What kind of God do you worship?

“when the imitation of Christ does not mean to live a life like Christ, but to live your life as authentically as Christ lived his, then there are many ways and forms in which a man can be a Christian.”

                                                            Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Wounded Healer

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There is a place in scripture where we are told to be imitators of God

To, literally

Live in love

And give of ourselves

But somehow it often seems to go wrong

Perhaps it has to do with the God we imitate

For some people God is judgmental, stern, retributive, even angry

God is a God with conditional love

A God who demand and expects and puts all kinds of conditions on sacred love

And so, our imitation of God

Becomes a matter of “us” and “them”

“in and “out”

“Good” and “Bad”

“Blessed” or “cursed”

Having kind of an ugly God

We become kind of ugly people

But, if God is love

If God’s love is unconditional

If God sees the worth in all people

Then we move into a love that is generous

A love that does not shame the poor

Exclude those different from us

If you want to know what kind of God you worship

Really

Then look at how you view the person who is among the “least of these”

Then you will know

Then you will know

But just remember

In the end… God is love