John 3:16 ruined Christianity?

It's not too hard to see that American Christianity is not at all what it should be. Every month or so headlines around the country tell of a new church scandal; embezzlement, suicide, or pedophile bishops. We can't get away from some big controversy that seems to be the same story with different characters. The pastor that gets too involved with his secretary, the Christian artist that turns to drugs and alcohol, the youth group leader that ends up pregnant from her beloved Christ-like boyfriend. We have all seen these situations, and probably know some of the characters. You don't have to look too far to find a Christian that stumbles and doesn't get back up. It happens all the time.

Is this just status quo, then? Did Christ intend for so many people to misunderstand His will for their lives, and end up turning away to a life with no convictions? When I look at the early church, in the first few chapters of Acts, these problems are almost nonexistent. Granted, as the New Testament progresses more perversion comes about, but in the first 10 or so years true Christians were disciples, not mere believers. And now, in America, most people see Jesus as an action-figure, a swear word, or their homeboy. So what could have brought on such a dramatic change in the church? Don’t get too upset, but I think it was John 3:16.

Before a mob forms screaming “heresy” with lit torches and pitchforks, let me explain my point. To do so, I’ll go back to a fundamental question, why did Jesus decide to die on the cross? Even though this is a very simple and elementary concept of Christianity, it is amazing how many people just don’t get it. There are many ways to answer this question, because Christ died and rose again for many reasons. Atonement for sin, to show God’s power, to take away livestock sacrifices, to save the world, and I’m sure that there are more that we won’t know until after we die. But until then, the Bible gives us a clear reason for Jesus’ death that all the other answers stem from. Jesus died so that God could be worshiped. That’s it. He didn’t die so that we could get into heaven and have eternal life. He wasn’t thinking of the joy we would have in worshiping Him, or our fulfillment from serving God. In fact, He wasn’t thinking of us at all. When Adam and Eve first sinned, God was not their Lord anymore. They had relied on their own intuition and lusts to make their decisions, making themselves rulers. God can not be worshiped by beings that do not acknowledge His Lordship, so Jesus had to come and take our sins so that we can worship God as he is supposed to be worshiped. God’s perfect plan for the world is to further His glory, and not to make us feel tingly and all mushy inside. All too often, though, as self-centered creatures we take Jesus’ death and put the focus on ourselves, which takes away the real purpose.

Being self-centered, we tend to focus on self-centered things. So many people decide to get saved on the premise of getting into heaven, and I am one of them. Thankfully, I found that that was not a good reason to give Jesus reign over my life, because I wanted to get into heaven, I wanted to live for eternity, it was my desire that motivated my conversion, not God’s love for me.

But being allowed a place in heaven makes me feel good, as it should. It gives a security for the rest of my life to know that if I died at this instant, it wouldn’t be the end. I’d be in heaven worshiping my God, my soul’s thirst quenched. And what a great way to convert others to Christianity! Everyone is unsure of the future after death, so why not appeal to that? That would be the easiest way.

This is where John 3:16 comes into play. I’m sure you know it. It was probably the first verse you completely memorized, and can recite backwards and forwards, maybe even in Spanish. But for those of you that might not have been raised in church, here it is:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.”

So what could possibly be wrong with this verse? In this case, it’s not what’s in the verse, but what it doesn’t include that counts. John 3:16 is just a part of a whole. When just reading this verse, it seems that the reason God sent his Son to die was because he loved us. But this is not the case at all. As it was discussed earlier, Jesus came to give God glory, not us. So when this verse is taken out of context, it totally contradicts what Jesus actually did.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a great verse, and I love the true meaning behind it. Can you imagine the creator of the universe sacrificing His Son for us? It’s a beautiful picture of God’s love for us, but at the same time, and more importantly, it’s a beautiful picture of God’s love for His glory. It seems to be saying that, “God loved us and therefore His Son died so that we can go to heaven,” but really the point behind it is that, ”God loved his glory so much that he loved us and sent his Son to die, so that we can go to heaven.” So it is not a bad verse. In fact, it is perfectly aligned with the rest of the Bible. Only when taken out of context and presented alone is it a problem.

As self-serving people, it is much easier to focus on someone’s love for yourself than that person’s desire for your love. Christians have made John 3:16 into the anthem of Christianity, supposedly summing up the gospel in a few sentences. And because of this we have overlooked an integral part of the story, that eternal life is a byproduct of God’s perfect desire for worship, not the main point. This is where some of the problems in religion come from. As Christians, it is our duty to worship God for who He is, and not because it feels good.

John 3:16 is not the root of the problem; it’s just a symbol of it. American Christianity needs a lot of work, and in some cases it seems detrimental to Jesus’ goals as a whole. We need to pray that God will awaken us, and bring us back to true worship.