Alright. At long last, here is the conclusion to this little series. It isn't all I was hoping for, but it was stopping up the works, and all the other posts were getting restless waiting in the que, as even the best of us will at times.
In review; Christ alone is the hope of the world (despite all those lousy Christians out there) because of the kind of love He commands and facilitates. Ready, go.
One of the main reasons the Christian church has gotten such a bad rap in the area of inclusivity is that Christians in West, (and particularly America) have been operating out of our theology to an unhealthy degree.
This is not to say that Calvanist vs. Armenian or even Protestant vs. Catholic isn’t of some value. After all, staking your life on the claims of any religion is serious business. It should be examined to the fullest extent possible to make sure that errors of sentimentality, logic or scholarship have not been committed. As we are not all capable of or interested in sounding the murky depths of the scholarly side of our faiths, we must come up with a rule book of sorts; a shorthand for living. Thus theology.
I submit, however, that we as American Evangelicals have utterly mistaken the purpose of theology when we have allowed our suppositions to govern how and when we carry out the more clear cut directives of Scripture. Theology exists to simplify the complex, not the other way around. Evangelical Christians have allowed the mechanics of salvation and sanctification, an area that is admittedly fraught with debate and ambiguity, to dictate the manner in which we carry out simple directives of Christ.
Love others sacrificially is not a complex statement. It is a near impossibility to actualize, but it is not hard to comprehend. He has told us that we are to be responsible for sacrificing ourselves for the well-being of others. He will take care of the rest, even to carrying the responsibility for the ultimate destination of their souls.
The love that will change the world is truly costly. It will cost lives, homes, fortunes, time, relationships, comfort and most of all, our narrow, self-interested perspective. This love cannot exist in a soul that is still seeking its own good first. This love is not immediately mutually beneficial. It is also more powerful than all the hate and evil this world has to offer.
This costly love can only come from knowing that we are loved in turn by a God that has our best interest in mind. Only when we are free of the worry that we must take care of our needs will we be able to shower the people around us with ridiculously inclusive, life-altering love.
This is the route to peace in the world. This is how a rich nation like the USA can decide not to spend its money on itself and reach beyond its borders to bless people half a world away that will never be able to thank them. This is how people can choose to lay aside the possible consequences of not fighting for their ideology and reach out beyond political and social barriers to serve someone. Simply put, it is the power of trusting that your needs, safety and desires are in the hands of Someone more powerful.
What is more, this love is freely given. It is not an investment, a half-trusting down payment expecting a return. (If it were, it would not be love at all.) It is not an action taken out of the faux-altruistic self-fulfillment of “feeling better” about what you can do for others. The love of Christ does not compel people to reach out with what little time and resources they have because they know their limited supply will be used well. It is a love that is spent extravagantly with no expectation of return because it comes from an endless supply.
This is why wells get built in African villages when the residents will never know the names of the donors. This is why girls are pulled out of prostitution rings in South Asian brothels, only to need an expensive education and rehabilitation program to keep them going in life. This is why business executives take time out of their schedules to visit and train men in prison who have become a burden on and a danger to society.
If you are like me, you may have spent a few idle minutes here and there thinking about what you would do with limitless resources to change the world. I imagine what I would do if I had more money that I could ever spend, and then I start thinking about what I would do if more people had that kind of money to give away.
In the end, it isn’t loads of money being given away that will change the world. It is love being given away. Love without end, without conditions, and without cost. That is a love that Christ alone can offer.
