Are we better than God ?

     Like many of you I was brought up in a church whose theology was heavily influenced by Calvinism . In fact , we so closely aligned our selves with the teaching of John Calvin that as boys we couldn't be a part of " Boy Scouts " , instead we were " Calvinist Cadets " . Our girls couldn't be " Girl Scouts " , instead they were " Calvinettes " . Our youth groups were called " The Young Calvinists " . As a denomination we even started our own college and named it " Calvin College ".  It appeared that I should be more concerned with the teachings of Calvin than Jesus !
     One of the teachings of Calvin is the idea of predestination . That is the idea that God chose some people to take to heaven with Him and some people He chose to go to hell . He determined all this before the beginning of time , and we are totally incapable of doing anything to change our situation . It has nothing to do with our individual merit - we all " deserve hell " , it is simply , according to Calvin all based on God's good pleasure . 
     This idea always troubled me . Not so much whether I was chosen for heaven , but the idea that why didn't God choose more people ? Why didn't He choose everyone ? Why would anyone , especially God , want any person or persons to suffer for an eternity ? I mean , why would God choose to treat anyone this way considering that He gave His own Son to pay for their sins ! I can't imagine sending anyone I've ever known to an eternity of suffering . I can think of a few that I might want to suffer for a while , but not for eternity . I really don't know anyone who would choose an eternity of suffering for someone else . And so the question kept popping up in my mind - " Are we better than God ? "  And then another sarcastic thought - " Maybe God should take lessons on loving people from us . " 
    For years these thoughts were always at the back of my mind and it was very difficult to connect the teachings of Calvin in my youth to a God who describes Himself as " Love " . Over time I explored other streams of Christianity and read through the gospels over and over again . What I discovered , thankfully , was a God who is so much better , so much more loving , and so much bigger than me ! John 3:17 summed it up for me - God didn't send Jesus to condemn us , but to bring us life ! God is not against us , you , me , or anyone else . God is for us , all of us !!!
    So , do I believe that everyone will spend eternity in heaven with God ? I certainly hope so ! But , I do believe that God really did give us a free will , not just an illusion of one . Because of that freedom to choose there is one thing that I believe our all powerful God can not do - He can not make us love Him . If we make an informed decision to reject His love , He does honor our freedom of choice and gives us what we want - separation from Him - hell .
   I choose life !


next post - So what now ?

What this means

    When I was ready to let God shape my life through the person of Jesus it soon became apparent that there would not only be a change in how I live, but also in how I think. I wasn't sure at first that I was comfortable with that! After all, how I thought in the past seemed to have served me well for quite a few years! I like things nice and neat and in their place, including people. With a quick look I could categorize people. There were the "good" people and the "bad" people. The people worth any investment of my time, and those who weren't! It seemed like such a good system. There was no need for life to get messy!
   But then Jesus invited me to see people the way He sees people! As He opened my eyes and my heart I began to see what I had been missing! I found out that when we open our hearts to other people that there is an expansive nature to love! And as my heart and love expanded to more and more people I quit putting them into boxes of "worthy" and "unworthy". As I began to learn their stories, I was struck by not only the beauty of the diversity but also by the common theme! It seems as though we are all writing a story with our lives, and each one of us is searching for someone to know us and to love us, and to know and love in return! As I thought about this, I realized that God blessed us with human relationships in part to point us to Him! It is when we experience sacrificial love from another human being that we can begin to understand His love for us! When these thoughts really started to sink in, I wondered how so many of us who call ourselves "Christians" could work so hard to deny a group of people the right to marry and make a life-long commitment to another person! Do we really believe that gay marriage will destroy marriage itself? I've come to believe that there are other motives at work here. Not the least of which is keeping people in the boxes where we think they belong. As I listen to Jesus and let Him shape my life, my thoughts and my actions I can no longer deny the right to marry to these people! From now on I will align myself with the Human Rights Campaign (hrc.org).
I will do what I can to eliminate any attitude of exclusiveness in my own life , anything that might stand in the way of anyone getting to know the Jesus who loves all people !


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