EDEN JERSAK / A LOVE THAT INCLUDES EVERYONE
“My mom exemplified this (The Tree of Life) further every time she invited the “black sheep” of the family to our family Christmas events. That was confusing to me as a child because in my mind, and in our culture, they were most certainly “Out,” yet that never deterred my mom from inviting them to our table.” Eden Jersak.
In this podcast, Pastor Eden shares about our heavenly Father’s grace, love, kindness, and all-inclusive love. The cross, the journey of inclusion, reconciliation, pastoring, and valuing humanity as Jesus does, this conversation is between two relational human beings endeavoring to love well.
Please rate, review, share, and subscribe!
For more on Eden Jersak
Email: edenjersak@gmail.com
Website: www.thebridgeonline.ca
Podcast intro and outro music by Wilde Assembly
YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE…
TOMMY MILLER / DEATHLESS
Union, inclusion, sin, grace, sonship, the covenants, a very high view of Jesus and humanity, and biblical immortality, Tommy Miller shares about his new book, Deathless. Tommy is passionate about seeing the local Church equip sons to look like their Father and create atmospheres that look like heaven, and it’s evident in this revelatory conversation.
“Deathless” is a thought-provoking exploration of the concept of biblical immortality, and the guys have a brilliant conversation unpacking this thought.
For Tommy’s FREE CLASS on the Covenants, CLICK HERE and enter the code – NCCFREE
Please rate, review, share, and subscribe!
For more on Tommy Miller
Tommy’s Facebook
Legacy Church Website: www.legacychurchint.org
New Creation Collective’s Facebook
Podcast intro and outro music by Wilde Assembly
YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE…
BISHOP JAMIE ENGLEHART / MYTHS AND MISCONCEPTIONS
Myths & Misconceptions
Lucifer and the devil, God, and control, union vs. separation, awakening to Light, Life, and Love, and approaching scripture through sonship; in this conversation, Bishop Jamie Englehart breaks down myths for truth and sheds light on many of our religious misconceptions that have been built upon separation.
Jamie’s understanding of the Kingdom of God, the New Covenant, and the heart of the Father is evident in every word he speaks.
Please rate, review, share, and subscribe!
For more on Jamie Englehart
Facebook
Website: www.connectinternationalministries.com
Podcast intro and outro music by Wilde Assembly
YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE…
On Deconstructing Well…
Leaving and finding Jesus is finally finished! It releases on Nov 9.
This book is my Emmaus Road deconstruction in which I leave every Jesus who won’t lay His life down for His friends only to awaken to an ever-deepening friendship with the Jesus who is reconciling the cosmos to Himself.
To order through AMAZON THEN SHARE!
To order it on our website / THEN SHARE!
The sin of certainty is a phrase I’ve heard over the last few years, mainly by those deconstructing.
It’s a phrase employed to point out hypocrisy within the church. And there’s plenty to point out. It’s a phrase used to highlight the cruel things done by the church in the name of love. And there’s plenty to highlight.
When our theological certainties undermine or reject Greater Love, well, that’s sin – a woeful missing of the mark. And it’s also what instigates a deconstruction movement.
But for many who are deconstructing, “the sin of certainty” has become a doctrinal statement, a reaction to the punishing hypocrisies of an often-unkind church. For many who are deconstructing, the concept of certainty has been rejected as though Truth is relative. The discombobulating phrase “my truth” has been adopted as a moral apex. The idea that truth is subjective and there is nothing we can know for certain seems to be the ultimate destination for many in the deconstruction movement.
And that is a scary, confusing, and unhealthy way to live.
And a cruel and punishing way to deconstruct. There is no kindness in it. Nor does it lead to freedom.
“Am I loved, worthy, safe? Is there someone I can trust?” A child raised without those certainties becomes an insecure and traumatized adult who spends his or her life searching for them, often in destructive ways.
“Am I loved, worthy, safe? Is there someone I can trust?” We live in a world oppressed by those uncertainties, and there has never been more confusion. We’re confused about identity, sexuality, gender, race, nationality, family, and religion. We’re confused about justice, equality, mercy, compassion, grace, and forgiveness. We’re confused about God and church and the nature of authority.
“Am I loved, worthy, safe? Is there someone I can trust?”
Without those certainties, the world is an alarming place where the loudest microphone decides what’s “true.” Today, governments, corporations, and the media have the loudest microphone. And they have all broken our trust. Then there’s the church. And while the church is God’s idea, there’s a problem. As I’ve already noted, many of us church kids were raised under the abusive hypocrisy of a good and loving God with a hateful streak.
So, yeah, truth has become a subjective commodity leveraged by most institutions and their leaders to control us. Trust has been compromised, and we’re deconstructing.
And that’s good.
But the whole point of deconstruction is to discover a Truth in which we can be certain. When we deconstruct the idea of certainty we place ourselves in a never-ending demolition. And then deconstruction is just a sexy way of describing destruction.
I’m in on tearing down cruel and punishing ideologies, and I’m all for exposing controlling and abusive theologies, but there must be a Truth by which we can know we are loved, worthy, and safe. There has to be someone we trust, or all is lost in the rubble.
The purpose of deconstruction is to rebuild. And to build, there must be a sure foundation, a Truth upon which we can place our faith, a Rock upon which we can reconstruct, a Cornerstone upon which all humanity is being restored…
Excerpted from Leaving and Finding Jesus / Chapter Four – On Deconstructing Well
If Then The Light Within You
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” Matthew 6:22-23
After Jesus tells us about how important our perception of God is, how the eye is the gateway to wholeness or brokenness, He says something amazing and often overlooked.
“If then the LIGHT WITHIN YOU is darkness…”
It seems our perception doesn’t change the nature of light nor its inhabitation. Even if we perceive the light within us as darkness, it remains light and remains within us. if there is no separation between us and God, then the question isn’t, “Is the light within us?” it’s, “How do we perceive it?”
What if Christian evangelism isn’t about getting the light into people so they can go to heaven? What if it’s about living as a bold relational expression of kindness that empowers people to truly perceive, repent, and awaken to the light that is within them? Eternal life here and now.
What if fallen humanity perceived light through the transactional lens of good and evil, the sin-counting lens of reward or eternal punishment; then how great is that sense of separation, condemnation, retribution; how great is that darkness!
What if hell has nothing to do with getting the LIGHT within us, but has everything to do with how we perceive the goodness of God and His reconciling love…
This article is excerpted from my book, Leaving and Finding Jesus
You Are A Spiritual Giant!
There are no spiritual giants in the room,” the pastor said.
He was speaking to the same church I’d spoken to the week before. And he was directly contradicting the last thing I’d said which was, “Everyone in this room is a spiritual giant.”
I believe that. I believe it whether there are 2 in the room or 2000. I believe it regardless of the room.
I believe the finished work of the cross revealed that in Christ we are all spiritual giants. I believe that grace empowers us to live as saints of the highest one, overcomers, hope-filled, joyful, miracle workers. Grace empowers us to be lifegiving ministers of the gospel to our spouses, kids, parents, siblings, friends, neighbors, Facebook, the whole world…
I was devastated when the pastor spoke such a small thinking powerless gospel over my family and friends; a gospel for survivors that required him at a pulpit in a building big enough to host his words. A gospel painting sons and daughters as weak, powerless, prone to wander and in need of a room with a stage and a fella at that stage reminding them of their smallness.
The statement that “there are no spiritual giants in the room’” is even more devastating right now. Why, because right now, as we social distance, there are no large rooms with stages available to us.
When we think we need to gather in a room on a Sunday to be the church, we have just made the church really small and powerless and likely we are wrestling with some small and powerless thinking in other areas of life as well, especially regarding how we define ministry…
But we aren’t small! We are all spiritual giants; powerful ministers! We are the church regardless of where and when and how we meet, regardless of whether a well-spoken fella or gal preaches, or our kids laugh around a fire in the backyard. There is life to be had and to give right now, there are needs to share and needs to meet. And we are the church, a family of powerful people, who can get the jobs done!
Right now our thinking is expanding, we are repenting and beginning to see in new ways! We are awakening to the fact that we are all spiritual giants, or, we can awaken.
Right now there is grace for us to discover who He is and who we are in Him!
Grace empowers us to live like Jesus, with access to everything the Father has because Holy Spirit lives within us; because we are becoming one. One with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and one with each other in a way that I believe will yield more fruit than our best Sunday service because we are all in this game together, and every one of us is a slugger!
Grace is the goodness of Christ crucified and risen. Today Grace says everyone in the room is a spiritual giant. Period.
What room are you in? It doesn’t matter, you’re a giant in the faith today! That’s how He sees you so it’s true. I pray you see from His perspective…
Grace isn’t dependent on a Sunday morning or Wednesday night service.
I appreciate our traditions and for the most part, I’m good with our organizational models.
I’m thankful for pastors, those with large rooms and stages and those with living rooms and a phone.
I absolutely love our gatherings, I’m a preacher who loves to preach. But I am leaning into this season as I believe God is raising our perspective to see as He sees. I believe God is changing our powerless small thinking and inviting the church to live powerfully in any room we might find ourselves in.
Grace my friends, you are all spiritual giants today!
Check Out a Recent Message on Being a Spiritual Giant
What A Wonderful World
A Hopeful Eschatology
In the midst of these days of uncertainty, when fear is knocking doggedly at our doors, it seems eschatology is all the rage.
In a day when apocalyptic films are on the rise, and the day after tomorrow (get it) is unclear, I’ve seen more than a few folks sharing their “Last Day’s” views with fear, trembling and a little bit of “told you so.”
25 years ago I went to Bible College and took a class on eschatology. In the 25 years since, I’ve lived loved, so what I’m about to share with you is no joke…
When it comes to End Times views:
First, there are several. I can’t remember what they are but there are several.
Second, they are theories based on biblical, historical and contextual interpretations, they are not certainties.
Third, anyone who has a theory, regardless of their depth of knowledge, should probably let those they are proselytizing know it’s just a theory and it’s not the only one.
Finally, if there isn’t room to disagree, if the person presenting an idea is selling something, or if their absolute certainty is causing fear, I recommend taking what the person is hypothesizing with a grain of salt.
When it comes to how I personally navigate End Times views, if fear of punishment plays a role in the theory, it’s a flawed theory. Jesus already exposed and settled that issue.
That’s not to say there isn’t truth to discover in all the theories out there, or insight to be had from well-studied theorists, but, for me, fear of punishment doesn’t get billing.
My theory? Glad you asked.
God is not retributive, He is restorative. Which means God isn’t about punishment, He is about mercy and grace; He is a relentless redeemer who forgives, heals, and transforms.
So I have a hopeful eschatology.
Not sure where that lands in all the “lism” options I learned about in Bible College, it was 25 years ago.
But hope is the word.
I have a hopeful eschatology based off a simple belief that what Jesus did at the cross was a whole and finished work; that His Kingdom, His family, is expanding “until the Kingdoms of this world become the Kingdom of our God” (Rev 11:15); until “on earth as it is in heaven” becomes a reality. (Matt 6:10)
I have a hopeful eschatology based on a simple belief that humanity is worthy of Jesus’ death and resurrection, fully redeemed in Christ, and intrinsically good.
I have a hopeful eschatology because I have a naïve childlike belief that kindness is how the world will be saved and transformed. A kindness received and then given away by those who love because they were first loved. (1 John 4:19)
I posted on Facebook last week that my eschatology could be understood simply by listening to Louis Armstrong’s song, “It’s a Wonderful World.”
“… I see friends shaking hands, saying how do you do. They’re only saying I love you…Then I think to myself, what a wonderful world…”
I have a hopeful eschatology. I believe it’s getting better. For everyone. The whole world. How can I not when Jesus is my friend.
I am not naive to pain and suffering or the consequences of sin in the world; I am not ignoring justice. I simply believe God was in Christ redeeming and restoring all humanity, not counting our deep and broken sense of separation against us. I believe His justice is restorative and transformational.
I have a hopeful eschatology. I think Love, revealed by Jesus’ finished work through sons and daughters who know love, is the beginning and ultimately the fulfillment of every story. We, His friends, are the implementation, a mirror reflection of His restorative redemptive story.
For me, Love, Christ crucified and risen, is the best way to view the End Times. When we view the last days through a restorative lens, healing, hope, and expectation of “all things” being made new (Rev 21:5) can actually become a reality in every area of influence.
So yeah, I get that entire books have been written about the last days. But you’ve probably picked up on the fact that’s not what I’m doing here. I’m not the guy to give an interpretation of the book of Revelation, for that I’d recommend François Du Toit’s Mirror Bible and commentary. If you’re looking for some brilliant theologians to encourage you regarding a good God and a hopeful eschatology, I’d recommend anything written by Bill Johnson, Brian Zahnd, Baxter Kruger, Brad Jersak, Dan Mohler, Danny Silk… these fellas and more have helped me greatly.
For me, the End Times has never been an itch I’ve felt the need to scratch. For me, “No man knows the day or hour” (Matt 24:36) has provided enough data on the subject. I’m not undermining the great thinkers who have provided profound insight into scripture, but my eschatology has to be simple and applicable to all my relationships and to this moment.
For me, the End Times is now, “on earth as it is in heaven” is my mandate, growing sure in love is my strategy, and being kind and faithfully loving everyone around me is my implementation.
Even now, when fear is doggedly knocking at my door, I’m hopeful. Hope is my now and my future. And when it isn’t, I repent.
I have a hope-filled eschatology today. It’s the same hope-filled eschatology I had yesterday and the same one I’ll have tomorrow. How can I not when Jesus is my friend.
And what a wonderful friend, what a wonderful world.
Because I have a little more time than usual, check out my top ten covers of Louis Armstrong’s ode to life and love and lean into His love as you listen. You just might discover your eschatology is a little like mine. If not, no worries, there are plenty of End Times views and we don’t have to agree. Whatever you do, don’t be afraid, it’s our Father’s good pleasure to give us the Kingdom. (Luke 12:32)
Lots of love.
What A Wonderful World
Louis Armstrong
I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do
They’re really saying I love you
I hear babies crying, I watch them grow
They’ll learn much more than I’ll never know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world
Repent! The Kingdom of God is Within You
In this Corona Virus pandemic, I have been seeing a lot of online calls and challenges to repent.
Yes, repent!
Change the way you think until “righteousness, peace, and joy” are your reality; until the confidence of “on earth as it is in heaven” is your perspective; until you sense the arms of your kind and loving Father enveloping you and you grow sure in His nature to work all things to our good.
Repent!
Begin to think as He thinks, see as He sees, hear as He hears, give as He gives… live sure in His love today.
Repenting is not an act of desperation, it’s not about begging or groveling for some reprieve or stay of execution from a judgmental God who is angry with us. He is not angry. He is in a good mood! His love is still the answer, is still measureless and true. He is still the God who feeds 5000 plus people with 5 loaves and 2 fish. He is still a Relentless Redeemer!
So repent!
Step away from desperation and live in His reality of more than enough today!
Repenting is not about feeling ashamed or condemned. Repenting is the agreement with what Jesus did at the cross. It is the agreement with His value for us. It is our conscience awakening to our true identity, it’s our agreement with our restored nature!
Repent!
Live confident in your proclivity to be generous, and kind, and full of life, and hope; then love people with boldness today!
Repenting isn’t an act of fear by a guilty person. It is agreement with Love by a redeemed person. And it casts out fear.
So repent!
Live redeemed and fearless today! And love, love, love!
Repenting isn’t a heavy burden, a 24-hour wailing session focused on our brokenness, and poverty, and need, and sin. Repenting is a 2 min, 4 min, 24 min, 24 hours, 240 days and on and on revelation and agreement of our Father’s perspective in which we lay our burdens down, we exchange brokenness for righteousness, poverty for hope, peace, and joy; and sin for wholeness.
Repenting is the gift Jesus gave us to live confident as sons and daughters in His love on earth as it is in heaven.
So yes, repent! Grow sure in His affection and live confident in His love today!
In light of the realities so many of us are facing with the measures to address coronavirus, A Family Story is giving my brand new Sovereign Love teaching series–through April–to you for $10. That’s 90% off.
In uncertain times, I want to encourage you to live sure in peace and joy. You are His beloved son or daughter and it’s my heart that you experience lower anxiety and increased confidence, security, and connection in every area of your life.
SOVEREIGN LOVE is a six-session teaching series based on my book, God Is (Not) In Control.
God’s sovereign love is available to you right now. His love is the tangible peace, and hope that will empower you to live secure in every area of life. It’s my desire to guide you into a refreshing encounter with our Father’s love and goodness.
Heaven and Hell (Part 3)
CLICK HERE for Heaven and Hell (Part 1)
CLICK HERE for Heaven and Hell (Part 2)
Sovereign Control and Hell
Like Jesus, we are invited to live sure in love and thereby establish God’s Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven and, in so doing, destroy the works of the devil.
And, as you may have guessed, eight chapters into this book, I would like to suggest that the first work of the devil that must be destroyed is the pernicious lie of sovereign control. I suggest this because sovereign control was the foundational lie of separation the devil introduced and set in motion here on earth. The control perspective was presented by a snake in the garden, and Adam and Eve believed it.
And the moment Adam and Eve bought into the lie of sovereign control is the moment humanity was positioned in the insecure, punishing reality of hell—the knowledge of good and evil. Suddenly they were naked and ashamed. And they hid from God.
Suddenly their perception regarding the goodness of God was distorted, and how great was that darkness!
Sovereign control was the first lie that sought to separate humanity from the intimacy of sovereign love. I would like to suggest that the theology of sovereign control is actually what introduced hell into the human experience.
The Parable Of The Talents Continued…
Sovereign love was the narrative Jesus revealed in everything He did and in every story He told, including the parable of the talents—a parable that revealed God’s perspective on heaven and hell.
The faithful servants were those who perceived the true nature of the master—that he was good. This set them free to trust, which empowered them to receive and invest the master’s good gift. They lived in the present toward a glorious future.
While Jesus didn’t tell us what the faithful servants did to double their talents, He did describe their reward—“Well done, good and faithful servant…come and share your master’s happiness.” The faithful servants simply continued in the trajectory of their faith—heaven.
The unfaithful servant was the one who perceived the nature of the master to be evil—he rejected the master’s good gift. His perception undermined trust, and he lived desperate and afraid.
Jesus did tell us what this servant did. He buried the talent, not even investing it in a bank. He lived wicked and lazy toward a hopeless future. The unfaithful servant simply continued in the trajectory of his unbelief—hell.
You may have noticed in this chapter that I italicized the words faithful and unfaithful. I did this to highlight the role of faith in a servant’s perception.
Faith humbly believes God is always good, even better than our capacity to understand. Faith is an invitation to trust in the always-good sovereign love of God—a love Jesus perfectly revealed. Faithfulness establishes His Kingdom on earth. Faithfulness leads to righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit; it empowers us to live increasingly aware of the power and evidence of our reward, a well done—heaven on earth.
Faithlessness is the denial and rejection of the sovereignty of Love. Those who cannot trust in an always-good love experience lives of desperation and fear; they suffer and are increasingly convinced of the power and evidence of hell.
The power of faith—that’s what Jesus was revealing in the parable of the talents. But it wasn’t faith in what to do; it was faith regarding how we perceive.
Where the eye is single, the body is full of light…
Hell And Salvation
I asked Jesus into my heart when I was five. And in my hazy collection of five-year-old memories, that moment stands out vivid and powerful—the family room of our house on Russell St, the 1970s burnt orange and forest green flowered couch, the maple coffee table I knelt at as my mom led me in the sinner’s prayer.
I felt God’s love and goodness like laughter; I knew His affection, and I sensed His great pleasure. And even at that young and innocent age, I had a sense of being made new.
Like everyone on the planet, I was born into the first Adam; I knew guilt, shame, insecurity, and the lie of separation. When I was reborn into the second Adam, Jesus redeemed and made me whole. And I knew it. Even at five years old, growing up with parents that loved God and others well, having never truly experienced the ravages of sin, when I said yes to Jesus, I still powerfully felt the joy of being forgiven.
Even though, at a young age, I didn’t truly understand sin; I felt its sense of separation. And in Jesus, I knew I was saved and beautifully included.
My point? I didn’t need a lesson in pain and the popular evangelical teachings on hell to desire Jesus in my life; I didn’t need an 8-inch serrated bowie knife to provoke repentance. I didn’t need to meet Satan and all his friends in order to desire to know and revel in God’s good love.
When I asked Jesus to come into my heart, I had absolutely no framework for the concept of a punishing hell that is propagated by the control narrative. The retributive idea of hell was foreign to me, as it should be to all five-year-olds; as it should be to all of us, regardless of our age…“Unless we become like a little child…” 1
The fact is, I was drawn to Jesus that day for one reason; my parents had revealed His love and kindness, and I wanted to know Him as they knew Him.
I was safe, valued, and loved. And in that stunning context, I desired a personal relationship with Jesus.
All salvation experiences are miraculous and beautiful. There isn’t one more stunning than the next. But I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t trade a lifetime of the insecurity of sin for an opportunity to know Jesus from the beginning.
I am eternally grateful that I was given that opportunity. But I shared my salvation story with you for a reason. You see, I know from experience that it is possible to desire God without even the slightest comprehension of eternal punishment.
My point? Hell has been misrepresented by much of the church for so long that, for many, it’s become a core tenet of the Christian faith—as though we are saved both by grace through faith in Christ and by our belief in the power of eternal punishment.
The idea that eternal punishment plays any role in our salvation or faith life is flawed. When it comes to hell, our only responsibility is to destroy the works of the devil and establish heaven—the revelation of family that Jesus lived—here and now.
Conclusion
It is my passion to become so sure in sovereign love that at the end of my life, I am not shocked by how good heaven is. Why? Because I am simply following the trajectory of my faith. I believe it is possible to live always in a greater revelation of His Kingdom come.
My point? I am not waiting to get to heaven to learn about heaven. While heaven is infinitely better than I can ask or imagine, 2 I am getting a head start on asking and imagining it here and now. I am stewarding my faith in sovereign Love, and in so doing, I am destroying the works of the devil.
My focus is heaven, not hell. And I imagine there will be some disappointed by that statement. I imagine some will open this book, go directly to this chapter, and read it solely to know what I believe about eternal suffering.
And they will have completely missed my point.
You see, I’m convinced that, as a son of God, it’s not my job to prove hell; it’s my joy to reveal heaven.
1 Matthew 18:3
2 Ephesians 3:20
This article is an excerpt from my book, God Is (Not) In Control: The Whole Story Is Better Than You Think
Part Three of Three
Heaven and Hell (Part 2)
CLICK HERE for Heaven and Hell (Part 1)
The Parable of the Talents
There was a master with three servants. He was going on a journey, and he called the servants to himself and gave each of them a gift. “To one, he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his own ability. Then he went on his journey.” 1
You probably know this story. It’s found in Matthew 25 and told by Jesus. Among other things, this is a parable about heaven and hell.
Eventually, the master returns home to, as Jesus put it, “Settle accounts with them.” Jesus doesn’t tell us how, but the first two servants doubled what they had been given, and both received a “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’” 2
But the last servant? It didn’t go so well for him. When he came before the master, he said something heartbreaking and revealing: “Master, I knew you to be a harsh and hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you had not scattered seed. So I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is your own.”
The unfaithful servant believed a lie about the nature of the master—he perceived the master as unjust and untrustworthy.
And so, the servant rejected the gift the master had given him. “Have what is your own,” he said, returning the one talent.
This servant didn’t get a “well done.” “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So, you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?’” 3
It was a question, not a declaration.
The master was challenging the deception of the unfaithful servants’ premise.
Then, after telling the servant that, at the very least, he could have banked the money for interest, the master makes a statement that seems to prove the unfaithful servant’s thoughts about him true: “Throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 4
I would like to suggest that if we believe a lie about God’s goodness, we will eventually participate in and experience a hell that seems to prove the lie true.
This story reveals something powerfully important; we reap the narrative we sow into.
Neither Death Nor Life
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 5
Paul reveals in this scripture that Love is sovereign; that there is no place where Love does not exist, nowhere Love does not have all authority, and nothing more powerful than Love. And this is true in life and in death.
David wrote it this way. “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths (in death), you are there.” 6
While we can feel separated from God, I am absolutely convinced it’s never on His end.
My point? While we can never escape His love, we can misperceive and reject it. While He is light, we can choose darkness. While He is always the truth, we can be deceived; we can choose the lie.
While many would suggest that hell is the separation from God’s love, I would like to suggest that hell is both the misperception and rejection of God’s love. Hell is not the absence of love; Hell is the deception regarding—and denial of—the goodness of God’s love.
The Parable Of The Talents Continued…
Have you ever wondered why the unfaithful servant only received one talent where the others received multiple?
I would like to propose that the one talent was an act of kindness by a good master. You see, the unfaithful servant perceived the master as “a harsh and hard man, reaping where (he) did not sow, and gathering where (he) had not scattered seed.”
Can you imagine what it would be like to be given a sum of money from someone you believe is looking for opportunities to punish you—an unjust and controlling master who is always looking for opportunities to twist the knife?
Because of how the unfaithful servant perceived his master, he didn’t receive the one talent as a blessing; he saw it as a burden. The gift wasn’t a sign of favor and trust; it was simply further proof of the master’s cruelty.
Jesus told us how this can happen in our lives when He said, “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 7
Essentially, the blessing of the talent that the master gave to the unfaithful servant was perceived through unhealthy eyes as a curse. When generosity is perceived as cruelty; when love is perceived as hate; when freedom is perceived as control; when light is perceived as darkness, how great is that darkness!
The unfaithful servant hid the talent, and not just anywhere. He was so paranoid, so terrified that he couldn’t even trust a bank. Can you picture it? The servant out in the deep of night in a mad frenzy of fear, digging a hole and burying the talent where only he could find it?
Imagine how he suffered daily.
Imagine how his family suffered as well—impoverished, insecure, brokenhearted. When they faced financial hardship, an economic meltdown, a fiscal emergency, they had to stay vigilant; they had to defend the talent above all else.
The unfaithful servant spent all his energy on not spending the talent. His focus was on what he couldn’t do. He was behavior-driven in a control narrative, a sinner in the hands of an angry God. His life was a list of don’ts. His days and nights were spent in a neurosis of mistrust. He was focused on not losing the talent like a sinner is focused on the horrors of a retributive hell.
The good gift given by a good master became his prison, his suffocation, his living hell. Because the unfaithful servant believed a lie about the unjust controlling nature of his master, he experienced a punishing hell long before the master returned and confirmed it.
What we perceive determines what we believe, our ability to trust, and the entire trajectory of our lives.
What We Perceive
Everything is a matter of perspective. If we perceive light through unhealthy eyes, we will see darkness. If we perceive truth through unhealthy eyes, we will see lies. God is love, and His love is sovereign, but if we see love through the lens of control, we will experience striving and desperation.
The three servants had very different experiences even though they all received the same gift. The first two thrived, while the third suffered. The faithful servants perceived the master as faithful and received the talents as blessing and opportunity. The unfaithful servant perceived the master as faithless and rejected the talent as a curse.
If we perceive God as a harsh, controlling master, then our interactions with Him will prove He is a harsh and controlling master. And then everything that happens, every interaction with our fellow man, supports that harsh control narrative. And then everything we read in the Bible enforces His control. Control becomes our gospel, our supreme reality.
Then our Christian religion is about control; our ideology is about control; our thoughts about power and authority are about control; our history books and our future, all about control.
And then, of course, a punishing hell becomes our ultimate proof of His control.
The fact is, the world perceives hell solely through the punishing lens of sovereign control. It is a destination to be feared, an eternal retribution for those who wouldn’t let God control their lives. Sadly, many believers perceive hell the same way—as though it’s a destination to be feared instead of an experience to be redeemed and a reality to be defeated here on earth.
1 Matthew 25:15
2 Matthew 25:21
3 Matthew 25:24-25
4 Matthew 25:30
5 Romans 8:38-39
6 Psalms 139:7-8
7 Matthew 6:22-23
CLICK HERE for Heaven and Hell (Part 3)
This article is an excerpt from my book, God Is (Not) In Control: The Whole Story Is Better Than You Think
Part Two of Three