Why is it that so many picture God as an all-loving, all-accepting, tolerant, benevolent leader? Most of those who do don't even know Him, yet accuse Christians (especially here on TOL) of being
hateful. They take the attitude of the title of this thread - that we are not representing Jesus correctly if we don't end each post with a "Jesus loves you."
That's not to say that He
doesn't. God loved each of us enough to send His Son for our salvation - and every single person reading this is able to go to Heaven by simply believing and repenting. But those of you reading this who mock and ridicule God, shunning His amazing gift, are forgetting the amazing power of God. You are not awed by Him now - but you will be.
While the Christians who judge rightly are trying to "hate what is evil and love what is good" (Romans 12:9), those who
don't are harming everyone around them. They pat the
morally wrong, the
perverse, and the
wicked on the back and try to assure them that God will love them anyway. Guess what. God will not always be waiting for them. God does not accept unrepentant sinners. God is waiting now for repentance, but someday the time will run out. And those sissy Christians, who refuse to hate evil, will share responsibility with their false assurances.
I think it's time for a review of God's attributes.
Does God hate? Absolutely. Psalm 5:5-6
The boastful shall not stand in Your sight;
You hate all workers of iniquity.
6 You shall destroy those who speak falsehood;
The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
Did Jesus ever speak any 'unkind' words? Absolutely. Jesus called stubborn unbelievers "swine" (Matthew 7:6), "sons of Hell" (Matthew 23:15), dogs (Phillippians 3:2), and whores (Ezekiel 16:33).
Did God mock anyone? YES! He mocked false prophets, the Phillistines, you name it...
Why did God do these things? Isn't a "loving God" preached everywhere? YES. He
does love you. He loved you enough to create people in the first place, to die for you, to sacrifice for you. But that doesn't mean that He's a pansy! He is a loving God, but He is harsh as well. He's the ultimate Judge. He has told Christians to judge rightly, and while lots of us mess it up sometimes, we have His word to show us what is right and just.
"Even in the New Testament, Paul wrote, "Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil" (Rom. 12:9) introducing the concept of hypocritical love. What is hypocritical love? "Should you… love those who hate the Lord? Therefore the wrath of the Lord is upon you" (2 Chr. 19:2). Warning the wicked of the coming judgment is harsh, but is a necessary component of acceptable love. A love that is not hypocritical rebukes and condemns, and then points the way to God.
God uses different methods to communicate the Gospel to people at different depths of depravity. At times, a Christian can pray with an unbeliever. At other times, a believer might ridicule the unrepentant in hopes of waking him up. Painful communication though is in no way reserved just for non-Christians."
