This is love.

I did a presentation a few months back on this so called "church", and over the past few days, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I would say to someone associated with their organization. Today, a guy at work told me that they are going to picket the Funeral of Jackass star Ryan Dunn. I'm predicting mayhem, chaos, because the other stars of Jackass will probably not hesitate to go nuts on these guys.So, it seems like I should write something about it, seeing as its been all up in my head for a while.

They claim that God hates gays, and you, and me, and soldiers, and loves 9-11, dead soldiers, dead babies and a number of other things. I find this hard to believe. Let me tell you why. John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world, he sent his one and only son and whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Looking into that verse, I don’t see anywhere that says that God hates you, or me, or anyone. In fact, all I see is Gods abundant love over creation, sending his son so that we don’t have to suffer.

The majority of the WBC’s scripture is based out of the old Testament, and yes, God did some scary stuff in the old testament. But then, he did the unthinkable, he sent his son to die for us, so that we wouldn’t have to endure his wrath and his anger because of our sin.  Also in the book of John, we find a story about water being changed to wine. According to Old Testament tradition and law (found in the Pentateuch), on the way into a wedding, you had to wash your hands, cleansing yourself before entering a Godly ceremony. Jesus, while at a wedding, changed the water from 6 containers used to clean hands before the wedding into wine. This was the first miracle he performed, and was also quite a significant one. In his doing this, he created a new covenant, using Old Jewish Law-water, turning it into wine, a liquid that now stands for his blood. The symbolism changes- no longer do we wash ourselves on the outside, but on the inside through the blood of Christ, that was shed on the Cross for the forgiveness of our sins. THAT IS LOVE. Christ's blood spilled out for us, pure love.

The Westboro Baptist church would claim that the love referenced in John 3:16 is for believers only, or only for those chosen by Christ. Personally I find this to be a bit ridiculous. I think of the story of the lost son, who, after blowing away all of his inheritance, finds his way back to his father who welcomed him with open arms. If we consider the son as lost, which his Father did: v. 24 “for this son of mine was lost…”, then his Father loved him, by welcoming him back with open arms, throwing him a party and giving him a new robe. In the same way, we are welcomed with open arms. THAT IS LOVE. Through we stray away, though we waste our inheritance and ruin our fathers name, we are still welcomed with open arms. Our transgressions are forgiven, our slates are wiped clean, pure love.

 

What is love? Christ is love.