Long ago, before I began to call myself a Christian, I was often mystified by signs and banners at sports events and other public places saying nothing more than John 3:16.* Not knowing many Christians of any kind, let alone those who I later learned might call themselves “evangelical,” I wondered what this strange-looking code could possibly mean or why someone would hold it up in the stands at a football game. Even when I eventually realized that this must be a reference to some verse from the Bible, I had no idea what it might say and no impetus to go look it up.
Since my baptism at Seekers Church more than 35 years ago and my subsequent studies in seminary and other advanced education in Christian circles, I have heard the full quotation so many times that I, finally, can quote it by heart: For God so loved the world….
Today, these words remind me that even before I knew them, I understood that the entire universe is held together by love. Love is not so much a feeling as a force, an energy, an intention, a desire to want the best for whoever or whatever we love. So if God loves the world, and if we who follow Jesus are members of the living Body of the Risen Christ, then I, too, must love the world in all of its complexity, messiness, and confusion.
And then I wonder, how can I love a world that is filled with division, oppression, and violence? How can I love people who deliberately cause harm to others? What is the most loving thing to do in each moment of my everyday life?
-- Deborah Sokolove Yakushiji, Seekers Church
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For another reflection on John 3:16, see Adam Erickson’s “How Progressive Christians Can Reclaim John 3:16“.
