Talk Is Cheap
An anonymous poster to an online forum wrote, "I am a new Christian. I sin a lot. I am such a bad person. I insult others, I usually get angry at other over small things, I lust after women. I get jealous, I am a envious person. My heart is not right. I am wondering if God still loves a sinner like me." When we look at our many faults, it's easy to think God has rejected us, too.
1 John 2:3-6
And by this we know that we know him: if we keep his commandments. The one who says, "I know him," but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God has been perfected. By this we know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk just as he walked.
In 2021, Vanity Fair's Alex French and Dan Adler profiled Carl Lentz, the former pastor of Hillsong NYC. They called him "a golden child of the church" who had access to founder Brian Houston's inner circle. Celebrities and large crowds came to hear him preach up to six times a Sunday. If you compared the poster to the pastor, it would seem like Lentz was the much better Christian. But after he was fired, the hidden story became public: he'd had multiple affairs, and bullied staff and volunteers. John exposes the hypocrite and reassures the struggling Christian. He reminds us that holiness is not something we accomplish on our own, but is God's love completing its work in our souls. Our inconsistencies are not the final word. We can trust that God's love is capable of restoring us to wholeness. The Christian life isn't easy. God isn't fooled by empty talk. It doesn't matter if we pray a certain prayer or get baptized ten times. If we sense our faith is just a performance for others, God knows it, too. The honest test of faith is faithfulness. Our lives reveal what our hearts live by. John knows that sinlessness is a lie (1:8). But that doesn't mean we should stay stuck in our sins. If we turn on a faucet in our home and no water comes out, we assume the plumbing isn't connected. In the same way, if we're abiding in God's love, then his love should be evident in how we treat others. Because God is completing his love in our lives, we can leave the hollow alternatives of strict rule-keeping and faking it behind. By his grace, the Christian life is imitating Jesus together. Carl Lentz looked good in the lights, but only because so much was hidden in the dark. The anonymous forum poster felt like a fraud, but at least he was telling the truth about his struggles. John tells us that Jesus not only sees what's behind the curtains, but he walked among us so that we could walk like him. We have the strength to keep growing because he came to us and stays with us. He loves us.
When you doubt God's love for you, how do you try to answer this question?
What's the gap between what you say you believe and how you live?
What's one way that Jesus treated people that you want to put into practice?
Text a friend one way you've seen God's love at work in them. Then, tell them one way you want to see God's love transform your life.