Faith | We are all equally loved by God. No exceptions
God loves you, no exceptions!
That’s the message some churches came to proclaim to a gathering of people, many of whom had been treated very badly in churches they had previously belonged to.
God loves you, no exceptions!
The idea that they are a beloved child of God was new news as well as good news for many who had gathered to celebrate their identity and support each other in a society greatly divided about accepting them as they are.
We church folks were caught up in the joyful spirit of the occasion, striving to demonstrate that we too love God’s beloved people, with no exceptions. The day was going well until a small group of protesters crashed the event, loudly proclaiming their hurtful, judgmental message, also in the name of God.
How quickly my concept of “beloved child of God” acquired exceptions! It took a while that day for me, in my anger and indignation, to accept that they too are beloved children of God.
God loves you, no exceptions!
God’s love for us does not depend on our beliefs or behaviors. It does not depend on whether or not we are following what we believe is the will of God for this world.
It does not depend on whether or not we believe that God exists. Of course, God’s love does not mean approval of attitudes and actions that are harmful, to ourselves, to other people, to the earth and all its creatures. But the love is unconditional, constant and eternal.
Unfortunately, being God’s beloved doesn’t make us perfect or moral or even kind. When disagreement can so easily move into verbal and physical violence, when the only common ground seems to be a battleground, is it possible to pause and remember that everyone in the situation is a beloved child of God?
God’s love is for you and for me and for the people we love and support and for the people we feel are very wrong and even those we find abhorrent. And for those who believe that we are very wrong and find us abhorrent.
If we can’t find any other common ground with some folks, except that we’re on the same planet, perhaps knowing that we are all fully and equally loved by God gives us somewhere to begin to seek a positive connection.
Looking out at a park full of people who, in years past, might have challenged my understanding of “God loves you—no exceptions,” I feel some encouragement about opening the guarded gates of my own heart.
It’s just not enough to give lip service to the wideness of God’s love if I cannot or will not strive to extend the wideness of my own.
As for finding any common ground, I think of the 13th century Persian poet Rumi, and his often-quoted line: “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.”
Perhaps that open and welcoming field exists in the heart of God.
