Faith or deeds … faith in action … love is a verb … come to the Father … you must be saved … must be baptised … must pray … must read the bible … must gather in worship … must confess … must love each other … must preach the Good News … must make disciples … must die to self … must be dead to sin … must walk in faith …

So this is what unconditional love looks like.

The life of a Christian – this poor sinner damned by AdamEveSin – a sinner saved by grace – yet still a sinner just now forgiven before sinning – this new covenant free of sacrifice – this marriage of the bridegroom of Christ to the bride of church …

The language of freedom seems shackled in obligation and duty.

Don Merritt is drawing to a close the fun of Mars the Mission.  Worship devoid of “stuff” was the objective.  What is worship devoid of stuff – are we able to void our stuff – can we ever be free of our stuff (or ego and pride as it is being named)?

The language of worship also seems shackled in stuff we are reluctant to drop.

I wonder more and more if the Lost and Unchurched are not closer to this God sought by Christians than Christians will ever be.  A God who has no need of all this activity and obligation.  A God who desires and invites.  A God who waits.  A God who empowers.  A God big enough to be the same God of all yet uniquely different to each and all at the same time with each.  A God who I have found less demanding than anyone else I know.  Who is more inspiring than anyone I have ever known.  Who has more belief in me than I have in myself.  Who allows me to be me.  Who invites me to be more me than I ever dare to be.  Who has only once ever said “no” in my entire life.  Who rarely advises and tells.  Who delights in my growing my own comfort zones wider than I ever thought possible.

A God who is blamed for causing death, allowing illness and pain, not stopping “bad things”, for allowing “natural disasters”, for standing by while we rape and pillage this planet, a God who (apparently) doesn’t exist because if he did exist none of this “stuff” should ever happen.  A God who is defined by the bible and often judged to be a heinous (non-existent) megalomaniac.

A God who Christians find excuse after excuse for creating barriers of to-do lists and sin lists and forgiveness lists and “must do this” lists and “must not do that” lists.  Who create barriers that are as clear as crystal and as impenetrable as bullet-proof glass.  Who live righteously in order to avoid living normally.  A normal relationship of humour, passion, irritation, distance and proximity, indifference and intensity, of doubt and of clarity, of growth and exploration, of balance and confidence, of love and no condition.

Unconditional love is simple.

Unconditional love is.

Simple!

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