God of Consent

"Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt." - Daniel 12:2

Imagine there’s a very wealthy man, the wealthiest man in the world. He lives in a ginormous mansion with an endless number of rooms and a banquet table which is always full of the finest of delicacies. There is always love and joy in his house. He is kind and generous and adored by those who serve him.

This man falls in love with a woman from the local village. It is a village he himself founded many years ago. But many of the people there rejected him as their king and instead lived however they wanted. This did not turn out well for them. The people are poor and hungry, struggling daily and barely making it by.

The rich man loves this woman. He knows her better than anyone else does. He knows she isn't perfect, but he loves her even in her imperfections and failures. One day, he falls on his knee and confesses his love. He asks her to marry him and to live in the mansion with him.

But she doesn’t love him. In fact, she hates him. She blames him for something bad that happened in her past. Even though it had nothing to do with him, she figures since he has so much wealth and resources, surely he could have stopped it from happening. She’s never forgiven him for it, and she can’t imagine herself ever doing so. Therefore, she says no. She turns down his offer. She stays in the village, stays in her poverty and her filth, refusing the riches he is willing to bestow upon her freely.

If this man were to force her to marry him and to live with him as his wife anyway - would we consider that an act of love?

I suspect - or at least, I hope - with all that we talk about consent and women's rights, we would understand that if he does force her, it would not be an act of love. It would be an act of control. Or even, of abuse.

He doesn't. He doesn't force her. He mourns, and he waits, as long as it takes, hoping one day she will change his mind when she finally understands how much he loves her. He sees her tattered clothes, her belly often empty, her desires unfulfilled, and it hurts him. But he respects that she has made her choice.

And it wasn't him.

I know many Christians have tried to erase hell. They erase hell by ignoring the verses in the Bible which speak of it and by saying, "A loving God would never send people to hell."

But... would God really be loving if he forced people to spend eternity with Him when they do not want Him?

Or would that be controlling? Even abusive? Perhaps allowing those who reject him to go to hell is exactly the act of a loving God. A God who will not make people love Him, even if He could.

C.S. Lewis famously said God doesn't send anyone to hell. Rather, people choose hell, and God respects their choice.

He is a gentleman. He will not force Himself on anyone. 

That doesn't mean He gives up on people. I believe He continues to pursue those who are far from Him throughout their life. I don't think He only gives people one chance. I believe He gives people multiple chances. 

Some believe people even get a chance to choose Him after death. I don't know of any Biblical evidence for that belief, but I would like to believe it is true. God is a God of endless patience and chances.

Since I don't know, my prayers are focused on the living. I pray the living would know the great love of God - not someday, but this day, as we are not promised tomorrow. I pray the living would not choose the empty things of this world, but instead choose the greater things God has in store for us. I pray they would recognize the ways God has pursued them over and over again. I pray their eyes and hearts would be open to move from barely living to thriving in the wealth of His great love.

The world will not believe in the love of God until they see the love in us - in Christians, in believers, in those who have received and experienced His great love. Only when we truly live in Him and for Him shall we be the lights He calls us to be. Lights in the darkness, leading people to the greatest love story ever told.