God, you love too much!

At Life Church we have adopted an ethos statement that goes like this,

"Mission is why we exist and Love is the context."

We affirm strongly that the Church is an organic representation of God with the express purpose of spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. We have a mandate from Jesus to take this message to the ends of the earth. The second half of this statement explains the method or the context. Jesus once said,

"the world will know that you are my disciples by your love for each other."

This past weekend we talked about Jonah and how he didn't buy this idea that God loves everybody. In the story of Jonah God's grace extended even to the brutal Assyrians. This angered Jonah that God would be so merciful and forgiving.

One of the major themes from scripture that we as a faith community have sought to fully embrace and practice is God's unending love for all of humankind. To reach out with compassion and care to those who are broken, lost and maybe even antagonistic toward Christianity. This communal practice starts with individual commitment. I want to challenge all of us to spend the next few days meditating on God's love and then intentionally live it out in our circles of influence. We can be difference makers (true disciples) by intentionally loving those around us.

It would be awesome if God was accused of loving too much when people experienced his love through us. May we be known by our love!

rgg