Sweet and Sour

Sweet and Sour

There is something about a meal in a Chinese restaurant that makes it unique. I don’t mean chopsticks, but rather, the combination of flavours – like sweet and sour sauce perhaps. Some restaurants serve up a somewhat bland meal while others serve a real spicy mixture that titillates the palate and stimulates the taste buds that also leaves the diners wanting more. Rather like our churches in a way. Some serve up a very bland, almost tasteless religion, while others serve up lively and relevant faith based services that leave guests and regulars alike wanting more.

Even so, I wonder if too many are even so selling God a little short – a little bland?

God is love – we all know that – but God also hates sin. God loves us so much, in fact, that He sent His only Son to pay the price for that sin on our behalf. Yet we don’t hear so much about the sin as we hear about Jesus having paid the price for us – now we can all get to heaven. We hear all about what God loves, but very little about what He hates – even less about abominations. When was the last time you heard anything other than ‘do this’ and ‘do that’ as against ‘don’t do these things’. I really do believe we sell God very short indeed.

As I heard it put just the other day, “Aslan is not a tame lion”. We do not have to defend Him, We just open the door and let Him out. God is not JUST a god of love, and sweetness, and light. There are things that make Him angry and sad , even vengeful. Yes there is much that He loves but also much that He hates too. He hates our sin whilst retaining His love for the sinner. He hates dishonesty and lying. He hates those who mislead His flock. There are many things that stir God to wrath against His children – but our pulpits are woefully short of such this teaching.

Like so many things in this present time, we seem to pick and choose the attributes of God that we talk about. Then we narrow the selection down a bit more for that which we teach and preach about. I think we can learn a little from Jewish teaching where they teach the whole story from a very early age. They don’t miss out the spots and wrinkles – the bits folk may not like – they teach it and instil it all.

Isn’t it time to stop selling God short, and teach and preach the Gospel, the whole Gospel, and nothing but the Gospel.