Most people outside Christianity believe God is just angry with humanity and is waiting for them to step out of line so He can pounce on them and send them to Hell to burn forever. This is partly the fault of Satan influencing the world and people, and partly the preaching from our pulpits.
Much of it is just venomous spit hurled at people outside of Christianity. This is not how God meant for us to evangelize. He said we should be known by our love. This is most clear when it is demonstrated and not just spoken. Unfortunately, many think works is a bad thing, a show of pride. "Religion is a private matter" - wish I had a dime for every time I've heard that said to me. It's a lie. Religion is highly public; especially Christianity. To remove the intrinsic urgent evangelistic thrust of the gospel is to completely inoculate it, and render it utterly useless.
Other times people think social justice works are separate from the "real gospel" - i.e., Jesus and the cross. While the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are central to the gospel, the example Christ left us to follow in his footsteps and do works of goodness and kindness are in fact just as valid a part of the gospel. We can't just focus on saving souls, and forget the body and the mind. Our approach must be holistic, because God made us holistic with a command to love him with all our mind, body, soul, and spirit - not just one part over the other.
Therefore demonstration of the gospel must work hand in hand with its proclamation. We must recover in our preaching both the humanity as well as the divinity of Jesus - 100% both! The mystery and reality of the incarnation is the greatest revelation to share with others to break down this misconception of a mean angry God. John 3:17 is even a greater revelation to me than John 3:16. The fact that God sent Jesus to save the world and not condemn it has been completely under communicated.
I am so tired of Satan spewing forward this lie that God is angry with humanity. We must dispel it and destroy it with the power of the truth of the gospel - God is crazy in love with us, not because of what we have done, but because of who made us. Only the Creator of something can determine it's worth and value. One aspect of Paul's teaching that resonates with Jesus is Romans - "nothing can separate us from the love of God." Preach that and watch God convict the hearts of people! Love is infinitely more powerful than judgment!
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