Trinity and Humanity

                After the tragic earthquake in Japan a few weeks ago, the following post kept popping up on my Facebook from some well-meaning Christian friends:

                Sept. 11th (New York), Jan. 11th (Haiti), and March 11th (Japan)…Luke 21:10-11 – Then Jesus said to his disciples:  “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  There will be great earthquakes, famines, and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven”…Jesus says, “For behold, I come quickly.”  So ask yourself r u ready?  Sad to say, many won’t repost this message.

                Several things about this post bother me, but my biggest concern is that it promotes fear, not love and assurance.  The motivation behind such a post is to spur the reader to pray the sinner’s prayer and get saved.  Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the concern that the posters have for others.  I’m just not sure that the Triune God wants fear to be the motivation for a relationship.  Love is the basis of any healthy relationship, and our relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is no different.

                Here’s what the Apostle John had to say about love:  “God is love.  When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us.  This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day -our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s.  There is no room in love for fear.  Well-formed love banishes fear.  Since fear is crippling, a fearful life – fear of death, fear of judgment – is one not yet fully formed in love” (I John 4:17-18, The Message).

                My husband and I are approaching our 25th wedding anniversary.  I remember when he asked me to marry him on bended knee at an intimate French restaurant.  Can you imagine how he would have felt if I would have responded, “Yes, I’ll marry you, but only because I’m scared to death that you’ll punish me if I don’t.”  That’s the sentiment that this Facebook post sends about the Triune God – if a reader doesn’t choose to pray the prayer, make a decision, and get saved, God will make him pay.

                The truth is that the Triune God desires a relationship with each one of us but isn’t willing to coerce us to make it happen.  The freedom to choose is God’s gift to us, just like a lover desires to be chosen by his beloved.  Either way we choose, the love of the Father, Son, and Spirit remains unchangeable and ever hopeful.  Their desire is for reconciliation and relationship, not punishment.

                So if I were to rewrite this post, this is what I would say:

                Sept. 11th (New York), Jan. 12th (Haiti), and March 11th (Japan)…John 16:33 – “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me.  Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.  But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (NLT).  Thank you, Jesus, for never leaving nor forsaking us even in our deepest, darkest despair.

~by Nan Kuhlman