CHICAGO, IL (October 11, 2006) – Controversial author and pastor Greg Boyd told North Park University students that their job description as Christians is “to agree with God that every person you meet was worth Jesus dying for them.”
Boyd, who is interviewed in the current issue of The Covenant Companion, is the author of Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Power is Destroying the Christian Church, as well as God of the Possible and several other books.
He also is pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Myth of a Christian Nation grew out of a six-part sermon series entitled “The Cross and the Sword.” The sermon series resulted in some 1,000 people leaving his church – about 20 percent of the average attendance. Others say they were inspired by the series.
Boyd spoke during the Sunday evening College Life chapel service and expanded on what he said is a simple message: Love is at the heart of the Kingdom of God. “Love is ascribing unsurpassable worth to another at cost to yourself,” Boyd said. “Everywhere in the New Testament it screams at us.”
Christians may think they are loving, Boyd observed, but the church as a whole has not been, he maintains. “If we have that one down, where are the prostitutes?” he asked. “Where are the tax collectors?”
People on the lowest rungs of society need to be asked whether the church is loving, he suggests, contending that a majority of people would reflect a negative view of “evangelical Christians.” “If everybody thinks you’re a jerk, maybe you’re a jerk,” he said.
Boyd also questioned the value of many revivals. “Did people walk away from that revival with a greater capacity to love their enemy?” Boyd asked. “If not, it was just a carnival.”
The church must focus on holiness, Boyd said, adding, “If you’re not holy out of love, it’s not holy.”
Christians suffer from judgmental attitudes that keep them from loving, said Boyd, who counted himself among the afflicted. “You can’t love and judge at the same time,” he added. “It’s impossible to ascribe unsurpassable worth to others when you’re using others to ascribe worth to yourself.”
Drawing a distinction between judgment and discernment, Boyd says the former is done to improve one’s own self image – the latter involves making proper decisions.
Hatred for people who commit evil acts is natural, Boyd said. If Christians are to love as Christ did, however, they need to understand that “everyone has a prequel.” People are responsible for their actions, but even the worst criminals have events in their lives that led to their sinful acts, he says.
Editor’s note: to read the Companion article, please see Covenant Companion.
