God Gave!

One of the most known, yet least understood verses in the bible is John 3:16. You see it everywhere you go, from sports games to people preaching open air, almost everyone knows this verse, but what does it truly mean? In western society, giving is not something surprising. American culture expects giving, but that's not really the problem. The problem is that they expect to be given to. With an unfortunate growth in a welfare program that seems to have less and less restrictions, Americans expect to be given to.

I remember working at a local food bank, and one of the workers would actually force the men and women who come to get food to simply say "thank you." He looked back at me and began to explain that it's amazing how these people can come and get free food and yet be so ungrateful as if they deserve us doing everything for them. I was in absolute shock at this man's statement. It was so profound and so unfortunately true. Think about how many times you and I have gone to McDonald's or Burger King drive thru's and had to pull up to the line and wait, and how inconvenienced we felt because instead of 3 minutes it took them 5 minutes to get our food. We've complained to the people at the counter and managers over a couple of minutes because they are supposed to have things ready on our time. Just this morning McDonald's in Richmond, IN ran out of orange juice. I had the opportunity to get upset, and was probably justified since they essentially promised me orange juice by ringing it in. However, the manager came out, gave me a refund and offered me a free drink. Hey, looks like sometimes "inconvenience" can actually be a blessing. Unfortunately, that's not how the majority of American's think. We want it now, we expect giving, and if we don't get what we want now, we get unjustifiably upset about stupid things. That's not how the eastern culture sees things though.

The reason that this is such a misunderstood verse is because we look at it through a western lens. In the western world we see this giving as if God owes us, but the eastern culture would have been shocked and perplexed. Think about the Grecian and Roman cultures. How many gods did they have? Too many to count. Remember in Acts when Paul preaches in Athens in front of the statue of the unknown god? They had so many, they even had the time to have an unknown one! Similar to America's "tomb of the unknown soldier." With all of these gods, came an awful lot of giving. Not to the people, but to the gods. The gods of this culture, and many cultures around the world today still, were taking gods. They required all kinds of rituals, temples, and sacrifices that did nothing but cause grief for the people.
Another thing to look at is how Jews saw God. I don't feel that God is or ever was a God who simply required rituals, rules, and sacrifices. When we look into the men and women of the Old Testament, they were all very flawed people that God extended His grace to even though they didn't deserve it. Men like David the adulterous murderer who was anointed king over Israel despite his clear disobedience at times. So God wasn't some wrath-filled, vengeful, God as some people, even Christians, try to paint Him as. But that didn't stop some of the Jewish leaders from doing nothing but require the people to perform acts, rituals, or give their time and money to God and the church. Think about the shepherds that were told the news of Jesus' birth. They were social and religious outcasts because their job didn't allow them to attend some of the religious activities that Jews were required to attend.

Eastern culture would have been floored by a God who gave, not with a hidden agenda, but simply because He loves! When we look through the lens of the eastern world view, we see just how profound this verse is, and why it deserves to be so popular. The gift of salvation is free! It's given out of God's abundant love! A love that is not hidden behind an agenda or ulterior motive, but a love that is open to anyone who accepts it! This is what the message of Christmas is all about! This is what the message of the Gospel is all about! Let us share this joy with everyone we meet!