We all have ideological frameworks, which are networks of information that form our belief systems and our values. Once an ideological framework is built, it’s incredibly difficult to alter it without conscious effort. If we’re not careful, our brains may even be inclined to automatically reject information that seems to conflict with what we already believe to be true.
Learning is the process of acquiring new, or modifying existing, knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences. Often times, learning something new is as much about unlearning old information as it is about processing or modifying your ideological framework based on new information.
With that in mind, the first step toward TRULY understanding Godly, unconditional love is unlearning. This could mean unlearning the idea that unconditional love is weakness. It could mean unlearning the idea that unconditional love means doing whatever you want or letting other people do whatever they want, no matter who it hurts. It could mean unlearning belief in behavioral justification. Whatever it is that you have to unlearn, the goal is to level your ideological framework and rebuild it from the ground up…starting with resting your spiritual foundation on two things: one, that God IS unconditional love (meaning that love is literally the essence and most important part of who God is); and two, that love is the ultimate test of discipleship.
So let’s start with unlearning. What do you already believe? Personally, I’d been taught that God loved me, but that God hated the sinfulness that was inherent to my humanity. I was taught that sinlessness was perfection and that I was supposed to strive toward sinlessness. After all, all things are possible through Christ and His goal was to help me get to a place where I didn’t sin anymore.
The problem with that was that God’s love wasn’t the bottom line. God’s love was an afterthought, an exception, rather than the rule. The “rule”, as it turned out, was justification, either through righteousness by works or righteousness by faith. It just depended on who you asked.
Righteousness by works is more in line with the teachings of Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, and Methodist Christians. They distinguish between initial justification, which ordinarily is viewed to occur at baptism; and final salvation, which is accomplished after a lifetime of striving to do God’s will. Catholics believe faith as is active in charity and good works (fides caritate formata) can justify man. Forgiveness of sin exists and is infused, but justification can be lost by mortal sin.
Righteousness by faith is a Protestant doctrine, under which sin is considered to be merely “covered”, and righteousness imputed. In Lutheranism and Calvinism, righteousness from God is viewed as being credited to the sinner’s account through faith alone, without works. Protestants believe faith without works can justify man because Christ died for sinners. There’s one big “but”, though: anyone who truly has faith will produce good works as a product of faith, as a good tree produces good fruit. For Lutherans, justification can be lost with the loss of faith.
Whether by faith or by works, justification is important. To most Christians, all of that sounds perfectly logical, and the concept of righteousness isn’t the issue in itself. The problem is reconciling what we already believe about righteousness with God’s essence being unconditional love. And I mean honestly reconciling it, not twisting unconditional love to fit the pre-established narrative. And an even more important question is whether that’s even how it works in the first place. Should I be reconciling who God is with what I already believe God wants? Or should I first take the time to discover and establish who God is and THEN use that as a basis for determining what God wants?
I believe that we have to start by establishing who God is, and I believe that the three most important Biblical truths regarding who God is are: God is omniscient, God is omnipotent, and God is unconditional love. Today, we’re talking about love.
God Is Love
Theologian A.W. Tozer once stated, “Nothing God ever does, or ever did, or ever will do, is separate from the love of God.”
Agape is a Greco-Christian term referring to love, “the highest form of love, charity” and “the love of God for man and of man for God”.The word embraces a universal, unconditional love that transcends and persists regardless of circumstance. It goes beyond just the emotions to the extent of seeking the best for others.
Within Christianity, agape is considered to be the love originating from God or Christ for humankind. In the New Testament, it refers to the covenant love of God for humans, as well as the human reciprocal love for God; the term necessarily extends to the love of one’s fellow man.
“While the person who loves ‘is born of God and knows God,’ the person who doesn’t love doesn’t know God and has no deep and abiding relationship with God. Love, then, is the acid test of discipleship.” – Sermon Writer Bible Commentary
It’s imperative to get the foundation right, because everything anyone believes is ultimately based on what that person believes about who God is. We should be able to ask ourselves, “Would a loving God do this?” and give an objective answer rather than trying to explain why something that intuitively contradicts love somehow still constitutes love. We should be able to examine our beliefs and their origins with integrity and objectively determine whether those beliefs align with who we say we believe God to be.
If love is the essence of God’s character, if everything God does is out of love, if love is the greatest commandment and nothing can separate us from God’s love….love should be the foundation, not an exception. We shouldn’t be looking for any reason or excuse to conform love to something that fits what we already believe to be true. We should be willing to strip away fear and conditioning and worldliness….take a step back from what we think we know….and build from the ground up, examining our beliefs through the lens of God’s love and determining whether what we say God wants is a reflection of who we want people to believe God is.
This week, I challenge you to ask God to break down your ideological framework and strip away what you think you know. I challenge you to ask God to reveal Himself to you in ways that only He can and to expand your mind and open your heart to allowing Him to be as big in your life as He possibly can be. I challenge you to ask God to move you out of His way and to give Him permission to do a new thing. I challenge you to ask God to remove any fear and to help you embrace the spirit of power, love, and a sound mind.