Listen

God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him isn’t judged; whoever doesn’t believe in him is already judged, because they don’t believe in the name of God’s only Son.

John 3:17-18

Think

This is another difficult passage. Taken at face value, it may feel problematic as if to say that Jesus is the ONLY way to experience God. To be clear, some people believe this to be true but not everyone.

At the end of the day, we know that it is NOT our job to judge who is or is not gifted with God’s eternal love. Too many people and cultures have been eradicated because of this “only way” thinking, so we must reimagine what it means when people do or do not believe in Jesus Christ as their gateway to God.

One of the ways to approach this is to embrace the idea that it is not our job to judge who God does not love, rather we assume God finds a way to extend eternal life to all who seek it. We can give up the judge role that we so often like to play concerning people’s faith. Instead, we can move securely in the knowledge that God is big enough to extend love more generously than we ever could.

Bruce Reyes-Chow

Question to Ponder:

What does it mean to you that God’s love is generous?

Pray

Inhale: God, you are here.

Exhale: Grant me the courage to see others more fully.

Go

Go forth into the world with justice and compassion in your heart.

Amplify voices of the long silenced.

Name strength in that which has been deemed weak.

Hear one another.

See one another.

Care for one another.

And love one another.

It’s all that easy.

And it’s all that hard.