I've heard it in word and song and conversation far too many times. "Jesus loves you just as you are." Now, I know that there is a sense that this is true, but the message is all wrong. That is, if Jesus loves me just the way I am, why change? Indeed, I'd better not. I'd move out of the "comfort zone" of the "me" He loves. No, no, I'll just sit here in my sin and failure and stew in order to be safely loved by Jesus.
That, of course, is ridiculous, but this is the message some receive ... just not from Scripture. Scripture tells us that He chose us to become conformed to the image of His Son (Rom 8:29), not stay as we are. Christians are people in transition, changing from within to be reflections of Him. It is the term, "sanctification," a process of becoming more holy, more like Christ. It's not even optional (1 John 3:9). The old is passing away; the new is coming (2 Cor 5:17).
In our modern "warm and fuzzy" version of "love," we have come to think that "God loves you" means "God thinks of you with warm affection." So when we read that God loves us without regard to our worthiness, we think He has warm affection for our unworthiness. It's not true. Grace is unmerited favor and He saves not for what we are, but on the basis of His Son. He does love us (not in a "warm and fuzzy" way), but has every expectation of forming us into His Son's image. Despite some of the Christian songs you might hear and even enjoy, Jesus is not our "boyfriend." Therefore, He loves us as we are, knowing what we will become. Don't get confused about that.
3 comments:
It would be more accurate to say that He loves us despite the way we are. There is nothing in us that impels Him to love us, only that He has chosen us that Christ has put forth as His image.
No, Jesus is not my “boyfriend,” but He is the “lover of my soul.” He is also my “redeemer,” which implies a restoration to a former status, i.e. one of good standing before God. If it had been possible for me to attain peace with a holy and righteous Judge “just as I am,” I would not need a Savior, and Jesus died for naught. Instead, the Great Exchange was made, and I have become a new creation--one able to pursue holiness through His grace and power. I cannot read any part of the scriptures and miss the message that God the Father is not content to leave me “just as I am” but intends to conform me to the image of His beloved Son--the very highest standard possible. He loves me indeed!
You sure dug up a real “gem” with that song! The “Jesus is my boyfriend” mentality is the perfect example of severely misguided people portraying God (or the Lord Jesus Christ, in this case) through the unchecked use of their imaginations and not based on scripture--which is idolatry. Taken to the extreme as in your example song, “Jesus is my boyfriend” is an illogical view of the Savior of all mankind, as it would seem to be applicable only for a small subset (i.e. single women).
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