3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

-John 3:16

I’m sure you’ve seen the signs at football games. They refer to the verse above, a verse that Martin Luther once described as “the whole of the Gospel in a nutshell.” You could look at it that way, but you can also interpret a number of other “nutshells” in the gospels. Like, to name just a few, how about Matthew 22:37: “He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Or how about Matthew 5:17: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” Or, how about Jesus’ teaching of the Lord’s prayer, which is all Christian prayer in a nutshell? Or how about one of my personal favorites, spoken by John the Baptist in John 3:30: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Each example above has a different emphasis, whether it’s about love, the commandments, prayer or following humbly. John 3:16, however, seems to strike the chord with many Christians, particularly Evangelicals and fundamentalists. And more particularly for some reason, Christian sports fans. They admire this verse for proclaiming that Christ will save those who believe in him. They way it is often used implies that some people who do not believe (a certain way) will not be saved. Who is saved and who isn’t saved is the central theological topic among certain Christian traditions. In our Episcopal tradition, we tend to focus more on the theology of God’s grace and love.

Salvation theology and grace theology are simply different sides of the same coin. I know Christ has saved my life - and saved me. But to me, it wasn’t because of anything I have said I believe. It’s more that God’s reconciling love has enfolded me and carried me through hard times, and, I trust, will do so eternally. And because my theology is more grace centered than salvation centered, what I first notice about John 3:16 is that it begins with the words “God so loved the world.” I take that to mean God loves the entire world and everyone in it, not just Christians.

There has never been just one, correct Christianity. From the first stirrings of the Christian movement, there have been an array of “Christianities.” Each sub group finds a particular emphasis in the gospel that resonates with their lives and experiences and feels like that is the core of the message. But that does not mean they’ve summed up in a nutshell what Christianity is for all Christians.

As the story of the Tower of Babbel shows us, God has always prefered diversity to conformity. And our siblings in Christ focus on a wide range of interpretations of God’s word. We may struggle with the challenge of difference, but it is the presence of difference that gets us to go deeper.

This Sunday’s readings are here