Experiencing God - Our Call to Love 53

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Gospel of John 3:16

The above passage from the Gospel of John is probably one of the most quoted lines from scripture, but in light of our history as Christians, probably one of the most misunderstood.

Extremely important for John and his community in writing this Gospel is the conviction that God's love is the dynamic governing principle for the salvation of the world.  This love, God's love, finds expression in the giving of itself to those who are unworthy, like ourselves.  This love also finds expression in a God who is willing to undergo immense suffering in order to share in the little suffering that we also must endure.  God is present is our suffering because God is willing to undergo the greatest of suffering out of love for us.  God holds nothing back.  The love of God has been poured out on all of creation, and in particular, on all of its human inhabitants. 

The world, as used in this line of scripture from John's gospel, is a neutral term signifying the whole of creation: "God so loved the world.  God did not send His Son Jesus to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him".

These words from scripture are meant for us to do some introspection in order to grow in appreciation, to overflow with a sense of gratitude, for the abundance of God's love for us so that the love we experience may flow out on to the world, to bring life to a world that suffers from a lack of generous self-giving.  But too often, we take these words from scripture, particular in what is to follow, and use them for the purpose of separating ourselves from others.

Even though Jesus has come to save the world and not condemn it, it is clear that human actions play their own part in determining salvation and condemnation.  As we appropriate the teachings of Christ and allow them to be a part of who we are, then we become the very instruments of change in the world in accordance with God's design.  But two things are necessary before this can happen:

1.  We need to believe in Jesus Christ as the way, the truth and the life - verse 18

2.  Our work of salvation needs to be accomplished by deeds done in and through God - verse 21

According to writer of the Gospel of John, condemnation is a process "from within" consisting of non-belief in the light that is found in Jesus accompanied by the evil works done in darkness.

The danger for us Christians is the possibility that we take these two criteria for salvation and begin to split up the world between those we feel who are saved based on our understanding of this criteria, and those who are not saved.  Instead of a healthy introspection of the Gospel that leads to a greater appreciation of God's love for us followed by a further conversion to Christ, we may find ourselves in the unhealthy position of being judge and jury for those poor souls who may not meet our rather fragile definition of things.  Instead of growing in love and using love as the means of achieving wholeness, we become the persecutors rooting out our own perceptions of evil that we see around us.  Instead of working for God in building up His Kingdom, we become instruments of destruction and division. 

Love dos not find expression in things such as this.  We are called to love.  We are called, not to love only those who we feel are worthy of it, who fit our criteria.  We are called to love our neighbor, who is everyone.