God's Big Idea!

There is this Big idea in the Bible.

It's actually God's Big Idea!

It is staring us squarely in the face. 

I mean a really huge idea.

It’s an unbelievable idea. 

But somehow we keep missing it (or ignoring it).

You see we humans really don't like big ideas. We have such difficulty getting our brains around big ideas. Big ideas make us uncomfortable. Big ideas stretch us. Big Ideas challenge us. Big Ideas frighten us.

Sometimes I wonder if we ever grasped God’s Big Idea?

How could we have missed it? This Big Idea permeates the Scriptures. We read about it in Genesis and all the way through Revelation. It’s the glue that holds the Biblical story together. It’s the unifying theme of the entire Biblical story.

How can we be so blind to this magnificently huge idea that tells us all we need to know about the God we claim to know and worship?

When I hear Christians beating war drums I know they’ve missed this Big Idea.

When I witness Christians who need revenge against all Muslims I wonder if this Big Idea has ever occurred to them?

When I hear Christians applauding in favor of building walls of exclusion I wonder if the Big Idea ever took root in their Christian hearts?

When I hear Christians make the claim that only Christians are recognized by God as valuable human beings I wonder if they somehow missed this Big Idea?

When I witness Christians falling prey to homegrown nationalistic ideologies, especially those ideologies that are opposed to the Gospel, I wonder if the Big Idea ever once occurred to them?

When I see Christians abusing the earth it causes me to wonder.

So what’s this Big Idea?

“For God so loved the world!” 

That’s right, God loves all people (including the earth). 

He loves this enormously huge diverse and expansive world we inhabit. God loves each and every person who resides on this speeding space ship we call earth; he loves all ethnic groups, all tribes, all nations, all people (that is, if we take John at his word).

His love transcends tribal boundaries and nationalistic agendas and partisan politics, it overcomes destructive human conflicts and wars, it drives out all fear, it is the rock bottom meaning of the Biblical story—not to mention the Gospel itself. 

From Genesis 1 to Revelation 22 this enormously Big Idea saturates the entire Biblical narrative, from start to finish. 

How might this Big Idea affect the way we think and behave in the world?

Throughout the Bible we see this love of God for the world (and humanity) working its way into the lives (and stories) of not just those whom God has called to be bearers of his image, but also working its way into the lives of those living outside our own preferred bubble—even our enemies (that’s a big pill to swallow I know).

Now here’s my point: God has anointed us Christians to live as agents of this love—even to the extent of loving our enemies. So if we are living agents of God’s love for the world then how should we live as reflections of this Big Idea? 

How can God’s Big Idea become our Big Idea? How can we make God's Big Idea work for us?

I sometimes wonder if we, as a human race, have evolved enough to embrace God’s Big Idea? 

Sometimes I wonder even though I remain hopeful.


I would like to believe that we are getting there, but I’m not so sure we have fully arrived just yet. 

Nevertheless God’s Big Idea is still there. It hasn't gone anywhere. 

We can still embrace it.