Dueling Billboards

As Julie and I travel around the country, we see many billboards and church marquis. Most of these say in one way or another that God loves us. But along with these glad tidings of a loving God stand others, which tell a very different story. One of these, for example, has a picture of glowing clouds on the left and wicked flames on the right. It read, 

Where will go when you die? Heaven or Hell?

An 800 number was given to find out. Another warned in giant, capital letters, 

“REMEMBER HELL”

(Matthew 25:41)

Matthew 25:41 says this.

Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels. (Matthew 25:41)

Does God love me? It depends on which billboard you read. This confusion is not just on billboards. The Bible seems to contain a conflicting messages as well. We delight in John 3:16-17. 

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. (John 3:16-17)

No judgment? Eternal life? That sounds like a God I can come to! But a few verses later we read,

He who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (John 3:36)

What happened to the God who loved the world and wouldn’t condemn? Could I be one of the disobedient ones? I certainly can’t claim to always obey Jesus. Will God’s wrath abide on me? 

Evidently, God has a good side and a bad side. He is a loving father, ready to throw his arms around me but also an angry judge, ready to throw the book at me.

The standard way to resolve this is to say that God’s love is conditional, just like mine. I can be loving and I can be mean. It all depends on how you approach me. Push the right buttons and you’ll walk away saying, “What a nice man!” Poke the wrong buttons and you’ll walk away saying, “What a jerk!” This is how God is. The trick is to get on his good side. 

How, then, is it claimed that God loves everyone? By emphasizing that God is willing to love everyone who approaches him in the right way. All are invited to the party. Not all get in. Some are loved. Others are shut out forever. Who gets shut out? That’s the big question. 

The Calvinists say God decides who is in and who is out. There is nothing we can do about it. The Arminians say it’s up to us. Either way, we’re left with the same result. Some are in and some are out.

When churches preach the “good news,” they are generally not proclaiming that God loves everyone. The good news is that they have discovered the formula for getting on God’s good side. There is a list of beliefs, or religious rites, or set of behaviors that guarantee God’s love. They have the formula. Of course, other churches have formulas too. Watch out. Likely as not, they’ll land you in hell. 

Here’s the problem: If God has a good side and a bad side it’s hard to be certain about how God feels about me. I may think I have the formula but how do I know for sure? A lot of smart people disagree on this. What are the odds that my group has it right? It’s hard not to keep glancing nervously over my shoulder. Millions of Christians live this way. They hope God loves them. They think so. But they can't really be sure.

But what if you don’t have to worry about getting on God’s good side since God doesn’t have a bad side? What if God isn’t divided? What if God loves everyone? What if the warnings about fire and judgment are not contradictions of God’s love but expressions of it, meant to cleanse and purify, not destroy. 

The Consuming Fire