Does God love everyone or just Christians?

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. - 1 John 2:2

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8

The ABC’s of salvation

Next to the main entrance of the church we attended few years ago, there was a table and a stack of fliers on it. It was a one page printout titled ‘ABC’s of salvation’, and below the title, the subsequent lines explained what it means.

A – Accept
B – Believe
C – Confess

To elaborate,

A – Accept you are a sinner.
B – Believe in Jesus.
C – Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord.

Do these three steps – You are saved!

Wow!

There were references to bible verses with each step. When I first saw it, I was fascinated by the simplicity of the salvation formula derived from a big book like Bible. I took one copy for myself thinking that I might use this formula to get others saved. I had never seen it simplified like this before. The reason I was fascinated, that my finite brain is always inclined to the ideologies listed as bullet points. It’s easy to read, grasp, teach and share. Also I like the exact ‘science’ of anything.

Now, here is the question I want to pose:

What are the things you need to believe or do in order to fall in love with a girl?

Here is my answer,

1. Get to know her
2. ---------
3. ---------

Hmm… There is no exact science! I don’t know how to put it into bullet points! Love is not a set of statements defined on a piece of paper. There are things which cannot be explained, there are things which cannot be put into words. There are no step 1, 2, 3…There are no schools on the face of the earth who can teach me the science of falling in love.

Isn’t it amazing that we shortened the 66 books of the Bible into few bullet points hoping that we are summarizing it exactly? Has Jesus ever given us a formula? Has the Apostles?

Isn’t salvation nothing but falling in love with Jesus? And isn’t it true that the way I fall in love is NOT the way you fall in love?

How come we reduced this amazing love of God into a step by step process?

1. Listen to a sermon
2. Respond to the altar call
3. Repent of your sins
4. Invite Jesus into heart
5. Pray Sinner's prayer
6. Fill out the decision card
7. Join a church
8. Get baptized in their water by their pastor
9. Seek the gift of tongues (if you are a Charismatic)
10. Submit to the authority of your pastor and believe and do everything he says until your last breath.

What if the salvation is none of these? What if salvation is simply accepting a gift of love from the creator of the universe? What if Bible is not a book of ideologies, but a love letter?

Yes, I admit I am tempted to make everything into an exact science. But that's because I am dumb! Let ever my dumbness negate the essence and beauty of the love of Jesus!

When I itemize the steps for getting saved and staying saved, I am missing the whole point – the whole point of love. It might make my evangelism easier. It might help me to succeed in my Systematic Theology class. But what is the point if I am missing the love? What ideology can truly transform a heart other than genuine love?

I find it increasingly difficult to explain love, grace, faith, hope etc. People look for formulaic answers, but I just don't have it. I mean, I might just say - "I know Jesus loves you; and I hope you will come to know this truth." Is it over-simplified? I don't know!

The real Jesus and real people

I have a high respect towards those who choose to live a monastic way of life, isolating themselves from the world for seeking spiritual truths. I am not saying all of them are genuine cases, some may be influenced by hallucinations and mistake it as truth. During my teenage years and early twenties, I wanted to go to the mountains and write poems. I wasn’t really ‘spiritual’ but I always had a tendency to be alone. Solitude can be very soothing and refreshing to me (even today). Jesus took time to withdraw Himself from the crowd and Bible says, early in the morning He went to the mountains to pray.

To me, that is a dream. I have no such luxury in life (at least as of now). I am consistently tossed back and forth between work, home, bills and problems. Apart from few isolated moments of spirituality, I have nothing much to claim that I have experienced the presence of God. The feelings such as no enough prayer, no enough Bible reading are so very common in life and to be honest I feel guilty about it some time. The other day my wife asked me if I have ever felt that God directly speaking to me. Well, I had to think hard to remember at least one occasion.

I understand how monks can be spiritual. But, can the rest of us be spiritual? Can I be spiritual when I have a leaking basement, unpaid bills and a car with transmission problems? What about those who have mentally challenged kids, teenagers with behavioral problems, old age parents, life threatening sickness, divorce issues, disabilities, addictions and condemning church members? Can they be spiritual?

I am talking about real people with real problems. The messy, rejected and depressed. I am not talking about those who appear as if they have figured everything out in life. I am not talking about those super religious, extraordinary, disciplined, "church potato"s. I am talking about the people who are messed up in life and in need of rescue. I am talking about the people who agree that they do not experience the presence of God in their life, no matter how hard they try. I am talking about the people who have been ridiculed by the ‘super religious’ saying that the cause of their problems are their lack of faith. Can they be spiritual?

The answer is YES. Those are the kind Jesus need. He came for the sick and He hanged out with such kind. The kind of people society rejects – sinners, lepers, blind, prostitutes, tax collectors, homeless, weary and laden…
He went to the midst of them, loved, hugged and supped with them. He wasn’t doing the ‘extraordinary’ charity, it was normal to Him; He loved the messy, weary and heavy laden. Folks, this is what gives me hope, that He can love me right in the midst of all my nonspiritual, unworthiness.

He loves me even when I am devastated in the crowded busyness of my life. He loves me right through my unbelief, sins and bad temper. There is nothing I can do to stop Him from loving me. I can boast in His love because it is solid, unwavering and unshakable. I can't help but thank Him for the of the rest of my life.

I am tired of listening to those double talking, rigid hearted, hypocritical, judgmental pharisees. I am sorry, I am only interested in real people. Don't come to me with a lie that I need to get all my acts clean for Jesus to love me. I am not interested in such a 'made up', 'religious' Jesus. I want the real Jesus, the Jesus whom the Bible proclaims!

I am convinced that there is hope for any sinner. Jesus forgave those who killed Him; and believe me you aren't as bad as them. Our messiness has value in the sight of God (and only in the sight of God). The problems, confusion, questions we face have value in the sight of God. In EVERYTHING, even in our sins, He works for our good.

"Everything--great, small, important, unimportant, distant, and near--has its place, its meaning, and its value. Through union with Him...nothing is wasted, nothing is missing. There is never a moment that does not carry eternal significance--no action that is sterile, no love that lacks fruition, and no prayer that is unheard." - Brennan Manning

He sees the desires of our heart, the desire to get out of the mess we are in and He respect that desire, not necessarily by pulling us right out of it, but by loving us right through it...

Remember - God loves you!