If we take an isolated story of verse and try to build our doctrine of God on
it, we commit biblical malpractice. The dominant narrative of the Bible is a
story of unearned grace. The metanarrative of the Bible is the story of the
steadfast love of God that culminates in the incarnation, death and
resurrection of God on behalf of a wayward world. The earning-favour narrative
has worked its way into many of our churches[4].
God is good, you are bad, try harder[5].
In Matthew 20:1-15, the labourers who were
engaged last show nothing to warrant a claim to a full day’s wages; that they
receive it is entirely due to the goodness of their employer[6].
We live in a world where people demand, oppress, wound and condemn. In our
world we earn what we get, so we project that onto God. It is easy to conceive
of a demanding, oppressive, condemning, wounding god who must be appeased. The
God Jesus knows is utterly generous[7].
Love and forgiveness, acceptance and
kindness, are not commodities that diminish in their giving. When we offer
forgiveness we do not have less of it, nor do we diminish our capacity to
forgive each time we forgive. So why do we so seldom live generously? We live
from a condition of scarcity. We never got enough love from our parents, enough
toys on our birthday and enough affirmation from those who know us. We learn
that we must protect what we have. If we give it away, we might end up in dire
straits. The church is also often a place lacking in generosity, where some
church pastors are fearful of the prospect of a new church being built close to
their church: All other churches are wrong. Only we have it right. Our church
must succeed. Who cares if theirs fail?[8]
God is interested in something much more
important than our good works. The greatest commandment is “love God with all
you have. God wants you to know and to love him, fully enjoying God forever.
Julian of Norwich once wrote, “The greatest honour we can give to God is to
live gladly because of the knowledge of his love.”[9]
The narrative of those who preach “believe
or be thrown into the lake of fire” does not lead people to love God, only to
fear him. This narrative uses fear and guilt to get others to change and does
not produce genuine change. The narrative that God loves us and longs for us to
love him in return provides a genuine and lasting incentive to change[10].
Great American pastor A.W. Tozer wrote: The
most important thing about a person is what they think about God. If we think
God as harsh and demanding, we will probably cower in fear and keep our
distance from God. If we think of God as a vague and impersonal force in the
universe, we will probably have a vague and impersonal relationship with this
god. That’s why it’s crucial that we have the right thoughts about God. It will
determine everything we do. If we have low or false views of God, we are
actually committing a form of idolatry, worshipping a false god[11].
Reflections:
The false narrative explored in this
chapter is, “Love and forgiveness are commodities that are exchanged for
performance. God’s love, acceptance and forgiveness must be merited by right
living. What God most wants is for us not to sin and instead to do good”[12].
This false narrative is a works-based
narrative that gives us guilt whenever we do something wrong. This narrative
would draw me further from God because if I stumble, I’d feel so guilty that I
actually draw away from God. Fortunately I not have this tendency anymore, as
those who stumble are in a greater need of God’s presence in their lives. This
false narrative can also make me feel very guilty if I do not do enough good,
and take the credit for myself when I perform well.
Take the example of spreading the gospel to
my relatives: Spreading the gospel is doing good. If I hold the false narrative
described above then what I do would be driven by the following guilt and fear:
if any of them end up unsaved, it is because I did not do enough good. And if
they accepted the gospel and turn to God, then it’s because of the good work
I’ve done. This performance-orientated false narrative may put so much pressure
on me that I lose my enjoyment of co-working with God.
My current perspective is that whether or
not people turn to God is outside of my control. I can only do my best to think
up of ways to spread the gospel and act on them when the timing is right. And
if people actually turn to God, it is God who did it. So when I see
opportunities to spread the gospel to my relatives, I act upon it out of love,
and leave the results in God’s hands.
Bibliography:
Smith, James Bryan. The Good and Beautiful God. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 2010.
[1] James Bryan Smith, The Good
and Beautiful God, (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 2010): 75.
[2] Smith, The Good and Beautiful
God, 77.
[3] Smith, The Good and Beautiful
God, 78.
[4] Smith, The Good and Beautiful
God, 79.
[5] Smith, The Good and Beautiful
God, 80.
[6] Smith, The Good and Beautiful
God, 83.
[7] Smith, The Good and Beautiful
God, 84.
[8] Smith, The Good and Beautiful
God, 85.
[9] Smith, The Good and Beautiful
God, 85-86.
[10] Smith, The Good and Beautiful
God, 87.
[11] Smith, The Good and Beautiful
God, 89.
[12] Smith, The Good
and Beautiful God, 77.
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