God is love. That is clear. God's love is the condition of the inter-relationship of three distinct persons who are one. Even if this is a mystery, it is still clearly the case. When only one thing is what we choose to say about God, love - the dynamic of the trinitarian existence - is what we would name.
What does it mean for us to be the church of this God? If we were to try and deduce the nature of God from churches that we see today, what would we conclude? What would be the outstanding and striking characteristic?
If people were trying to deduce what is important to God from what is important to us, what would their view of God be?
Like it or not, some value trumps other values. Choices have to be made. Those choices are not always between good and bad or holy and evil. Often they are between better and best; between high and highest. What does it mean for love to trump everything else?
What happens when we are church because of love, and through love? What happens when love is the first and greatest concern, the agenda that has first priority? What would we have to be like as church for people to conclude by looking at us that love is the chief characteristic of our God?
What would be important, and what would not be important?
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1 comment:
Greg,
Good thoughts and questions.
Your question about churches made me think of Lyle Schaller's divisions. He says there are four kinds of churches: God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, and Bible. (I think that's in the book, "Looking in the Mirror").
Also, there's a section in Bosch "Transforming Mission" where he talks about how faith, hope, and love trump each other. That's a terrific book, and the chapter I have in mind is especially good. Never thought of that before.
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