What if?

          We recently celebrated Easter, one of the two times of the year that people stop and think about what Jesus did. At Christmas we celebrate his birth, on Easter we celebrate his resurrection. Even people who don’t take their Christianity seriously pause on these two days to think about what Jesus did. So why did Jesus come and do what he did? John 3:16 is a verse that most of us know. It says, “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life.” If you grew up in church, you probably have that verse memorized. It is a classic verse and even people who aren’t church people know it. They put it on signs at sports games; some athletes even put it on their body. We see in this verse that Jesus came so that we could believe in Him and have everlasting life. Not as familiar is the next verse, verse 17, that tells us that God sent His son into the world not to judge the world but to save the world through him.

          Jesus primary purpose was not to judge but to save. Ephesians 5 states we are to follow the example of Christ and we are to love. It continues by telling us that we are supposed to go forward and not sin. We know we aren’t supposed to sin as followers of Christ and so we tend to focus on that and expect the world to do the same. We judge the world for sinning and we tend to not give them an ounce of love. We judge the world for acting like the world, but how can we expect them to act any different? They are the world so they act like the world. We think that because the world doesn’t act right, God hates them, but John 3:16 says God so loved the world He sent His only son. It doesn’t say that God so loved the perfect Christian He sent His only son. We have to remember that being a sinner doesn’t disqualify you from becoming a Christian it is a prerequisite.

          Every single person you come face to face with is someone God loves and someone Jesus shed his blood to save. God’s love is not dependent on a person’s actions yesterday, today, or tomorrow. He loves them the same. Jesus came to save the world. The judgment comes through our own decisions. John 3:18-20 tells us that anyone who does not believe that Jesus is the son of God has already been judged.

          Our job as Christians is not to change someone or try and make them believe in God. Have you ever had someone you wanted to make believe and it seemed the more you tried the worse they acted? We can’t make someone love God, but we can show them the love of God. What if we as Christians truly believed that God wanted to use us to save this world? What if we really believed that we have the true hope and joy and that God wanted us to share that hope and joy with the world? What if we lived our lives as salt- designed to flavor and enhance the lives of others so that they could see the love of God through us?

          More often than not, it seems like Christians acts like a hot pepper ready to burn people and leave them feeling like they need relief from us instead of salt, which makes them better and preserves them. We should make it our goal to love people the way that Jesus did, so they will want to love Him like we do. I heard a quote once by Francis Chan that said, “Do you know that nothing you do in this life will ever matter, unless it is about loving God and loving the people He has made.” Our purpose as Christians is to love God and love His people.

          Not very long ago someone told me about a teenage girl who got pregnant. When her church found out they pretty much disowned her and her family. This girl went away from this church feeling hurt, alone and rejected- not only by the people of the church, but also by the God who these people claimed to follow. Instead of loving this girl and drawing her to redemption, they judged her and pushed her away into condemnation. What would have happened in this girl’s life if the church had surrounded her and recognized she made a mistake in her actions, but told her that Jesus still loved her? What if they decided to help her and encourage her to accept God’s forgiveness and support her as she went forward? Instead of walking away feeling rejected and like God hated her, she might have realized that God had a better plan for her, that He loves her and wants to help her.

          When Jesus met the woman who was about to be stoned for adultery, He didn’t condemn her. He showed her compassion and mercy by saying I do not condemn you and your sins are forgiven. Then he gave her truth and justice by saying go and sin no more- or repent. If we want to lead people to repentance we have to show them love and compassion first. Never forget we are all sinners saved by grace. Don’t judge someone else because they sin differently than you. Even as Christians we still sin. We still have areas of our life that we have to work on. We may not think our sin is as bad as someone else, but it is still sin and we still need God’s grace. You are never more like the devil than when you are judging and accusing someone. Satan is called the accuser of the brethren. You are also never more like God than when you are loving by giving and forgiving.

          Make the choice this week to love like Jesus loves. To love people in a way that they see Jesus in you and want that love in their life.