9 This is how God showed his love to us: He sent his one and only Son into the world so that we could have life through him. 10 This is what real love is: It is not our love for God; it is God's love for us. He sent his Son to die in our place to take away our sins.
11 Dear friends, if God loved us that much we also should love each other.
*1 Jn 4.9-11 (NCV)
15But if you don't want to worship [serve] the LORD, then choose right now! ... My family and I are going to worship and obey the LORD!
*Joshua 24.15 (CEV)
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C. S. Lewis wrote The Screwtape Letters, a classic telling of a senior demon named Screwtape training his student Wormwood on the ways of the "Enemy," God. In the book we pick up a note on the way of the "Enemy," in how the Divine Presence seeks to enjoy relationship with persons:
You must have wondered why the Enemy does not make more use of His power to be sensibly present to human souls in any degree He chooses and at any moment. Merely to override a human will (as His felt presence in any but the faintest and most mitigated degree would certainly do) would be for Him useless. He cannot ravish. He can only woo.
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The Spirit respects the freedom we each have. Spirit cannot and will not - never does - force or manipulate us by deceit into a response. Therefore, we see the heart of true Love - an offer of self for the other, to be received freely or not by the other.
Spirit is like that. Spirit loves us so much that Spirit would never want an unwilling reciprocation from us. C. S. Lewis puts it well. "He cannot ravish," says Lewis. "He can only woo."
Certainly, Grace pulls for our attention in many ways. That is wooing. Grace is gentle and noninvasive.
Once, I voiced to another person, whom I had been close to at one time, but who had chosen to be cut off from any communication with me, freedom from any expectation in relationship that once applied between the person and me. This was gracious; ungracious would have been the clinging, grabbing, demanding "love" that is not true Love. Love will willingly surrender the desire to be loved by another, rather than seek a love that is not fully, freely given. Again, such is the way of Spirit.
So, what Lewis says applies to God toward you, and you toward others. Divine love will not seek to overpower, even to get love in return. And, when you love another person truly, you will lovingly surrender to that person refusing to reciprocate your love. You will do this rather than seeking to overpower his or her freedom. In a real sense, love is never gotten; it can only be given and received, given with open hands and received with open hands.
This means, theologically, there is the possibility for a person, against the will of Spirit, to live and die alienated from True Love, or God. This is, also, one case against the view that God is too loving to allow a person to be eternally lost from True Love. Rather, we need to consider, given the nature of Love, the possibility that God is too loving not to let a person be eternally alienated from True Love, and Eternal Life, if he or she refuses the Way of Loving.
Timothy Keller, in The Reason for God:Belief in an Age of Skepticism, writes of this freedom-Loving Divine Presence and the lack of evidence for such teachings as universalism:
The belief in a God of pure love - who accepts everyone and judges no one - is a powerful act of faith. Not only is there no evidence for it in the natural order, but there is almost no historical, religious textual support for it outside of Christianity. The more one looks at it, the less justified it appears.
Let us assume the following statement, and test it against the popular "God is too loving ..." idea. The statement: There is, by whatever name, God. Now, let us set forth the following truth: God is essentially loving. Next, we posit what we all know: Love can never be forced. Then, we must conclude either that some persons would never be wooed to true Love and would remain lost to it, eternally, or there would be a process of an ultimate wooing to respond to True Love, or God.
Now, yes, some earlier Christians taught an ultimate salvation for all persons. But it was not in the same vein as the "God is so loving universalism." What ultimately happens to us each, nature, common sense, and religions indicate has much to do with our chosen response to Grace.
Now, after a little foray theologically, let us return to the wooing. God, being Love, is a wooer. Spirit leads us into, works to prepare us to receive true Love, in all its varied manifestations from the one Source of Resplendent Grace.
In what ways do you see God has wooed you to enjoy a loving relationship with the Divine Spirit? How does this example of Loving apply to your relationships with other persons?
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*Charitable contributions would be appreciated to assist Brian in continuing his ministry. For contributions, contact Brian at barukhattah@embarqmail.com .
*Brian's book of spiritual love poetry, An Ache for Union: Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major booksellers or the Cokesbury on-line store, cokesbury.com .
*Brian K. Wilcox, a United Methodist Pastor, lives in Southwest Florida. He is a vowed member of Greenbough House of Prayer, a contemplative Christian community in South Georgia. He lives a contemplative life and seeks to inspire others to enjoy a more intimate relationship with Christ. Brian advocates for a spiritually-focused, experiential Christianity and renewal of the Church through addressing the deeper spiritual needs and longings of persons.
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