I have some wonderful, life-changing news for you. News that will make your day, your week, and maybe even your year. Heck, it might even cause you to re-think the very nature of Life Itself.

Ready? Are you sitting down? Here is that promised proclamation … BILL JONES LOVES YOU. 

Yep. It’s true. I’ll even go you one better: Bill Jones loves you unconditionally. Meaning that Bill knows all there is to know about you – the good, the bad, and the in-between – and Bill loves you anyway. 

And the news just keeps getting better and better; you don’t need to perform any heroic deeds, say any “Hail Marys,” or bow and scrape in contrition to merit Bill’s love. It is offered to you today, completely free of charge.

“Uh, gee, that’s great,” I hear you saying, a slightly quizzical tone to your voice. “I’ll take all the love I can get.” But then you pause and add – a little sheepishly – “Who is Bill Jones?”

Exactly my point.

Go back and re-read those first four paragraphs of this post and wherever you see the name “Bill Jones,” say the word GOD instead. Doing so reveals the central declaration of the Christian faith… 

“YOU are unconditionally loved by God.” Nothing added. Nothing subtracted. Nothing changed. YOU – just as you are right now – are unconditionally loved by the Creator of All Reality.

The question that has been nagging me all day, however, is this: Does that declaration – as amazing, incredible, and life-changing as it truly is – hit differently if you don’t have an existing RELATIONSHIP with God?

Flipping back to the first part of this post for a second, hearing that some guy named Bill Jones loves you unconditionally is great and all. But does it touch the deepest part of your soul if you have zero idea who Bill Jones is? I think the same question might be able to be asked about God’s love. If someone has no idea who God is and has no relationship with God, does hearing about God’s unconditional love really mean a whole lot to them?

This, I believe, is why some Christians make such a big fuss about that thing called incarnationality. Or “theology with meat on it,” as I also like to call it. 

It is difficult to have a living, breathing, vital relationship with a principle as abstract as the one encapsulated by the word GOD. But it is VERY easy to have a relationship with a flesh-and-blood human being. A guy like Bill Jones, for example. 

This was the special genius of God’s bold move to put on flesh and blood and robe and Birkenstocks and come to live here with folks just like you and me. It finally drove home the point that prophets for hundreds of millennia had been trying to pound into our thick skulls. THIS – they screamed, pointing to Jesus – THIS is what I mean when I talk about God being all about compassion, mercy, truth and grace. THIS is what God would look, talk, and act like if God were to, you know, become a PERSON.

And this is exactly the lesson the folks who call themselves CHRIST FOLLOWERS are called to re-learn and remember today. We will not ever persuade anyone to join us in our discipleship decision by the power of our arguments. Or by dropping the most cleverly crafted theological truth bomb on their heads. Or by piling on the shame and guilt until they finally cave in and surrender.

We will only ever succeed in communicating the truth about God’s love ONE WAY…

… and that’s by LIVING IT.

Abundant blessings;