As Christianity in America has been hijacked by people for political gain, the great message has been lost. Throughout history, from the time of Constantine on, this has always been the tragic fallout of the unhealthy merging of political power and faith.

When this happens, the simple good news gets lost, it gets marred and distorted and twisted into something that I believe would be unrecognizable to Jesus and to Jesus' earliest followers. This is why I am always seeking out voices who can find winsome ways to remind us how mind-blowingly good Jesus' message of grace was and still is.

I love how British writer and Bishop in the Church of England, Stephen Cottrell, puts it:

"This is the great message of the Christian faith: that God loves us and that nothing can separate us from that love. You don't need to earn it. There is nothing you can do to stop it. There is nothing you need to do to receive it, save accept it as the free gift it is. And even if you don't accept it, or understand it, or hear about it, or if you reject it, it is still there waiting for you and you are loved just the same.

On the cross Jesus does away with all the rule-keeping, debt-collecting, point-scoring, merit-award rigamarole of religious systems that try to control God and limit heaven to people like us. The message that Jesus pours out on the cross with his own shed blood is that we are loved, accepted and forgiven.

We are loved even if we don't feel lovable and have never been loved before and don't even know what it feels like. We are accepted regardless of race, gender, caste, class, colour or creed.

We are forgiven from all the things that marred, wounded, and obscured God's image within us. We are forgiven whether we are sorry or not, and whether we realize we have sinned or not, whether we even know the difference between right and wrong, or whether we believe sin exists.

Contrary to all the sensible advice of an anxious and competitive world, there is such a thing as a free lunch. God himself has set the table and everyone is invited."

(Stephen Cottrell, Do Nothing To Change Your Life: Discovering What Happens When You Stop)

Photo by Lance Grandahl on Unsplash