This or That

Harsh or indulgent tends to be the general attitude toward the nature of God. Even when people start to legitimately engage with the scriptures, there are difficulties in balancing certain passages or historical accounts with others that tend to throw the character of God in one ditch or the other.

Webster’s take on, “harsh,” rings a tone with the agnostic crowd who were, “once,” religious, but have abandoned their spirituality mostly because of bad human representation in religious environments. Here is how Webster puts it:

a: causing a disagreeable or painful sensory reaction; overly intense or powerful

b: physically discomforting; unpleasant and difficult to accept or experience

c: excessively critical or negative; unduly severe in making demands

Honestly, it is no far stretch to conclude these traits about the generic, “God,” of the Bible, especially in Old Testament content IF (capitalized for the highest possible accentuation), one has a peripheral understanding of the context of different accounts AND (again accentuating the importance of this conjunction) one has no real personal relationship with that Biblical euphemistic, superlunary figure. This is where the vast masses have organically landed in their beliefs because it is easy and justifiably exonerates them from any personal liability for the choices everyone is required to make in life. If there is no ultimate or divine system of justice ordained by a just God, then there is no requirement to live justly. A required step in this rationale is to eliminate the, “just God,” aspect that fits neatly in the paradigm of, “The God of the Bible is harsh!”

This allows society to live selfishly and by their own malleable version of amorphous morality. Win-win!

Then we have the indulgent folks… these are the people who have leavened the Church with emotionally-based suppositions that have led many astray through unwise empathy. Check out the meaning of this position: “willing to allow excessive leniency, generosity, or consideration.” Here are a few church-i-anity examples that whole congregations have accepted as their new faux-gospel tenets.

There has been, for quite some time now, a movement that has been insidiously creeping through Christianity. It was birthed by sincere people who wanted to pull the people of God out of the ditch of legalism, sin-focused, and a wrathful ideal of true religion. They were properly motivated by the grace, mercy, and love of Christ to bring people into a genuine relationship and encounter with a good God who loved them unconditionally. Their purpose was noble and their determination was admirable. Yet, the end result of their movement has been a complacent, irreverent, unconcerned, and non-sacred people who have no concept of the necessity to fear the holy living God. You can hear their emotive and fragile musings drip from apostate pulpits like a sewer pipe that has rusted through.

• Love is love based on my feelings
• “My three-year-old feels like the opposite sex, so we MUST transition them”
• Racism must be in all un-colored folk because that is what the “new science” makes me feel
• Climate activism gives people a “purpose” even if it is a lie, and purpose makes one feel better about life
• The life of a pregnant woman is more valuable than the baby because think how bad it would make her feel to raise an unwanted child
• Wear the mask and take the jab because it will make others feel safer

Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is forever worthy of praise! Amen.
Romans 1:24-25 BSB

The second half of Romans chapter one is a masterfully and divinely inspired declination of how humanity could possibly go from handcrafted intimacy as part of the family of God, given the priceless gift of bearing the very image of God for the whole cosmos to admire, to near animalistic deviancy. You can almost hear the breaking of the Father’s heart in that sinful slide:

The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.
Genesis 6:5-6 BSB

Did you notice in Romans that a revelatory part of the downfall was the, “desires of their heart,” toward impurity that led right into the waiting jaws of the serpent who wanted mankind to, “exchange the truth of God for a lie…”

The beginning of wisdom and knowledge is the “Fear of the Lord” as recorded in Proverbs 1:7 and 9:10. This illustrates that a person must include, in a rightful, spiritual journey, crossing into the humble place of submitting to the awesomeness and supremacy of the One True God. This is not necessarily at the early stages, but must be a part of that walk in order to end at the correct destination. For millennia, the Ekklesia has embraced and endorsed this precept, even to the detriment of the possibility of anyone having an intimate relationship. When the totality of the messaging and requirements revolve around the anxiety of pleasing an impersonal and finicky celestial being who sees all, knows all, and is likely to not at all be happy… the aftereffects push people away from a relationship with Jesus and into legalistic works. These are the folks who have terribly sour attitudes, are quick to cut others to shreds when their actions are not quite perceived as perfect, and embody the very definition of hypocrisy. Their rotten effect is a wake of damaged people who often turn their hearts away from the church, and God, in indignant rebellion fueled by compassionless fakeness.

This is how we got here on the edge of a crumbling cliff precariously positioned over a bottomless pit of spiritual decline. Mankind is positioned on that edge thinking there are only two options for God’s nature, harsh, or indulgent. The sad truth is that neither is really real. The angry hypocrites screaming at sin are wrong, way wrong. The emotionally enslaved who think God is so lost in love with humanity to even consider correcting their self-lording ways are wrong, way wrong.

Balance comes from precision, design, and exquisite craftsmanship. Modernized, progressive Christians have barely ever considered the level of investment required to have this rare result. We are busy, too busy, to make those kinds of investments in our spiritual life and it is on display for the world to see. The church today is an object of scorn or laughter depending on the pundit’s commentary. And their effectiveness is painfully obvious. But this also outlines our collective job. Live our faith in such a way that we embrace the awe and reverence that our Most High God deserves, but do it from an authentic, passionate, and transparent heart that has been radically encountered by an infinitely loving God.

We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love, live in God and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.
1 John 4:16-17 NLT

It is His great love that has captivated our once-lost and dying hearts. But, that is not the full story, Beloved.

So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.”
1 Peter 1:14-17 NLT

This Great Awakening we are entering has forced both the world and the church to look for the real. If we do not embrace and reflect this balance, as Jesus did so seamlessly, both of these wayward entities may never recover from their decline into the ditches. This makes our personal mission and the vision of our Ekklesia come into beautiful alignment. The synchronicity of individual life balanced with the Great Commission is how it was always meant to work.

So, now that calling lands upon our will… I know we can make this happen, Beloved Family.

In Great Love,
Steve