We don't have to be ideal

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor, theologian and anti-Nazi dissident was imprisoned for his faith and later hanged in the Flossenbürg concentration camp in Germany. But while in prison, he prolifically wrote about God’s love. Bonhoeffer’s statement about who God loves is one of my favorites. He wrote: “God does not love some ideal person, but rather human beings just as we are, not some ideal world, but rather the real world.” I contend Bonhoeffer’s most definitive word in that quote is the word “ideal.”

So what does the ideal person mean? Ideal means conforming to a perfect standard. It is safe to say that no one of us can fit into the ideal category. Each of us is riddled with flaws, shortcomings, issues, problems and habits far from ideal. But Bonhoeffer believed that God loves humans just as we are. God does not have a standard of “ideal” upon which he bases his love for anyone.

Think about this example. A seven year old boy was busy trying out his new roller blades on the sidewalk outside his home. It was the first Saturday after the new school year and “Levi’s” school year had gotten off to a rough start. His friends seemed to all be in the other classes. He had been just generally sad. Feeling his disappointment, his mother was determined to make Saturday a good day. So she made a tasty lunch that would hopefully brighten his day.

Levi’s mother made Levi’s favorite turkey sandwich. Then she used a dinosaur cookie cutter to make the sandwich just that much more fun. She poured Ranch dressing in the middle of his plate in a little bowl, so that he could dip his crunchy carrots into the dressing. She even bent the rules by giving him one of his favorites: a cold can of Mountain Dew. What a lunch.

Levi’s mother called him into the house to eat. She was hoping her act of love would help him push his second-grade disappointment into the background. But in Levi’s childlike way, he came zooming into the kitchen on his new roller blades, tipping over the Mountain Dew into the plate. The sandwich, carrots, and Ranch dressing were floating atop a pond of green gush. Levi, with an apprehensive and frustrating stare at his mother said, “I am sorry Mom. I think everything is ruined.”

His mother picked up the plate with a smile and said, “Let’s start over.” She walked to the trash can and pitched the entire mess into the garbage. His mother never scolded Levi. She could have hurled hurtful adjectives and instructions on how he could improve his behavior. Yet, her actions told Levi, “I love you. We are in this together.”

Levi reckless behavior was not ideal nor was the catastrophe that followed an ideal situation. Yet, Levi’s mother responded in grace, just like God does for us. His mother looked at Levi not as ideal but with frailties and with judgment that was less than perfect. And she loved him and sought to ease his frustration and give him a new chance.

Is that not what God does for us — all of us who are far from ideal? God loved us so much that he gave his only son for us (John 3:16).

God even demonstrated his love toward us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

Further, God poured out toward us his love and lavished that love upon us. Romans 5:5 reads: “Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

Finally, God’s love is steadfast and unwavering toward us. 2 Thessalonians 3:5 says: “May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ.”

So that little boy Levi in all his frailties and frustration was loved by his mother and given a second chance. She chose the gift of grace toward Levi because she loved him.

That is what God did for us. The Bible verifies that. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8)

One remaining thought: we don’t have to be ideal people to come to God and experience his love.

Judy Brandon is a Clovis resident. Contact her at: [email protected]